THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN AND THE KINGDOM #12
Unique Signs Pointing to the Second Coming
The Roman Empire Will Be Revived
The Roman Empire was the most powerful and militarily
successful empire in history. The Scriptures repeatedly foretold
that the Roman Empire would rise again during the last days,
leading to the final crisis known as the Tribulation and the
Battle of Armageddon, which will usher in the millennial
kingdom. Both Daniel and the book of Revelation predicted that
the powerful empire that dominated the world in the days of
Christ would be revived during the years leading to the return of
the Messiah.
Daniel received an interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar's
remarkable prophetic dream about a gigantic metallic statue. This
statue represented the four great world empires that would rule
the world from the time of Daniel until the last days when Jesus
Christ would supernaturally destroy the last Gentile world empire
and establish His righteous millennial kingdom on earth. The
first three Gentile world empires - Babylon, "the head of gold,"
Medo-Persia, "the chest of silver," and Greece, "the thighs of
brass" - succeeded each other in turn exactly as God had revealed
to the king through Daniel's interpretation. The fourth Gentile
world empire, Rome, "the legs of iron," which succeeded the
Grecian Empire of Alexander the Great and his generals, was
prophesied to split into two portions, as symbolized by the two
legs. This prediction was fulfilled when the Roman Empire was
severed into a western empire under Rome and an eastern empire
under Constantinople.
And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as
iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron
that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and
bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of
potter's 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 sawest the iron mixed with miry
clay. 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. And whereas thou sawest 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. 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. (Daniel 2:40-44)
The Lord gave Daniel divine understanding to interpret the
king's vision that revealed the fourth empire, Rome, would be
revived in the last days in the form of a ten-nation confederacy
or superstate. The vision revealed that the ten "toes of the feet
were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be
partly strong, and partly broken." This correctly describes the
nations of modern Europe that would include both powerful and
weak member states. Significantly, these ten future nations will
unite into this ten-nation superstate and give their power to an
evil dictator, the Antichrist, for a period of time until God
destroys it as revealed in Daniel 7:8-9:
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. I beheld till the thrones were cast
down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was
white as snow.
The final portion of Daniel's vision of the metallic statue
confirmed that this confederacy will be destroyed suddenly at the
return of Jesus Christ when He establishes His own eternal
kingdom.
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. Forasmuch as thou sawest 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. (Daniel 2:44-45)
An additional fascinating prophecy is revealed in Daniel's
last sentence that Christ's return will supernaturally and
suddenly destroy, not only the "iron and clay" (the revived
Roman Empire), but also "the brass" (the revived Grecian Empire),
"the silver" (the revived Medo-Persian Empire), and "the gold"
(the revived Babylonian Empire). Therefore, students of prophecy
should closely watch the political, economic, and military
activities of the European Union, Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq.
All four of these ancient empires will play crucial prophetic
roles in the dramatic strategic events of the last days in the
final crisis of the Tribulation.
(The Arab nations will form a union with Egypt as spear-head.
This will be the "king of the south" of Daniel 11:40-45. The
"king of the north" will be the Beast Empire of a Roman/Babylon
Mystery religion Europe. The king of the south will "push at" the
king of the north, the king of the north will come against the
king of the south, destroy or cause to be ineffective. The king
of the north will then enter the Holy Land, put its armies around
Jerusalem, destroy that city, scatter the people of Judah, and so
the Great Tribulation will start - going into Daniel 12 - and to
the day of the resurrection - Keith Hunt)
In 1991, the leaders of Europe signed the Maastricht Treaty,
which consolidated the fifteen nations of the European Union into
the world's first true superstate. Both the prophecy of
Daniel (Daniel 7) and John's predictions (Revelation 13 and 17)
confirm that the Roman Empire would be revived in the final days.
In 1957, after two devastating world wars and the death of
fifty million people, the political leaders of Europe held a
conference to plan an unprecedented European superstate, creating
a unique confederation between the major nations of Western
Europe for the first time since the Roman emperors. Initially six
European countries signed the 1957 Treaty of Rome and laid the
foundation for the future United States of Europe. A powerful
European statesman, Henri Spaak, the former secretary-general of
NATO, admitted during a BBC documentary on the European Union:
"We felt like Romans on that day. . . . We were consciously
re-creating the Roman Empire once more."
Now fifteen nations comprise the EU: Austria, Belgium,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, and the
United Kingdom.
(Since Jeffrey wrote this book in 2001, the United Europe has
mushroomed in the number of nations that belong to it - Keith
Hunt)
The European Union has evolved into an economic, political,
and potentially, a powerful military colossus that will dominate
world events in the near future. The emerging European
superstate is ruled by the appointed president of the European
Commission together with the twenty-one non-elected members who
create the rules and taxes that administer the EU from the
thirteenth floor of the Berlaymont, an enormous government
building in Brussels, Belgium. The directly elected European
Parliament has 626 members and has gradually increased its
executive powers over laws and taxation since the Treaty of
Amsterdam (May 1, 1999). The 1991 Maastricht Treaty (Treaty of
the European Union) solidified the unification of the nations
occupying the territory of the ancient Roman Empire through its
creation of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The Maastricht
Treaty provided for the creation of the world's first
international currency, the Euro, as well as for the European
Central Bank and the Common Foreign and Security Policy. The
political consolidation of the EU has produced a common European
citizenship and passport, a single High Court, a European Central
Bank and currency, with a common foreign policy defended by a
European army. Joint European political, economic, and military
control has produced the first unified power in Europe since the
days of ancient Rome.
It is significant to note that former German Chancellor
Helmut Kohl revealed a plan by the major powers of the European
Union (France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Spain) to unite
politically, economically, and militarily, as well as to
surrender their individual sovereignty. This plan suggests that
this inner circle of five powers will be surrounded by the other
European Union members who will unite economically but retain
some political sovereignty - at least initially. Then, the plan
envisions another five key members of the superstate eventually
submerging their national sovereignty as they join in a
ten-nation confederation. The outer circle of additional nations
of the European Union will retain some of their political
autonomy during the transition period.
The Western European Union (WEU) was created in 1954 as
another key European organization responsible for coordination of
European military strategy. The WEU originally had six members -
Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and
Luxembourg - and now includes Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece.
There is a powerful move within the European Union to have the
WEU replace NATO and provide for joint European defense
themselves. To further this project, Britain and France have
created a 100,000-man rapid reaction military force that provides
an important initial step toward the creation of a powerful
European military force that can act independently from the
Unites States and NATO.
(It is only going to be 10 nations united together to fight
Christ on his return. Those 10 giving their mind and strength to
the "beast man" may not be known until we get closer to the
return of Christ. So it may not be until during the "Day of the
Lord" that the 10 form together, with the kings of the East
[Revelation 16] to try and fight Jesus and His armies. Such will
be the deceptions on the earth, that the most powerful nations
then in control of the earth will literally try to make war with
Christ - Keith Hunt)
.....................
Note:
All of this truth about the Last resurrected Holy Roman Empire
can be found in many in-depth studies on this Website, under
"prophecy" and "end times" - Keith Hunt
To be continued
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