Chapter 4 -
Modern Nations in the Bible
Before I begin, please remember that fulfillment of prophecy cannot be stated as fact until it has come to pass. I've studied a lot of theories on prophecy and
what I've written here is what could be possible based on historical and modern day facts, but I will never say all of this is
absolute fact until we see it happen. Some of it is absolutely certain, but some is not, as you see below.
Some of the statements made on this page are absolute fact! As follows:
There are and will be 4 "kings" or nations and their rulers who will exist at the time of the return of Jesus.
They will be identifiable by the images and statements about them in Daniel 7.
The 4th king and his kingdom will be destroyed when Christ returns, but the other three (lion, bear and leopard) will
live on into the 1000 year reign of Jesus on the earth.
The 4 kingdoms will become 1, ruled by the Antichrist in Revelation 13.
The 10 horns of the 4th king (representing 10 kings that will align with him and give him their power) are the same
representation as the 10 toes of Daniel 2's final kingdom, Revelation 13's combined kingdom, and Revelation 17's 10 kings that give their power
to the Antichrist.
Along these same lines, some of the statements made on this page are speculative, as follows:
Although it's almost a certainty, we can't know for sure that Islam will be the 4th beast/king/kingdom.
Although it's almost a certainty, we can't know for sure of the identity of the lion, bear and leopard.
Although it's almost a certainty, we can't know for sure that Islam is the 4th horseman of Revelation 6.
When we combine the identities, as speculated in this article, the modern nations of Daniel 7, with the final empire of Daniel 2,
the horses/spirits of Rev 6 and Zech 6,
and the combined kingdoms in Revelation 13 and 17, we have a perfect union of puzzle pieces making up the amazing picture
God painted of the End Time.
Having said all that, please remember that it's very important to study and understand the prophecies so when they
come to pass, in the past or in the future, we recognize them and understand what is happening.
Watch and be prepared... don’t turn away because you don’t understand.
I've heard so many people use "we can't know the day nor the hour" as an excuse to ignore prophecy and not even
try to understand it because it's too hard.
The Lord told us to watch (click here) and be prepared!
Be obedient and take the time and make the effort to understand!
Rev 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
Matt 25:13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
We are NOT IN DARKNESS that that day should overtake us as a thief! Only those in the world will be overtaken as a thief...
1 Thess 5:4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
We don't know the exact day or hour, but we will know the approximate time! We should know when the signs appear, and should instruct others, and should be ready when the time comes...
The United States, Britain, Russia and Germany are in the bible! Believe
it?
God chose to use symbols to represent many things concerning prophecy in the
bible. He did this to “seal up” the prophecy until the time that he wished
us to know; the time of the end.
Dan 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and
sealed till the time of the end.
The symbols are easily understood now that we can recognize them for what they
are.
Daniel 7 speaks of four beasts that rose up out of the sea.
Dan 7:1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream
and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum
of the matters. 2 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and,
behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. 3 And four great
beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. 4 The first was like a
lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and
it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a
man's heart was given to it. 5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a
bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of
it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much
flesh. 6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the
back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was
given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast,
dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it
devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and
it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. 8
I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little
horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots:
and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking
great things.
The beasts symbolize kings, or nations along with the rulers of the nations as
we know them today. When we see a beast in prophecy it is almost always
referring to a nation and/or the ruler of that nation. Sometimes it will
refer to the nation itself and sometimes it will be referring to the ruler.
In order to understand this prophecy, we have to first understand that the
beasts are referring to modern nations.
Dan 7:17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall
arise out of the earth.
We’re told when these nations will exist.
Dan 7:9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did
sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure
wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.
The event in Daniel 7:9 is the return of Jesus Christ. He will return to put
down all government and establish the kingdom of God. This means that these
kings (nations) will exist at the time of Christ’s return.
A very popular theory for this passage is that
it is a parallel prophecy of Daniel 2, where it lists the five kingdoms that
will rule the known world from the time of Babylon to the return of Christ.
This cannot be true for a couple reasons.
First, there are five sections to the statue in Daniel 2 and there are only four beasts in Daniel 7. The math does not match up... "they"
try to say that the last section, the iron mingled with clay of Daniel 2, is just part of the 4th section, but the 5th section is definitely a
separate section with a mixture of two components, not a single component like the 4th section, and it's separated in both the vision and
the interpretation given, just like the first 4 sections are.
Second, if we continue to read Daniel 7: v11 I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even
till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. 12 As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had
their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. We see that the fourth beast, the little horn
(the Antichrist and his one world government), is destroyed and the other three beasts (the lion, bear, and leopard) have their dominion
taken away but they live on for a while. If this is a parallel prophecy with Daniel 2, then the empires (Babylon, Media/Persia, Greek, Roman)
would all still have to be in existence when Christ returns, but they are not and can not. Daniel 2 is definitely a different prophecy
with kingdoms differing from the kingdoms we see in Daniel 7. The common factor is that they end at the same place with the return of the Lord.
Third, in Daniel 2:39 we see that it's AFTER Babylon, that another kingdom shall arise, and another THIRD kingdom, which shall bear rule
over all the earth... These are kingdoms which ruled the known world, not separate nations of the world that exist at the same time. So we
know for certain that these are consecutive kingdoms and are not the same nations we find in Daniel 7. But, like other prophecies discussed
in this book, the two have a common intersection at the end. When the stone smote the image and became a great mountain; verses 44 and 45
give us the same declaration as we found in Daniel 7:9. It is the end of this age when the Lord returns, casts down the nations and the
governments of the world, and sets up His kingdom on the earth.
Lastly, in Revelation 13 we see that the four beasts of Daniel 7 become one beast, the united government of the Antichrist (The New World Order).
All four beasts exist at that time! They are not kingdoms of the past.
Why is this important? Because misunderstanding this leads to misunderstanding of the end time and causes us to interpret other prophecies incorrectly. It's very important to understand this so you can grasp the meaning of end time prophecy and really understand what the Lord told us, and what He told us to watch for.
So what does this prophecy show us?
The first beast is a lion, and had eagles wings coming out of it. What
nation today has the official symbol of the lion? Great Britain, or the
United Kingdom as we know it today. The UK official symbol is the lion, and
there are numerous statues of lions all over the UK because of the adoration of the lion
in Great Britain.
What current nation came out of the lion? The United States of America came out of
Britain. The amazing thing about this prophecy is; God predicted the US
declaration of independence 2400 years before it happened! “I beheld
till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and
made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.”
The Bald Eagle is the official symbol of the United States! But, the US
also has another symbol. A man: Uncle Sam. God wanted us to know
when the time was right, so He gave us so many clues that we could hardly miss!
The wings were plucked from the lion and a man’s heart was given to it.
Hello USA!
The second beast is a bear. Ever heard of the Russian bear? The bear
is the official animal symbol of Russia.
And Russia has and is playing a very prominent role in world affairs.
The third beast is a leopard with four heads and four wings of a fowl. The
leopard is the unofficial symbol of Germany and is a dearly loved “mystical”
creature of Germany with symbols in abundance in that country much like the lion
in Britain. “…and dominion was given to it.” Germany has been the dominant
nation in Europe for the last 100 years and Germany was the prominent leader of
the Holy Roman Empire (AKA the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation) for the
last 1200 years. The multiple heads on this beast likely portray the
number of times that nation will rise and fall. Germany’s Third Reich fell
with the defeat of Hitler in World War 2, and they are now in the Fourth Reich.
It’s interesting that the German Leopard Tank has become one of the
world’s foremost tanks. The four wings of a fowl very likely refer to the
Franco-German alliance. The official animal symbol of France is a rooster.
Another very interesting piece of information about this is that one of the
heads was wounded unto death; and his deadly wound was healed. In
Revelation we see the beasts again, but now they are all in one beast (the end
time one world government).
Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of
the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and
upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2 And the beast which I saw was like unto
a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth
of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound
was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
When Germany was defeated for the third time in less than 100 years
(Franco-German War, WW1 and WW2), she was cut in half with the Berlin wall to
ensure she would not ever again be strong enough to start another world war.
It was declared at that time, “Germany is dead. She will never rise
again.” This wound was healed on November 9, 1989 when the wall came down
and Germany is once again dominating Europe. Germany and its 4th
Reich was dead but now it is alive and thriving once again. The European
Union is one of the world’s number one economic powers, and Germany is by far
the strongest country among the nations of the European Union.
The fourth beast is different than the first three, dreadful and terrible, and
strong exceedingly. And it had ten horns. The ten horns are ten
kings.
Dan 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon
earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole
earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. 24 And the ten horns out
of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after
them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
These ten horns are the same as the ten toes from Daniel 2, and the ten kings
from Revelation 17. Revelation 17 tells us that these ten kings will give their
power to the Antichrist. We don’t know yet which union of nations or states
and/or leaders this will represent. We do know that a world leader (the
little horn from Daniel 7:8 above) will arise from this union and will take
power by “plucking” or “subduing” three kings, and he will, “speak great
things”, and he will “devour (conquer) the whole earth”. He will rule
until Jesus Christ Himself, who is the Ancient of Days, comes back to the earth.
This man will be what we call the Antichrist. He will be the leader of the
one world government that controls the nations of the earth in the end time.
He will be an evil man who deceives the world with promises of peace and
security.
Notice how Britain and Germany have pretty much succumbed to Islam and Russia has a large percentage of Muslims (10-15% in 2017)
compared to other non-Muslim countries. Once Islam reaches a critical mass in a country it exponentially grows faster and faster.
This shows us how close we are to the world God showed us in these prophecies!
The rise of Islam in Europe!
It is almost a certainty that Islam is represented by this fourth beast, and that the Antichrist
will be a Muslim as you will see in chapter 7.
One distinct possibility concerning the Antichrists identity is the Jordanian King Abdullah II.
There are several reasons for thinking this. One is that Daniel tells us that the Antichrist
will come from a small people (Dan 11:23). Jordan is a very small kingdom and could fit this
description. Two, Jordan is one of the countries that the Bible tells us explicitly will "escape
out of his hand", meaning it will not be one of the countries that the Antichrist conquers. This
could easilly mean that it's where he came from, had no quarrel with his rule, and as such has
no need to conquer. Three, he is a descendant of Muhammad, and would be accepted by the majority
of Muslims as their Mahdi. Four, the little horn of Daniel will obtain the kingdom by flatteries
and in the name of peace. Dan 8:25 shows us that the Antichrist "by peace shall destroy many".
The Jordanian king is playing an ever increasing role in bringing about a peace treaty between
Israel and Palestine. This "peace" is of course a lie to lull the enemies of Islam into complacency
until they can conquer them. If he is instrumental in a peace agreement, it will be accepted by
the world which believes that "moderate" Islam is peaceful, and if he brings peace and an end
to the beheadings and violence by Isis, the world will clamour into his hand. He is definitely
a man worth watching...
The fourth beast also appears to be the
fourth Horseman of Revelation's fourth seal!
It's extremely likely that the United States, Britain, Russia and
Germany will be on the earth when it is, “the time of the end”. A ten
“king” union will produce the world leader known as the Antichrist, and he will
rule until Jesus returns. We also know how long this man will rule the
world, shown in the following passages:
Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and
blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Dan 7:25 And he shall 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.
In Old Testament verbiage, “a time and times and the dividing of time” means; a
year and two years and half a year, or three and a half years. Forty two
months also equals three and a half years. So we know that this period of
time will be three and a half years. This period of time will be the
second half of the final seven years as discussed further in other chapters of
this book.