it's good to have insight into how the devil feels about us as Christians. He accuses us before "our God day and night," and I'm sure he would love to rip us to shreds if God allowed it.
This verse from Revelation reminds me of Satan coming before God back in Job's day to accuse him as well (e.g. Job 1: 9-11). "Roaring lion" and "dragon" are apt descriptions of our adversary.
You know what sort of blew my mind along time ago about that ? He was using the law to accuse peopleit's good to have insight into how the devil feels about us as Christians. He accuses us before "our God day and night," and I'm sure he would love to rip us to shreds if God allowed it.
This verse from Revelation reminds me of Satan coming before God back in Job's day to accuse him as well (e.g. Job 1: 9-11). "Roaring lion" and "dragon" are apt descriptions of our adversary.
Ah okay. I believe in dual fulfillment of certain prophecies in the Bible though.
Antiochus Epiphanes IV fulfilled the near occurrence of the prophecy while a future occurrence of it will fulfill it in full. Antiochus Epiphanes IV gives us an idea of what the final antichrist will be like. He was a Greek Hellenistic king who ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC at 40 years old.
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That’s really interestingWhile this really is nothing doctrinal or changes anything. I sometimes find just being a individual who loves history with my favorite era's being the ancient and the classical. One of the thing historical just makes me always think yeah God knows it all and has it under control. Is Daniel 11: 6And in the end of years they shall join themselves together; for the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the power of the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times.
What makes me just smile is how this happening made it so later on Christ builds upon this happening with a specific message.
Antiochus the II is whom is being spoken about in Daniel. To make peace with Egypt he divorced his wife and married the daughter of Ptolemy the II, Berenice. Their child was to be the heir to the Seleucid throne. Ptolemy II died and so Antiochus left her and went back to his first wife. Which the next heir of the throne cane from this marriage.
Anyway what I have always thought was so cool and this story leads to a direct message from Christ to the church. Is the name of his wife he divorced was Laodice and a town in Anatolia was named after her. It was named Laodicea which housed the church that Christ gave his message not only to that church but us his church in future generations. With the message being be hot and zealous for me.
So have always thought this was so cool.
Do you ever have any thought that the last kingdom that’s different from all the others ….could actually be referring to the spiritual kingdom we’re at war with ? And that’s how it would destroy the world because it’s a spiritual kingdom working in man to destroy ?it's good to have insight into how the devil feels about us as Christians. He accuses us before "our God day and night," and I'm sure he would love to rip us to shreds if God allowed it.
This verse from Revelation reminds me of Satan coming before God back in Job's day to accuse him as well (e.g. Job 1: 9-11). "Roaring lion" and "dragon" are apt descriptions of our adversary.
Do you ever have any thought that the last kingdom that’s different from all the others ….could actually be referring to the spiritual kingdom we’re at war with ? And that’s how it would destroy the world because it’s a spiritual kingdom working in man to destroy ?
Indeed the dragon from heaven ….brings rise to the beast on earth . The spiritual is manifest in the physical.Yes, the battle with our adversary is primarily in the spiritual realm, but of course that always spills into our physical lives and world as well:
Ephesians 6:12
New King James Version
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of [a]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Amen. And lest we forget:Yes, the battle with our adversary is primarily in the spiritual realm, but of course that always spills into our physical lives and world as well:
Ephesians 6:12
New King James Version
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of [a]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
look at chapter seventeen the beast with seven heads and ten horns is made up of eighteen kings and kingdoms
“And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman,
and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
The beast that thou sawest was, ( past ) and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: 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. ( future )
And there are seven kings:
five are fallen, ( in johns past )
and one is, ( one was currently ruling in johns day )
and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. ( one more was about to rise up )
( now we hear about eleven more kings in the future )And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
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. 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.”
Revelation 17:7-8, 10-13, 16-17 KJV
what does the ot prophecy say would be fulfilled regarding these kings and kingdoms ?
The first kingdom was Babylon , the second was media Persia , third was Greece , Greece split apart when Alexander died and four generals governed four sections of the Grecian empire later the frocks Roman wars left to the Roman empires consolidation and rise to world domination and eventual destruction of Jerusalem and its temple
those were the first seven tiered from Babylon to Rome
One of those seven is foretold to return and will have ten kings subservient to him probably some entity like the United Nations or some world alliance between nations so the two beasts arent just two people is the point
the beast with seven heads and ten horns is found in daniels visions of four foreign kingdoms rising up to destroy jerusalem
“the beast that was and is not and will ascend out of the pit “
Is an eighth king one of the original seven come a second time who has ten kings serving him . It represents eighteen kings , four kingdoms , one king that comes twice and has ten others serving him
all of those make up the one image of the beast with seven heads and ten horns the heads are kind and horns are kings , the one head that “looks as of it died and yet lives “ is showing that one of them comes twice. The one who” is , and will come later “
just the image of the one beast all of those descriptive elements have meaning in the Old Testament
babylon , media Persia , Greece , the Roman Empire make up the original seven Greece had four rulers replace Alexander the Great who conquered the ancient world. Making up the seven heads
The latter eighth king with ten companion kings is the future prophecy there not the original seven those began with daniels visions of Babylon Persia Greece and Rome and were concluding in johns time when Nero was about rise for his short reign of terror over them.
“Daniel and Revelation go hand-in-hand, and it's amazing how the two books align with apocalyptic prophecy. “
its not just Daniel brother
“And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.”
Revelation 11:3-4 KJV
“and said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: and two olive trees by it,
one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
….Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?
And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my Lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
Zechariah 4:2…..
“And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.
And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side; and the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth.
And they went forth, and slew in the city. And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?”
Ezekiel 9:2-8 KJV
“And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. ( old covenant people )
Revelation 7:1-4KJV
“And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.
In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses; and in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses. Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my Lord? And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.”
Zechariah 6:1-5 KJV
“Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.”
Ezekiel 1:5-6, 10 KJV
“And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.”
Revelation 4:6-7 KJV
Ect…
Daniel and Revelation go hand-in-hand, and it's amazing how the two books align with apocalyptic prophecy. All of the great empires of the past rise and fall as God laid out, and according to Henry Halley, a conservative Christian commentator, "the first beast seems to be a political figure...[and] is generally thought to be the Antichrist." Halley also notes that the resemblance to a leopard, bear, and lion allude to this beast "being a cunning hunter, someone who camouflages himself well in his setting."
The idea of the beast using an entity like the United Nations to consolidate and organize its power makes sense, but I don't see Russia, China, and Iran (plus all the extremist "proxies" tied to these nations) being a part of the beast's organization. Russia and possibly the others are the "Gog" and "Magog" of Ezekiel chapters 38-39 that will set its sights on destroying Israel (see link below for one perspective on how Russia and their allies will participate in the great tribulation).
Does the Bible say anything about Russia in relation to the end times? | GotQuestions.org
There are several opinions on how all of this will play out in the future, but one thing is clear about the beast, Gog, and Magog. They will all be decisively defeated by God. The beast will be thrown in the lake of fire (Rev. 19: 20), and Gog and Magog will be consumed by fire from heaven during their attack on Israel and the "beloved city" (Rev. 20: 9).
What's interesting to me is the beast powered by Satan is definitely the main adversary during the tribulation that Christ will destroy at His second coming. I don't see any mention of Gog and Magog in John's vision until after the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ when the devil will be released to "deceive the nations" using Gog and Magog in his military campaign into the Holy Land (Rev. 20: 7-9).
I read through Ezekiel chapters 38-39, and I definitely see Ezekiel's vision aligning with John's about Gog and Magog's attack after the Millenium on an Israel that is dwelling safely in their country "...without walls, and having neither bars nor gates (Ezek. 38: 11). I certainly don't see that being present state Israel leading up to the tribulation. In my opinion, they will remain a country protected by walls and a small but powerful military until Jesus returns and transforms Israel during His 1000 year reign in Jerusalem.
Interesting theory and speculation for sure on end time events, and I am certainly not making any predictions. I'm not sure the article above is correct in its theory that Israel will be dwelling safely because of its alliance with the beast, and Gog and Magog will attack Israel sometime during the tribulation. That doesn't seem to align with Revelation, and John doesn't make any mention of the attack until after the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ.
Amen brotherI like this one from Zechariah, too:
Zechariah 14:4-6
New King James Version
4 And in that day His [Christ's] feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,
Which faces Jerusalem on the east.
And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two,
From east to west,
Making a very large valley;
Half of the mountain shall move toward the north
And half of it toward the south.
5 Then you shall flee through My mountain valley,
For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal.
Yes, you shall flee
As you fled from the earthquake
In the days of Uzziah king of Judah.
Thus the Lord my God will come,
And all the saints with [a]You.
Amen brother
“Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.”
Acts 3:24
“And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him.”
Luke 22:39 KJV
Amen. Jesus' revelation to His disciples about end time events in Matthew 24 & Luke 21 are foundational for understanding the tribulation and His return as well. I plan on diving into those in the near future.
I love this prophecy for future-state of this world under Jesus' leadership:
Isaiah 2:4
New King James Version
4 He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning [a]hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.
I was actually serious.The beast is Herod, and 666 is the amount of needed to buy or sell due to inflation.
Maybe you should rethink your career choice.I was actually serious.![]()