Weekly Prophecy
Review
April 25, 1998
In the news...
- Next week, Israel will hold celebrations marking their 50th anniversary.
Meanwhile, British-based Palestinians will hold an interfaith remembrance
service at Westminster Cathedral. The service will mark "50 years
of the Palestinian Tragedy."
- Speaking of Israel's 50th anniversary, the highest ranking representative
of the U.S. at the jubilee event will be Vice-president Al Gore. Unfortunately,
our esteemed VP has managed to transform this diplomatic salute into a
"national insult" against Israel. Despite Israeli government
protests and requests, as part of his mission Gore plans to meet with Yassar
Arafat in the city of Ramallah, where massive anti-Israeli demonstrations
are planned to coincide with the celebration of Israel's 50th anniversary.
One Israeli official described Gore's plans as a "slap in the face
to the whole nation of Israel."
- In Cairo, Arab nations signed a regional pact to combat terrorism.
According to Saudi Arabia's Interior Minister, "Terrorism completely
violates Islam, which holds in high regard the human life, while terrorism
treats it cheaply." Under terms of the pact, Arab countries will exchange
information on terrorist groups and will deny refuge, training and financial
support to any group that launches attacks on other Arab nations. Militants
who target Israel, however, will not be considered terrorists.
Examples of your hard-earned tax dollars at work in the fulfillment
of Biblical prophecy—i.e., that in the last days, all nations will oppose
Israel...
- Financing the Palestinian police state:
The Palestinian Authority police force is now 60% larger than Israel's,
despite the fact that the Palestinian population is only 1/3 the size of
Israel's. Relative to its population, the Palestinian police force is four
times as large as Spain's and five times as large as Germany's.
- Financing Israeli national security in
order to facilitate the great Palestinian land grab: The
key Israeli argument against a second phase of "redeployment"
from Judea and Samaria is that it severely hampers their ability to defend
themselves from aggression. Now, U.S. Secretary of Defense, William Cohen,
has arrived in Israel with a security package to allay those fears. He
announced the U.S. will fund a third Arrow anti-ballistic missile battery
in Israel. The price tag—$80 million. In other words, if the U.S. refrained
from pressuring Israel to give away more of the land which God gave them
as an everlasting possession (see Genesis 17:8), Israel's security
would not be impaired, and we would not be out the additional $80 million.
- Financing television programming to promote
terrorism among Palestinian children: A recent Episode of
"Children's Club," a program modeled after Seseme Street, featured
children declaring their readiness to become suicide bombers. (This was
applauded by the show's host). After collecting a dozen episodes with similar
themes, some U.S. Congressmen have begun to question the wisdom in continuing
to fund the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation. Price tag to date—$500,000.
Some Prophetic Scripture on
the Antichrist
Regarding Antichrist, in Chapter 17 of the Book of the Revelation we
are provided with some key information which is generally overlooked. In
that Chapter, Antichrist is referred to as the beast. Here
are some of the things which are revealed about him:
In verse 3 we are told the beast has seven heads and ten horns (see
verse 3). Fortunately, verses 9-10 give some indication of what this means.
"The seven heads are...seven kings..." Then we get a further
explanation of these kings:
- five have fallen
- one (the sixth) is
- the other (the seventh) "has not yet come; and when he comes,
he must remain a little while."
- Then we learn from verse 11 that the end-time beast—the eighth—
is also "one of the seven." That is to say, he will be a repeat
of one of the seven.
Most commentators believe there are only two possible interpretations
for the kings: (1) they refer to actual Roman rulers, or (2) rulers of
world empires. For a couple of reasons, the former does not appear likely.
For one thing, there were more than seven Roman emperors. According to
most interpretations, the five who have fallen do not even include Julius
Caesar! In addition, this interpretation means one of the seven emperors
must literally come back to life, and there is no Scriptural precedent
for that happening. (We concede this could mean the eighth emperor, the
Antichrist, will be someone who comes "in the spirit and power"
of one of the seven, but Scripture seems to suggest the eighth will actually
be one of the seven.)
If, on the other hand, kings refers to world empires and/or their rulers
(i.e., Alexander/Greece, Caesar/Rome, Hitler/Germany, etc.) then we have
the following picture:
- five (empires) have fallen: Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Medo-Persian,
Grecian.
- One (the sixth) is: Roman.
- One (the seventh) will come and remain only a little while: perhaps
the German Empire (?).
So, which one will produce the Antichrist? Ironically, the only one
which cannot possibly be correct is the one most prophecy teachers are
watching—Rome. At the time the Revelation was written Rome was in
power, and John specifically excluded it: "The beast that you saw
[the end- time beast, the eighth, the one who had seven heads and ten horns]
was and is not..." (Verse 8). In other words, it was one of
the five fallen powers; it was not the present power, i.e., Rome.
This raises the question, does Scripture indicate which of the five
fallen empires will produce the eighth—that is to say, the Antichrist?
Perhaps it does. In the Ninth Chapter of the Book of Zechariah we find
what just might turn out to be the "smoking pistol" of this whole
mystery. There we read of the day when Judah and Ephraim will be joined
together in what is likely the battle of Armageddon.
"For I will bend Judah as My bow, I will fill the bow with Ephraim.
And I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons O Greece"
(Zechariah 9:13).
If, in fact, the Grecian empire is the one which will spawn the end-time
Antichrist, we would do well to know which present day nations are located
in the area that was once the ancient Grecian Empire. They include:
- Greece
- Albania
- Turkey
- Bulgaria
- Southern Yugoslavia (including Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia)
When Daniel saw another horn come up from among the ten horns of the
fourth empire, he described it as a little one. This could mean it was
a brand new nation, or it could indicate that before Antichrist's rise
the country had little influence in world affairs. Either way, for those
who are earnestly watching for the appearance of the "man of sin,"
these Grecian Empire nations may well bear watching.
Till He returns...
Last Updated April 25, 1998 by Larry
Simmons