That empire, which we usually refer to as the Roman Confederation, will be made up of ten nations. Some prophecy teachers see them as ten power structures, or as ten regions. The prophecy refers to them as kings:

"The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They will have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast."  (Revelation 17 12-13)

At present the European Union has id members, and more nations are negotiating entry into the confederation. The EC, as it is at present, is not the prophesied "Beast Con­federation." There are upheavals ahead. The 10-nation confederation will not happen until after the Beast (Anti­christ) is revealed at the beginning of the Tribulation.

What leads us to believe that the Beast confederation is indeed a revived Roman empire arc the prophecies of Daniel 7, and Revelation 13 and 17. Daniel says:

"After this as 1 was looking in the night visions, and then there was a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had huge iron teeth. It devoured and crushed, and trampled down the rest with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.

"I was thinking about the horns, and then, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots before it; and there and then, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things ....

"Then I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, extremely terrifying, with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, which devoured, crushed, and trampled the rest with its feet; and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and about the other horn which came up, before which three fell- that is, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke great words, whose appearance was more imposing than his associates.

"I was watching, and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was made in favor of the set-apart people of Elyon, the Most High, and the time came for the set-apart people to take posses­sion of the kingdom.

"He gave this explanation: 'The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom that will appear on the earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms, and will devour the whole earth, treading it down and crushing it. As for the ten horns, they are ten kings who arise out of this king­dom. After them another king will arise. He will be dif­ferent from the earlier ones; and he will subdue three kings. And he speaks out as an adversary of the Most High and wears down the saints - the people - of the Most High, and he intends to change seasons and times and law; and they are given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time (i.e., 3½ years). "  (Daniel 7:7-8, 19-25)

 

 

the beast of revelation

The Revelation pictures the Antichrist's kingdom as the final "head" of a beast that has seven heads - seven antichrist empires.

"The beast that you saw was, and is no more, and is about to come up out of the abyss (the bottomless pit) and to go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth will wonder, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast, that he was and is no more, and yet is to come.

"Here is the mind that has wisdom: The seven heads are
seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. And the beast which once was and is no more, is himself also an eighth ruler, and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction "  (Revelation 17:8-11)

The seven mountains or kings are empires which have supported the abominable woman, Mystery Babylon The five fallen were Assyria, Egypt, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. The sixth, the one that existed during John's writing, was Rome. The seventh, the one to come, is the endtime Antichrist kingdom (the fourth, the brutal iron kingdom of Daniel 2 & 7). John also recorded:

"One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast." (Revelation 13:3)

This head is the sixth (the Roman), which is healed (revived in the endtimes) to become the seventh empire. That seventh empire is made up often kings who surrender their total sovereignty to the Beast leader. This leader is the "other horn" of Daniel 7, who prevails for 3½ years until the Ancient of Days the Messiah -comes).

Today we are witnessing Europe, pregnant with the fetus of a beast in her womb. The days are fast ticking off till she gives birth. Europe's birthpains will witness an upheaval and breakup of the present EU, and the birth of the ten-headed beast, led by the Man of Sin (Anti­christ).

The signs in Europe are all an indication that the hour is near when ...

"the Master Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God."           (I Thessalonians 4:16)

"But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."               (Luke 21:28)

 

              HARRY POTTER FILM: "IT'S MAGIC!" 

                WORLD PREMIERE BEWITCHES AUDIENCES

The first HP film, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, " opened on 5 Nov in UK, and it was reported that Harry Potter and his flying broomstick were sweeping away box-office records.

The film, which cost £241 million to make, is tipped to become the most successful in cinema history. Pro­jected profits of well over £1 billion ($A 3 billion) will far surpass Titanic's box-office record of £450 million ($A 1.3 billion).

Pottermania was gripping London, and the movie's week­end debut in Britain earned a record £15m. In America, the film netted £75m in its first week alone.

The film director, Chris Columbus said, "I think the film should strike a chord with the whole world, especially at the moment. It's about loyalty, bravery and good over­coming evil."

Ah! There's the deception - "good witchcraft" overcoming "evil witchcraft," or white magic overcoming black !! But black or white, it is satanic.

Today, witchcraft is enjoying immense popularity, thanks in part to Harry Potter's creator, Joanne Rowling. It is true, the Harry Potter phenomenon employs a lot of fantasy! But the Sacred Scriptures warns about any fascination or involvement with witchcraft and the occult.        

When you enter the land which YHWH your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. There shall not be found among you any­ one who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who uses divination, one who practices witch­ craft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things is an abomination to YHWH; and because of these detest­able things YHWH your God is driving them out before you."  (Deuteronomy 18:9-12)  

 

          COULD BECOME FIRST BILLIONAIRE WRITER

DEC 2001. The creator of Harry Potter, J K Rowling, is earning enough monetary magic to become the wealthiest name in literature.

Joanne Rowling received an advance of just £2,000 for the first story, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, published in 1997. Since then her books have sold 124 million copies worldwide.

(Postscript. Aug 2007: More than 325 million copies of the seven Harry Potter novels have been sold so far.)

The sale of hundreds of different toys, clothes, computer games and stationery items linked to the movie versions of her books will earn her more than the royalties from the books. In addition to a down-payment of £40m, Rowling is earning 5p for every £1-worth of Harry Potter train sets which retails for about £90 in Britain. Three Harry Potter toys are predicted to be on the Christmas top ten sales chart.

Warner Bros, the Hollywood studio which has produced the first Potter film, believes the franchise of the film versions could be worth more than £700m.

Rowling is also believed to be receiving 1% of the box-office takings of the movie, in addition to a down-payment of several million dollars for the film rights.

Rowling interrupted the writing of her fifth Potter book to buy a £600,000 house in Perthshire. The price is said to be equal to about a week's income for her.

It is estimated that the rights to the Potter name could be worth more than £100m.

If the money continues to flow in from the seven books she is writing and the films, Rowling could become the world's first billionaire author. Some claim that Rowling is now "the biggest brand name in literature since Shakespeare."

The world sees Joanne Rowling as a great success story. The Bible says:

"What profit is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose his own soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"  (Mark 8 36-37)

Joanne Rowling has created a fascination for witchcraft in the minds of millions of children around the world. And parents who encourage their children to Potterize, could be stumbling their children, and leading them down the Broad Way that leads to destruction. It's an awful thing to promote a love for witchcraft. Call it fantasy if you will, but the Messiah, Jesus Christ, said:

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been thrown into the sea."  (Mark 9 42)

How blessed are the little ones of whom it can be said:

"From childhood you have known the sacred Scriptures which are able to make you wise in respect to salvation through faith in the Messiah, Y'shua." (2 Timothy 3 15)

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EGYPT IN BIBLE PROPHECY

BY BOB HINES, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

EGYPT, a land of pyramids, sphinxes and pharaohs; the Nile river and idyllic scenes of swaying palm trees in a desert oasis.

To Christians, Egypt reminds us of Joseph and of long years of slavery for the Israelites; of a little baby called Moses, floating down the Nile in a basket, rescued by Pharaoh's daughter, and later leading the Israelites out of captivity on the start of their journey into the promised land; of the stubbornness of Pharaoh as he refused to let God's people go and the subsequent judgments that God bestowed upon Pharaoh and the Egyptian people.

Egypt is considered by many to be the greatest of the ancient civilisations. Even its conquerors saw Egypt as being the source of all wisdom. Roman Emperors traveled to Egypt to view its monuments taking some back to decorate Rome.

EGYPT

Capital City:             Cairo

Population:                68 million +

Chief of State:            President Mohd Hosni Mubarak (October 14, 1981)

Prime Minister:        Ahmed Nazif (from July 14, 2004)

Government Type:   Republic

Ethnic groups:          Eastern Hamitic (Egyptians,

                                    Bedouins & Berbers 99% Others 1%
Religions:                   Muslim (Mostly Sunni) 94% Coptic

                                    Christian and other 6%
Military:                     Manpower available - 11 million +

Expenditure - $3.28 billion

Boarded to the north by The Mediterranean Sea, to the south by Sudan, to the east by the Gaza Strip, Israel and The Red Sea, and to the west by Libya, Egypt has always been a central part of the trade routes throughout the Middle East. Originally Egypt consisted of two separate parts, Upper and Lower Egypt, much as in later years Israel consisted of both Judah and Israel.

United under the first Egyptian Dynasty around 3150 B.C., aside from brief periods of occupation by other world powers, Egypt continued to be ruled by the Pharaohs. In 332 B.C. Alexander the Great conquered Egypt. Upon Alexander's death his empire was divided up between four generals, and Ptolemy I ruled this portion of his Empire. Ptolemy's descendants, the Macedonian Dynasty, then ruled until 30 B.C., until the death of the last of the Macedonians, Cleopatra. Under the Roman Emperor Augustus (the Emperor at the time of Jesus' birth) , Egypt became a Roman province. When the Roman Empire was split into the Eastern and Western divisions, the Egyptian city of Alexandria became the capital city of the Western division whilst Byzantium (renamed Constantinople, then Istanbul) became the capi­tal of the Eastern division.

Following the Roman occupation, the Byzantine's ruled the area until their armies were eventually defeated allowing the Middle East to be conquered by the Arabs in 642 A.D. Since then, Egypt was successively ruled by the Turkish Ottoman Empire, the French under Napoleon and then the British.

Following World War I, and much unrest as the people struggled for Independence, Britain allowed Egypt sover­eignty under King Faud, but this was superficial Indepen­dence only.

During World War II, the Egyptian Wafd party supported the Allies with the understanding that Egypt would be given full independence once the war was won. When Britain failed to fulfil its promises, riots and strikes were organised by the Muslim brotherhood which even­tually resulted in Britain withdrawing their troops from Alexandria and the Canal Zone in 1947. In 1952 a revolution occurred which saw the Wafd party win parliamentary elections. In 1956 the Monarchy was abolished and Gamal Abd-Al Nasser took over the ruler-ship of Egypt. Nasser, vehemently opposed to Israel, supported the for­mation of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and this, and his criticism of the US, resulted in Egypt forming alliances with the Soviet Union.

The 1967 Six Day War against Israel was an embarrassing time for Egypt and Nasser. The defeat of the Arab nations by tiny Israel resulted in Israel's occupation of Syria's Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the Egyptian Sinai. However, such was the general support of Nasser by the populace that he continued in power until his death in 1970 of a heart attack. Nasser's vice-president and chosen successor was Anwar Sadat. Surprisingly Sadat expelled the Soviets and set about reforming the economy.

In 1973, Sadat, along with Syria, launched a surprise attack against Israel. Timed to occur on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Israel was taken completely by surprise. Although this war again saw Israel emerge the victor, Sadat emerged as a hero, both to his own people and the Arab nations.

In 1977, Sadat made another surprise move. He traveled to Jerusalem waving an olive branch of peace. This move resulted in his own people becoming outraged, but he became a hero in the West instead. Egypt became the first Arab state to recognise Israel's right to exist, and subse­quent agreements signed at Camp David resulted in Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Militant Arab groups now began calling for Sadat's over­throw and even his assassination. In 1981 Sadat was indeed assassinated during a military parade. Hosni Mubarak, Sadat's vice-president now assumed the role of President. Under his leadership Mubarak has been able to maintain the peace treaty with Israel whilst at the same time repair diplomatic relationships with at least the moderate Arab countries.  He sided with the Allies in support of Kuwait in the Gulf War and now plays a central part in Middle East politics. Mubarak now appears to have the popular support of the Egyptian people, gaining 94% of the voted in a referen­dum in 2000.

EGYPT'S  ENDTIME  ROLE

What role does this nation play in the Last Day's events as foretold in the Bible? Considering the major role Egypt has played in the history of the Middle East it is strange that this country and Syria are NOT listed in Ezekiel's list of the nations who form an alliance to wage war against Israel in the last days. (Ezekiel chapters 38 & 39).  But prophecies of Egypt's role in the endtimes, are given in Daniel 11:40-43; Jeremiah 46:7-9; and Ezekiel 29:2-16. These Scriptures show that Egypt will once more come against Israel. In 2000, the Egyptian ambassador to Israel was withdrawn and in May of this year (2001), Egypt publicly stated that, in spite of the peace treaty, she would join with Syria in any war against Israel.

As seen by this and other recent statements, we can expect Egypt to break her peace treaty with Israel and join with Syria in attacking Israel.

Egypt and Syria, in fact, have constantly stated that they will support each other and as we have seen in a previous article this will result in Syria's capital, Damascus, being completely destroyed. As sad as it will be, for no doubt many will lose their lives in these battles, there will have a wonderful ultimate outcome for Egypt. Isaiah 19 prophecies of a time when Egypt will come to know the Lord:-

"When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors. He will send them a Saviour and Defender, and He will rescue them. So the LORD will make Himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the LORD."  (Isaiah 19 20-21)

As this is something that has never occurred in the past it must therefore be a yet future event.  Isaiah continues his prophecy:

"On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyp­tians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, 'Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance'."  (Isaiah 19:23-25)

At this point in history it is almost impossible for us to believe that Israel's enemies, Egypt and Syria, will come to know the Lord let alone become one with Israel. Yet that is what God's Word tells us will happen and that this coalition of three nations will be a blessing on the earth. How sad it is that many will die before this wonderful prophecy is fulfilled. Friends it would seem that the battle leading to the salvation of Egypt and Syria is not far away. Pray for these nations and their peoples so that many will be saved to be able to rejoice with their new found Saviour, Jesus Christ.

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