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Role Reversals & Prophetic Parallels |
In part one of this prophetic perspective, we demonstrated how the Babylonian Empire of Nebuchadnezzar directly paralleled the British Empire of King George III. Both despots ruled opulent kingdoms with enormous influence, both lost their minds for an extended period, and both regained power thereafter. Nebuchadnezzar's reign is seen as the first of four ancient kingdoms (as the "head" of gold in Daniel 2), whereas George was the first of four modern kingdoms - George being the British monarch that sat on the throne of England (the "lion" with eagle's wings of Daniel 7) in 1776 when "it's wings were plucked" (Dan 7:4). We then noted how, at the rise of the Persian Union, the royal family of Babylon was murdered on the fateful night when Darius came in and conquered the city. The famous princess (Belshazzar's mother, the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar) was murdered in parallel with the infamous killing of the Romanovs - widely seen in the legendary tale of Anastasia. Indeed, historians have noted the bizarre graffiti found scrawled on the wall of a bedroom in the Russian Romanov residence that read "On that night, Belsatzar was murdered by his slaves." An intentional word play mingled the term Czar with the last syllable of the name of the dead king of Babylon - and connected the two events. In a strange reiteration of history, the dual empire of the Soviet Union (the "bear" of Daniel 7) directly paralleled the dual empire of the Persian Union (the silver arms) seen in Daniel 2. The third of four kingdoms continues the curious manifestation of prophetic parallels as Hitler's career as the head of the Third Reich lasts for 12 years and 8 months - precisely the time period allotted to Alexander the Great as he waged the Graeco-Macedonian predecessor version of what came to be called "Blitzkrieg" warfare. Alexander (the "brass" kingdom of Daniel 2) abruptly dies in power, as does Hitler (the "leopard" of Daniel 7) in the famous bunker. The parallels even connect their philosophical training as Hitler's influential mentor Nietzsche closely parallels Alexander's instruction from the famous figure known as Aristotle. Transitional Sets BETWEEN THE 3RD & 4TH (FINAL) EMPIRES An important series of events takes place at the conclusion of the third empires of each set (Alexander's Greece & Hitler's Germany). There is a crucial transitional period between the third and fourth empires. Furthermore, neither of the primary texts describing the sets of empires (Daniel 2 & 7) actually shows us the transition! To further complicate matters, this multi-generational transitional sequence leading up to the final empire is characterized by yet another doubled set of four empires! As in the previously synchronized first and second empires, the parallel events that connect them are found in a different section of the book of Daniel - other than the two chapters that delineate the two sets of kingdoms (chapters 2 & 7). This time, significant details are found in Daniel chapter 8. Here Daniel sees the futu:re king of Greece (Alexander the Great), described as "...an he goat: (that) 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." 1. This great "he goat" is said to attack a great "ram which had two horns." 2. As the vision continued, the angel Gabriel removes any doubt concerning the identification, for he tells Daniel the "rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the...ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia." 3. The vision also shows the demise of the goat, for "...when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven." 4. The third beast of Daniel 7 also has this four-fold nature attached to the third empire for the leopard is described as a "...beast (that) had also four heads." 5. It is well established that Alexander died suddenly and, according to most historical accounts, "then followed...a formal division of Alexander's empire between the four victorious princes, Ptolemy, Seleucus, Cassander, and Lysimachus." 6. Strikingly, when Hitler's "great horn was broken," history again repeated itself in a bizarre parallel as the four victorious allies installed four generals to administer and rule post-war Germany. Remember, the text says "when he was strong...four kingdoms shall stand.up out of the nation, but not in his power." 7. Incredibly, this is precisely what happened when Alexander died - four generals took over the now fragmenting third kingdom. In the post World War II manifestation, the Allies, operating under a formal treaty called the Quadripartite Agreement, actually ran Germany for many years through the offices of these four generals! The four-fold division of both third empires also continues with many striking parallels. After a period of years, the four ancient generals previously under Alexander (Seleucus, Ptolemy, Cassander, & Lysimachus) narrowed to two basic power structures. Cassander and Lysimachus faded into historic oblivion as the two stronger leaders, the Syrian Seleucus Nicator in the North and the Egyptian Ptolemy I in the South, wrestled for supremacy. Ancient Israel was caught in the middle. This conflict raged for many years and culminated eight generations later in the reign of the Seleucid Syrian despot, Antlochus IV - also known as Antiochus Epiphanes. He was the infamous tyrant known for slaughtering a pig on the Jerusalem altar. Astonishingly, the four modern allies (Russia, America, France, & England) that conquered Hitler have a basic re-iteration of this very same scenario! After a few years, France and England's importance on the world scene diminished considerably. France was bogged down in foreign military excursions (Southeast Asia), and Britain's exhausted economy caused Time Magazine to dub the former colonial power "the sick man of Europe." As the Cold War was launched, Planet Earth was dominated by two primary power blocs; the Soviet and the American. And once again, Israel was in the middle. After several close calls (the Cuban missile crisis, Korea, Vietnam, the Yom Kippur war, etc), the Soviet Union collapsed against the superior economic power of America. This parallels how the more powerful Roman Empire overshadowed the Syrian Antiochus with the Roman general Scipio eventually drawing "a line in the sand," and stopping Antiochus at Magnesia in 190 BC. In parallel, Reagan's America demanded that Gorbachev's Russia "tear down this wall" and the USA became the sole superpower - even as the UN grew stronger and modern presidents from JFK on moved us closer to a New World Order in which the United Nations is our alter ego. There is one more astonishing parallel between the Seleucids and the Soviets: After Alexander died, the first general of Syria was Seleucus Nicator. Antiochus Epiphanes, the ancient opponent of Israel, was the eighth (and final) independent ruler of that dynasty. 8. Incredibly, Mikhail Gorbachev, the ranking leader of the Soviet Union when the Eastern bloc collapsed, 9. was the eighth (and final) Soviet leader - the formal union dissolving away during his regime as its former members came under the larger umbrella of the emerging New World Order vis a vis the American dominated United Nations. 10. Fourth Empires THE IRON LEG EMPIRE/ROME, THE DIVERSE BEAST EMPIRE/AMERICA Although many historians have already noted the odd parallels between the rise and fall of the Roman Empire and America (and the emergence of the UN), few seem to have realized the actual prophetic significance of this fact. Because this continuing set of parallel fulfillments actually brings us up to the present era, within the details of the historical fall of ancient Rome, we have a virtual blueprint for what will occur in the near future in America. The parallel identification even occurs in the eagle emblem which was utilized by both ancient Rome and modern America. For example, Edward Gibbon, the leading authority on the Roman Empire, writes how "The golden eagle, which glittered in front of the legion, was the object of their fondest devotion " 11. It might be noted the eagle found on our paper money has now become the object of most Amencans "fondest devotIon." The Roman Empire, as the fourth empire described in the statue dream (the legs of iron), degenerated into a ten part division seen as "...the feet and toes, part of potter's clay, and part of iron...." 12. In the beast empires, the corresponding fourth empire, America (and the UN by inference), is seen as "...a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth...and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns." 13. Like America, Rome was originally a Republic - with a parliamentary body known as the Roman Senate administering a constitutional government. Amidst an increasingly desperate series of military and political crises brought on by ill-advised foreign wars and moral decadence, this democratically oriented society deteriorated into complete tyranny. The American Peoples Encyclopedia tells us that ultimately, the Roman Caesar was vested with dictatorial power as "he became to the Romans the guarantee of peace and safety." 14. To put it another way, the citizens were willing to part with their freedoms to preserve their safety. As the federal dominion of Rome dissolved, various portions of the former empire were savaged by numerous ethnic groups with foreboding names like Huns, Vandals, and Goths. In modern America, all three of those names describe cultural groups presently in existence. The Huns are an outlaw motorcyle gang, while vandalism is seemingly everywhere. The young subculture that wears all black and listens to 'heavy metal' music are known as Goths. The Roman Empire was eventually broken down into ten geographic concentrations of power. While many violent ethnically diverse groups gradually immigrated illegally into the various Roman provinces, the increasingly militarily impotent political giant lost the will and the ability to restrict access to its territory. As the geographic boundaries of the fourth ancient empire broke apart, several historians have specifically noted "...that there is no difficulty in making out the number ten, or that some such distribution and breaking up of the one power is naturally suggested...." 15. This tenfold division of the fragmenting Roman Empire is apparently symbolized in the ten toes described in Daniel 2 at the base of the Roman iron legs. Because they no longer possessed the iron like raw military power to rule, the Roman Caesaric dynasty donned ecclesiastical robes and proclaimed themselves Popes. This was a strategic attempt at holding on to political power indirectly through the belief system they themselves manipulated via the offices of the Roman Catholic Church. If the parallels continue to hold true between the fourth empire of the ancient set (Rome) and the fourth empire of the modern set (America), we can predict the following:
To varying degrees, all four of these conditions already exist - NOW. The federal government of the United States is wildly gyrating out of control. The Republic is morally and financially bankrupt and awash in corruption with the hard truth hidden behind a wall of medIa conditioning and political propaganda. Most foreign governments are aware that our president IS an.unindicted criminal that has now been implicated in dozens of crimes including election fraud, embezzlement, influence peddling, drug smuggling, and even murder (this essay was originally written during Bill Clinton's reign of terror). Across the country, racial instability is widespread with violence heavily focused on Black, Latino, and Asian gangs in metropolitan areas. Obviously, illiteracy, poverty, and illegal immigration are social time bombs that are ticking next to the heart of America. In what can hardly be described as a coincidence, the nation has already been formally divided into ten regions by FEMA - the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In this ironic parallel with Rome, this ten-fold division of America was specifically structured in anticipation of a political state of emergency whereas the ten-fold division of the Roman empire occurred spontaneously as a result of the series of civil and military insurrections that eventually destroyed the central government. As the catastrophic conditions described in the Bible as the Great Tribulation erupt, these four conditions will intensify considerably. Martial law will soon be declared in the US. Against the backdrop of previously unimaginable catastrophes such as giant earthquakes, enormous floods, meteor impacts, and nuclear & biological war, major cities will break out in clan and gang style turf wars on a horrifying scale. 16. FEMA was recently elevated to a cabinet level authority with complete federal police powers - all in violation of constitutional restraints. We've already seen our last free election in America. I predict that it is a certainty that the pattern in America will continue to follow the pattern of the dismemberment of the central authority of the Roman Empire. In Rome, the "...iron mixed with miry clay" that characterized the dissolution of the Empire speaks of the lack of cohesion between the authority of the government (iron) and the early church of Jesus Christ - the clay. Remember, the Christians that were once fed to the lions eventually became the "Christian" (read Catholic) rulers of Rome. This great conformity to the world system coincides with the great "falling away" from the truth that is being repeated even now in America. We see the authority of earthly government described as iron all over the scriptures. The Old Testament repeatedly warned the Israelites that when they turn away from the ways of the LORD, their enemies "...shall put a yoke of iron upon (their) neck." 17. In addition to the obvious reference to iron representing the ungodly power of Rome in Daniel chapter 2, three separate times the book of Revelation speaks of a future godly government that will "rule with a rod of iron." 18. The fourth beast empire is seen with iron teeth - an allusion to the authoritarian government of Rome which scripturally may be described as "dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly " 19. Even the book of Psalms ties iron with earthly kingdoms, and also indirectly alludes to the clay with a promise that God "...shalt break them (governments) with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." 20. Clearly, iron is associated with government. At the same time, the New Testament shows that individuals are analogous to clay with the following question: "Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another to dishonour?" 21. In the Old Testament, we see the clay is focused specifically upon the covenant people of Israel - and by extension the Church. The prophet Jeremiah records the LORD utilizing the very same allegory saying "O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel." 22. Isaiah says essentially the same thing: "But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand." 23. Even Jesus metaphorically connects the believer, who came from the dust of the earth with clay as "he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay." 24. Here the clay is a metaphor describing the light of the Gospel that opens blind men's eyes. It is self evident that clay is associated with people in general, and believers in particular. This understanding is scriptural evidence that in the last days, the Remnant Church and the government "...shall not cleave one to another." 25. This will be particularly true when the Kingdom of God "...shall break in pieces and consume" 26. America in the days preceding the second coming of JESUS CHRIST. This lack of cohesiveness is actually the true Church of Jesus Christ obeying his admonition in the book of Revelation to "...come out of her lest ye be partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." 27. Modern American Christian denominations, their pockets packed with pyramid imprinted paper money issued by the fourth beast, continue to prosper via the 501(c)(3) IRS licensed exemption that grants their blind membership a tax break for supposedly donating to "the Lords work." Almost every so-called "Christian" denomination is incorporated, voluntarily submitting themselves to the authority of the beast government. Legal nomenclature states that a corporation is an "artificial person" responsible to its creator - the incorporating authority we call the state. In short, the modern corporate "church" is being manifested in the image of its creator - The Beast. Huge state-sanctioned ecumenical movements, such as the recent Promise Keepers event in the capitol, clearly expose the government's hope that perhaps the "Church" will hold together their Frankenstein creation a little while longer. Metaphorically speaking, the scarlet woman's legs are tightening around the beast of Revelation 17. The evil behind the American beast continues to encourage "Christians" and "Churches" and other pseudo- religious groups (like the Council on National Policy) to get involved in attempting to sustain the ungodly society that is now under the judgment of The Living God. Every effort will fail, for America's "...sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her." 28. Daniel tells us that during the day of the fourth kingdom, the Antichrist shall come forth wielding the power of government. "And he shalt 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. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy 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." 29. The ultimate irony is you can't do both. You're either part of the beast and his consort, the harlot religious corporations, or you're part of the final role reversal available: Conforming your life to the crucified carpenter of Galilee and joining the remnant Church whose true head is Christ Jesus. The choice is yours. March 10, 2003 - James Lloyd Copyright © 2003 Christian Media Network See Also Prophetic Parallels And Role Reversals - Part One The Lion The Bear And The Leopard FOOTNOTES 1. Daniel 8:5 2. Daniel 8:3 3. Daniel 8:21, 20 4: Daniel 8:8 5. Daniel 17:6 6. Barnes Notes On The Old & New Testaments, Daniel Vol 2, pg108 7. Daniel 8:22 8. I Maccabbees 3:11 9. The succession of primary Soviet leaders, was as follows: Nikolai Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khruschev, Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, Contantin Chernenko, and Mikhail Gorbachev. During transitions from one premier to another, the Soviets were represented by Aleksei Kosygin and Andrei Gromyko. It is theoretically possible this list could be expanded to include Boris Ye!tsin with his successor fulfilling a re-iteration of Antiocbus Epiphanes with a parallel military move against modern Israel. While Russia is widely thought to be Gog-Magog, this view is in error as Gog is destroyed at Ezekiel 38; yet Russia continues and is seen in Revelation 13 as the feet of the final beast. 10. The Seleucid dynasty, featuring a succession of Graeco-Syrian princes ruling from Antioch, was as follows: Seleucus Nicator, Antiochus Soter, Antiocbus Theos, Seleucus Callinicus, Seleucus Ceraunnus, Antiochus The Great, Seleucus Philopater, and the 8th, Antiochus IV (Epiphanes). 11. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume I, The Turn of the Tide, Edward Gibbon, London Folio Society edition, page 28 12. Daniel 2:41 13. Daniel 7:7 14. American Peoples Encyclopedia, page 16-916 15. Barnes Notes, Daniel Volume II, page 83 16. In 1997, for example, a large scale Chinese smuggling operation was exposed in Northern California distributing AK 47 military assault weapons to two huge black gangs, the Bloods and the Crips. A few years back, a similar plot was discovered with Moammar Khaddaffy of Libya exposed financing weapons for inner city black militants in the Chicago area. It is an incontrovertible fact that well armed paramilitary forces controlled by ethnic gangs are preparing for the American holocaust to come. 17. Deuteronomy 28:48 18. Revelation 2:27, 12:5, 19:15 19. Daniel 7:7 20. Psalms 2:9 21. Romans 9:21 22. Jeremiah 18:6 23. Isaiah 64:8 24. John 9:6 25. Daniel 2:43 26. Daniel 2:44 27. Revelation 18:4 28. Revelation 18:5, 8 29. Daniel 7:25-27 |
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