Highway to Tribulation - Endtime Prophecy
Part 4

DUAL PROPHETIC FULFILLMENTS

Oftentimes, an argument against endtime prophetic fulfillment is made that these things have already occurred. That Theological viewpoint is known as preterism. In fact throughout the Bible, there are events which occur twice and even more often. Take for example the most glaring example of multiple prophetic fulfillment and that would be the 1st and 2nd coming of Christ. If you factor in the coming of Jesus to rapture the Church, that makes a total of 3 times. Since He doesn't actually come right down to the earth, that may be stretching the point, but not by much.

The concept of Heaven is, in a sense, the Garden of Eden phase II. Adam, our earthly father, through whom we received "Original Sin" was given a second chance and by extension, we also, through the "2nd Adam", Jesus. The Temple at Jerusalem was destroyed on exactly the same day of the same month the first and second times although there was a 400 year gap between destructions; another type of dual fulfillment. Chances are the 3rd Temple will be destroyed on that same day of the month.

The description of Antiochus Epiphanes desecrating the Temple is a nearly picture perfect representation of the coming Anti-christ and his desecration of the 3rd Temple. Yet another encore performance.

The 2 witnesses of the Great Tribulation will be an encore appearance of them both, whether Elijah and Moses or Enoch and Moses.

Rome itself is spoken of as having been, not being and then being again in Revelation. Another encore.

Babylon, buried in the dust of time is resurrected in the endtime even if only as a spiritual empire. However, there are some Biblical scholars who see a robust future for Babylon as a real world entity. In fact, present day Iraq is comprised of much of the old Babylon. Today this territory encompasses millions of people, trillions of dollars of oil wealth and until recently a formidable military presence in the region. Saddam Hussein apparently believed he was the re-incarnation of Nebuchadnezzar himself.

The old argument against lightning striking in the same place twice has to be countered with "History Repeats Itself" when it comes to matters of prophecy.

BACK TO BABYLON

In fact, in some ways the major prophetic pronouncements can only be fulfilled by dual fulfillment of prophecy. In order for the great statue of Nebuchadnezzar's dream to be destroyed by the Messianic Kingdom, all the empires represented in the statue must be present when Christ returns. How can this be?

If we start with the Golden Head of Nebuchadnezzar's dream statue, we find parallels to our modern society that are blatant. Babylonians prized beauty, youth, wealth and social and political stature. That sounds very much like a description of society today. The desire for "Fame" was in a sense the impetus for the original attempt to build the tower of Babel. (Read Genesis 11:3&4) In the King James it says they set about building the tower to make a name for themselves, to be people of repute. They said, "...let us make us a name...". In the Living Bible, it states they wanted to build "..a proud, eternal monument to themselves." That same spirit was at work in Nebuchadnezzar when he later built a 90 foot high golden statue in honor of himself and commanded that all bow down before it in worship. Virtually all pagan and occult religions are sprung from this "Golden" fountainhead. This spirit of Babylon is further identified by John the Revelator as "Mystery Babylon". He is speaking here of a Babylon that was far in the future from his time on Patmos. Again, as just mentioned the pivotal role that Babylon is now playing as a political, economic and destabilizing military wild-card cannot be overestimated. So, we have a Spiritual Babylon and Physical Babylon with us today.

The next statue part, the arms and chest of Silver, Medo-Persia, are modern day Iran. Not a day goes by that they aren't making global headlines as a top producer of the world's oil and as a sabre-rattling bully, scrambling to be the biggest, baddest player in the Middle East. It's plain to see they are supplying weapons and training for the enemies of the West and in concert with Iraq and Syria are a giant problem for the rest of the world. There is a strong belief that Iran and Syria took possession of the infamous "Weapons of Mass Destruction" during the months before America attacked Saddam Hussein in the current Gulf War. During the first Gulf War, Saddam flew 500 Military fighter jets to Iran and was allowed by the Iranians to park them there to avoid their certain destruction by the U.S. and Coalition Forces. It doesn't take a great leap of intellect (except by the overwhelmingly liberal press) to make the connection between that event and the near certainty that Iran/Syria are holding onto WMD which Saddam shipped to them before Gulf War II commenced.

That brings us to Greece, the belly and thighs of brass. What possible influence could lovely old ancient Greece have on current world events? Have you heard of the Olympics? This Greek invention was resurrected a century ago and is now responsible for an illusion of Global Unity and Harmony on a scale unparalleled in human history. Furthermore, Democracy, a Greek invention, is now the guiding light and overwhelming political force that is being ushered in and even forced on countries that may or may not wish to be democratic. ( check out www.danpeek.com/ministry/Why are Muslims so opposed to Democracy?)

Next come the legs of Iron; Rome. In a sense Rome has never died. It just became a spirit. The spirit of Rome is with us even today. Firstly, preserved in the Roman Catholic Church, the political and economic powerhouse with Global reach and influence. The founding of the New World, even as far as the Phillipines and parts of the Orient were done under the guiding hand of Roman Catholicism, the Jesuits and other orders of the cloth. When Constantine declared Christianity the State Religion and amalgamated the two, though Rome as a Military empire declined and fell, in the words of a historian, "Catholicism has kept the rotting corpse of Rome alive for the past 1600 years." However, as John describes the Roman Empire in Revelation, it physically resurrects. When Pope John Paul II died a few years ago, virtually every nation on earth was represented at his funeral and Kings, Queens, Presidents, Prime Ministers and high government officials of every stripe knelt before him. At virtually every Papal audience, the one being given the audience must bow and kiss the ring of the Pope. That gives him a rank and status above those who kneel before him. This goes for all leaders of all nations, regardless of their rank or title. "...the kings of the earth have committed fornication..." Revelation 18:3

Finally, we come to the feet and toes of iron and clay. The influence of Rome can never be overestimated as a cultural, societal and governmental pattern for the entire world. Our own country, was founded on Roman principles. The government, architecture and even the art of early America were copied wholesale from the Roman Empire. The concept of "Senators" as an elitist body and "Representatives" as speaking for the common man came from Rome. The President, was in essence a proxy emperor, based on the "good" emperors of the more benificent years of the ancient empire. Note the governmental architecture of Washington and even small town America as being of Neo-Classical or Faux Roman design. The Capitol building, the various monuments scattered around the city are virtually all of Roman Architecture. Often, leaders were painted in the style of Emperors. But even far from our shores, the Roman design is seen in capitols around the globe.

The influence of this Romanized pattern is descernible throughout the known world. Virtually all countries and continents have felt the footprint of European or American dominion. The rule of law, the pattern of governance transmitted by Europe to North, Central and South America, Africa, Asia and Australia are rooted in the Roman Empire which not only conquered and controlled most of modern day Europe, but have continued like a living organism to grow in every place that Europe or her proxies conquered.

In thinking about the question of the identity of the clay, there are innumerable theories. I have pondered this issue for years and would like to share my own view on the subject. The iron of course is the Roman influence. However, I believe the clay represents Democracy. If you think long and hard about all the previous Empires, they were not ruled "by the people". Even in Greece and Rome, the democratic ideal was just that; an unrealized dream. Even in our own so-called Democracy, we do not as the people have control over issues. The word Democracy means literally "Mob Rule". In other words, what the majority of people want, they shall have. Yet, time and time again, the majority is overruled in our form of government which is actually a Rebublic; a type of government where representatives of the people decide what is best for the people. But be that as it may, we have been conditioned to be a world that is ruled not by Emperors, Kings or Dictators, but by the ballot box.

Beginning with the American Revolution and continuing through the French and Russian Revolutions, the shackles of Monarchy were being thrown off "The People". I believe that was the beginning of this curious mixture of the Iron or Romanized form of government and the Clay, the rule of "The People". We now see this type of governance being transported around the world. Our President has declared it is our duty to install Democracy throughout the world. The Gulf War has been a showplace for this new way of installing Democracy. With the might and power of the iron sword of Rome, Democracy is being established throughout the world. But as the mixed results of this new type of enforced Democracy have shown the outcome is not always as desired. Hamas, the Palestinian Terrorist Organization won the first democratic elections held and in Iraq a precarious balance between Shiite and Sunni Muslims threatens to destabilize their fledgeling democracy. This could be emblematic of the poor adhesion between the Iron and Clay, the power of Rome and the power of the People at odds with one another.

In any case, world events will conspire to draw all the nations and peoples together for the common good. As I write this, the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression is rattling the entire world. I heard at least one financial reporter declare that the world needs one person to lead, one voice for everyone to heed and follow and that this person would be the rallying point for all the markets and banking systems to align themselves with and thus walk out of this crisis. Because the world is so closely tied together, everyone must be pulling on the rope together at the same time and in the same direction or all will be lost. I believe the Bible has given us a template for this "person" who will bring order out of the current chaos. "In the latter time....a king ...understanding dark sentences shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty....and through his policy also he shall cause craft (commerce/business) to prosper in his hand" Daniel 8:23&24 I believe the "dark sentences" are the confused and confusing situation that the world is in economically and because this man can understand the situation and fix it he will be incredibly powerful.

Again, we may be here for the foreshocks of this world-shaking crisis, but I do not believe we will be here for the worst of it or for the revealing of this "king of fierce countenance", the Anti-christ, Daniel 8:23.

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