The antichrist will the leader of a world empire that rises out of a confederacy of 10 kings from the leftovers of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was huge and very powerful. Revelation 13:7 says And it was given unto him (the beast) to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
The antichrist, as we said last time, is depicted as a beast with 7 heads and 10 horns and get his power and influence from satan (the dragon). He will have worldwide popularity and power, a universal appeal to the world. He will be inspired by satan and his origins will be from hell.
In the bible, a horn is representative of power. The 10 horns are 10 kings that come from the old Roman Empire. Revelation 17:12-13 And the ten horns which you saw 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.
The beast’s reign is only 3 and half years, thank God. It says the ten kings have one mind and give their strength and power to the beast. Daniel had visions of this in the Old Testament. Daniel 2 talks about Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and the vision of the statue of a man, made of various elements. In verses 31-45 it says this;
31 Thou, O king, saw, and beheld a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.
32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
34 Thou saw 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.
35 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 threshing floors; 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.
36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
38 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. Thou art this head of gold.
39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things: and as iron that breaks all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
41 And whereas you saw 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 saws the iron mixed with miry clay.
42 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.
43 And whereas you saw 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.
44 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.
45 Forasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, 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.
We talked last time about the stone cut without hands, who is Jesus Christ, that smashes the statue and establishes a kingdom that will last forever. Praise God! Remember church, in all of this, Jesus has won the victory! Never forget that. We win church! For all these interesting, somewhat scary at times, studies of the end times, never forget that truth.
So, these various elements within this statue represent the various kingdoms and empires that rose up one after another from the Medes and the Persians to the Greeks and then the Romans. The Romans were very powerful. They created a method of warfare that was unstoppable. They prospered for a long time until it became corrupted on the inside and was finally overrun by the Huns and the Barbarian Hordes of Northern Europe.
Daniel explains there are sections of the statue that are made of mixed materials. This is interesting. The European Union is a significant part of this. In the last decade we’ve seen a massive migration of Muslims coming from the Middle East into the EU. It’s quite possible that the mixed materials described in Daniel’s vision are a mixing together of the Muslim and European cultures that is happening right now in Europe.
The Muslims are not blending with or assimilating to the European culture. They are very much keeping their own culture. Did you know, there is a billboard on the side of the M5 motorway, in England, that says “There is only one God and his name is Allah”. If you put up a billboard saying anything regarding Jesus, let alone that He is the only true God, you would face significant legal ramifications. And this is in England! There was a woman who was arrested for simply praying, not protesting, she had no banners or signs or flags, she was simply praying outside an abortion clinic. And she wasn’t even praying out loud. She was arrested for praying in her head! In England?!
We just watched the Coronation of King Charles. Wow! What a ceremony. And wasn’t it amazing to hear the Bible read and given as a gift to the King with the words;
That was heard all around the world by millions watching. I encourage you to pray for King Charles, that those words would sink in. You know, God’s Word never returns void, it always has an impact. Let’s agree that those words spoken over King Charles will have a lasting and radical impact on him, his family and subsequently, the United Kingdom and Commonwealth.
Anyway, back to the antichrist! The mixed elements Daniel speaks of, clay and iron, could also be referring to trans-humanism. Say what? Yep. Science Fiction is becoming reality. They are already beginning to merge humans with mechanics and computers. Implantation is coming. Computer chips that are implanted into the body to monitor health etc. are just the forerunners to a much greater implementation of computer technology and human bodies being merged together. We’re going to talk more about this later!
Not again, please Lord! We jest, somewhat. The idea of Arnie coming back again is a little too much I'm sure you'll agree. And now, you might be thinking, ok, you’ve really lost me now! This is crazy talk! I know it sounds crazy doesn’t it! But sad to say, it’s already happening. As we’ve said before, we don’t need to fear. We don’t need to panic. We need to be in a place where none of this surprises us because we’ve studied the Word and we know what’s coming, but we also know the outcome for those who are in Christ Jesus. So don’t be discouraged, be excited! The King of all kings is on our side!
We’ll be back next week for more. Have a blessed week.
Upstream Ministries
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