PROPHETIC WORLD EMPIRES (5)
(Message by Tanny Keng)
0. Introduction
a) God has revealed, in the books of Daniel and Revelation, the world-ruling Gentile (non-Israelite) empires (kingdoms) that would exist from the time of Babylon's empire to the Second Coming of Jesus - a span of more than 2,600 years! Biblical prophecy predicts no less than fifteen empires and the most influential false religious system the devil would create. The symbolic Bible prophecies that proclaim such events BEFORE they happen are:
i) The large image of a man dreamed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (Daniel 2).
ii) The prophet Daniel's dream of four great beasts: A lion, bear, leopard and one strong beast with iron teeth and ten horns (Daniel 7).
iii) Daniel's vision of a ram and a male goat (Daniel 8).
iv) The apostle John's vision of a woman riding a beast with seven heads and ten horns (Revelation 17) along with an end time beast that will rule the world just before the Second Coming of Jesus (Revelation 13:1-8).
b) One simple but profound question generated from Bible prophecy concerns ancient Israel. Why would God allow Gentile nations to dominate the world instead of his chosen people - the Israelites? The Bible records God making a very special promise to the people of Israel just before they crossed the Jordan River to receive their inheritance in the land of milk and honey. He promised to make them HIGH ABOVE all the nations IF they keep his commandments (Deuteronomy 26:18-19).
c) God promised to make the Israelite nation preeminent in the world IF they obeyed his voice. Over time, however, they increasingly rejected God's way to the point where they refused to have him as their King and instead requested a human king be put over them (1Samuel 8:5-7). Eventually, because of their ongoing disregard for God's laws, ten of Israel's tribes were conquered and taken out of the land by the Assyrian empire (723 B.C.). The remaining tribes (Judah, Benjamin and Levi) lived in Palestine until they too, because of disobedience, were conquered and taken from their inheritance. Because Israel rejected God, he rejected them and gave their promised leadership role in the world to others - the Gentile empires which are listed below.
1. The Great False Religious System
a) Represented in Bible prophecy as:
i) Little horn among ten horns that causes the first three to be removed (Daniel 7:8, 20, 24-27)
ii) Mystery, Babylon the Great, a whore riding a beast who is the mother of harlots (Revelation 17:1-6, 18)
2. Explanation
a) Prophecies represent the Roman Catholic Church and the Papacy. Rome is the "great city" that rules over the kings (kingdoms) of the earth.
3. Notes
a) The great whore of Revelation 17 did not ride any of the seven prophetic heads (empires) mentioned in Daniel 2 (Babylon, Persia, Greece (four heads) and Rome before its split) nor the first three horns of the fourth beast of Daniel 7. It did, however, mount and ride the fourth beast's last seven horns. These last seven horns of Daniel 7 are the same as the seven heads ridden by the great whore in Revelation 17.
b) The title "Supreme Pontiff" (Pontifex Maximus or "highest office") was first used around 220 A.D. by Tertullian to refer to the head of the Roman church. It wasn't until the 590's A.D. that this title was used in an formal sense to refer to the Pope.
The End ...
0. Introduction
a) God has revealed, in the books of Daniel and Revelation, the world-ruling Gentile (non-Israelite) empires (kingdoms) that would exist from the time of Babylon's empire to the Second Coming of Jesus - a span of more than 2,600 years! Biblical prophecy predicts no less than fifteen empires and the most influential false religious system the devil would create. The symbolic Bible prophecies that proclaim such events BEFORE they happen are:
i) The large image of a man dreamed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (Daniel 2).
ii) The prophet Daniel's dream of four great beasts: A lion, bear, leopard and one strong beast with iron teeth and ten horns (Daniel 7).
iii) Daniel's vision of a ram and a male goat (Daniel 8).
iv) The apostle John's vision of a woman riding a beast with seven heads and ten horns (Revelation 17) along with an end time beast that will rule the world just before the Second Coming of Jesus (Revelation 13:1-8).
b) One simple but profound question generated from Bible prophecy concerns ancient Israel. Why would God allow Gentile nations to dominate the world instead of his chosen people - the Israelites? The Bible records God making a very special promise to the people of Israel just before they crossed the Jordan River to receive their inheritance in the land of milk and honey. He promised to make them HIGH ABOVE all the nations IF they keep his commandments (Deuteronomy 26:18-19).
c) God promised to make the Israelite nation preeminent in the world IF they obeyed his voice. Over time, however, they increasingly rejected God's way to the point where they refused to have him as their King and instead requested a human king be put over them (1Samuel 8:5-7). Eventually, because of their ongoing disregard for God's laws, ten of Israel's tribes were conquered and taken out of the land by the Assyrian empire (723 B.C.). The remaining tribes (Judah, Benjamin and Levi) lived in Palestine until they too, because of disobedience, were conquered and taken from their inheritance. Because Israel rejected God, he rejected them and gave their promised leadership role in the world to others - the Gentile empires which are listed below.
1. The Great False Religious System
a) Represented in Bible prophecy as:
i) Little horn among ten horns that causes the first three to be removed (Daniel 7:8, 20, 24-27)
ii) Mystery, Babylon the Great, a whore riding a beast who is the mother of harlots (Revelation 17:1-6, 18)
2. Explanation
a) Prophecies represent the Roman Catholic Church and the Papacy. Rome is the "great city" that rules over the kings (kingdoms) of the earth.
3. Notes
a) The great whore of Revelation 17 did not ride any of the seven prophetic heads (empires) mentioned in Daniel 2 (Babylon, Persia, Greece (four heads) and Rome before its split) nor the first three horns of the fourth beast of Daniel 7. It did, however, mount and ride the fourth beast's last seven horns. These last seven horns of Daniel 7 are the same as the seven heads ridden by the great whore in Revelation 17.
b) The title "Supreme Pontiff" (Pontifex Maximus or "highest office") was first used around 220 A.D. by Tertullian to refer to the head of the Roman church. It wasn't until the 590's A.D. that this title was used in an formal sense to refer to the Pope.
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