{"id":3799,"date":"2010-06-01T06:50:50","date_gmt":"2010-06-01T14:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/?p=3799"},"modified":"2013-05-16T13:21:53","modified_gmt":"2013-05-16T21:21:53","slug":"islamic-antichrist-battle-of-two-books-will-europe-rise-up-or-collapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/religious-news\/islamic-antichrist-battle-of-two-books-will-europe-rise-up-or-collapse\/","title":{"rendered":"Battle of Two Books: Will Europe Rise Up or Collapse? Islamic Antichrist?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"European
\nEuropean Babylonian Unity Poster<\/p>\n

COGwriter<\/a><\/p>\n

Is there an Islamic Antichrist as opposed to a European one?\u00a0 A reader forwarded me a couple of articles related to author Joel Richardson who believes that Europe will not rise up and become the Beast power that the Bible warns about.\u00a0 Here is the beginning of one of them:<\/p>\n

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EU collapse: Doom for popular Bible prophesies?<\/span><\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
WND – May 30, 2010 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
By\u00a0Joel Richardson\u00a0[author of “The<\/strong> Islamic Antichrist<\/strong>“.]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

Nearly 20 years ago, I intently watched as a very popular Christian television prophecy teacher declared, “The present formation of the European Union is literally the fulfillment of Bible prophecy right before our eyes!” <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

According to this teacher, the creation of the European Union represented a biblically prophesied revived Roman Empire. Because the last-days empire of the Antichrist, as described in the books of Daniel and Revelation, is portrayed as a 10-nation alliance, this teacher confidently declared that when the number of EU member states reached 10, this would signal the imminent return of Jesus Christ. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Soon, the number of EU member states reached the magic number 10, just as this teacher had predicted. Then the number reached 11, and then 12. Soon there were 20. Today there are 27 member states. The teacher’s very confident predictions failed. <\/span><\/span><\/span>http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=160393<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are many problems with the above.\u00a0 But the one to mention here is that the Bible does not say that the Beast power will only have ten nations.\u00a0 Notice what the Bible actually states:<\/p>\n

12 The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. (Revelation 17:12-13)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The above prophecy is clear that the Beast power will be composed of ten kings who did not previously have a specific kingdom.\u00a0 Or in words, the prophecy in Revelation 17:12-13 is most certainly not teaching that the Beast power will be composed of ten nations in the form that they existed prior to some type of structural reorganization.\u00a0 The fact that some prophecy “experts” may have indicated otherwise does not in fact change the actual prophecy from the Bible.<\/p>\n

Joel Richardson also wrote:<\/p>\n

Since 1993, with the official formation of the European Union, many prophecy teachers have set their prophetic imagination like flint on Europe, confident that someday soon, the EU would invade the Nation of Israel and actually dominate the whole earth.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Surely we are witnessing the emergence of the restored Roman Empire that will ultimately come to be controlled by the Antichrist himself, they would declare. But the present harsh realities in Europe may soon cause all of this Euro-centric, restored Roman Empire prognosticating to come crashing down.<\/span><\/span><\/span>..<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As the world watches, the European Union seems to be teetering ever closer toward the brink of collapse with its massive debt crisis. Member nations are fighting to prop up the euro and maintain European unity through, you guessed it, a mega-billion dollar bailout. Meanwhile, Greece’s economic failure continues to metastasize across its borders. Numerous headlines across the globe are asking if the EU can survive. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, it is precisely because there will be problems in Europe that it will need a powerful leader to rise up and lead it.\u00a0 The Bible is clear that the union in the Beast’s territories will be “fragile” (Daniel 2:42-43).\u00a0 It also is clear that the Beast leader will be successful from a military perspective (Revelation 13:1-4).<\/p>\n

In contrast to Joel Richardson, let’s look at some of what the book 2012 and the Rise of the Secret Sect<\/a> teaches:<\/p>\n

There have been writings from various Catholics suggesting that prior to the rise of a \u201cGreat Monarch,\u201d Catholics will become lax in their religion and something will happen in Europe.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some believe that God will punish the nominal Catholics with civil unrest\u00a0and war in Europe… here already has been civil unrest in Europe…Some believe this civil unrest\u00a0will result in the rise of a militaristic leader\u00a0who will quell that particular violence, establish a new religious order, and reign with a pope who will perform miracles…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The descriptions of the Great Monarch\/Prince in many ways parallel the description of one the Bible refers to as the \u201cprince\u201d in Daniel 9:26\u201327, final \u201cKing of the North\u201d in Daniel 11:27\u201345…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And while many do not consider that the European Union\u00a0is much of a military power that perception is likely to change in or after 2013.<\/p>\n

Why 2013 or after?<\/p>\n

In 2013, the Europeans\u00a0are planning on having their own global positioning system (GPS), called Galileo, available for military applications…Because the Europeans\u00a0will be able to control Galileo, they will also likely be capable of derailing certain sophisticated U.S. military\u00a0applications.\u00a0 This will give the Europeans a unique defensive (as well as offensive) capability that no others on the planet will have.<\/p>\n

But there is more.\u00a0 The Europeans\u00a0now also have the world\u2019s leading-edge physics project called the Large Hadron Collider\u00a0(the world’s largest and highest-energy particle accelerator)…The Bible is clear that the final \u201cBeast\u00a0power\u201d (which will be primarily European) will have such unique military capabilities that the entire world will marvel (cf. Revelation 13:3\u20134).\u00a0 It appears that these capabilities are being developed now.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Which book is right?<\/p>\n

According to the Bible, it will be a European power that will rise up (Daniel 9:26-27).\u00a0 Notice what the book 2012 and the Rise of the Secret Sect<\/a> teaches:<\/p>\n

While there have been various understandings of the Daniel 9:26\u201327, notice what…Protestant\u00a0commentators basically correctly state (bolding<\/strong>\/italics<\/em> in source):<\/p>\n

Matthew Henrys Commentary: <\/em>It is here foretold that the people of the prince that shall come<\/em> shall be the instruments of this destruction, that is, the Roman armies, belonging to a monarchy yet to come\u2026That the desolation shall be total and final: He shall make it desolate, even until the consummation<\/em>, that is, he shall make it completely desolate…And when it is made desolate, it should seem, there is something more determined that is to be poured upon the desolate<\/em> (v. 27), and what should that be but the spirit of slumber<\/em>…<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Wycliffe Bible Commentary<\/em>: C. F. Keil\u00a0(Comm., in loco<\/em>) is correct in asserting that the prince<\/strong> is said to be coming<\/em> (habba’<\/em><\/strong>), because he has already been introduced and discussed in the prophecy of chapter 7…The Romans\u00a0who destroyed Jerusalem\u00a0(A.D. 70) were his people<\/strong> because they and he belong to the fourth stage (the Roman) of world empire (chs. 2; 7)…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The two commentaries <\/em>correctly identified this leader as one who will be part of a \u201cRoman Empire,\u201d and is also the leader warned about in Daniel 7:23\u201326…And lest some feel that the idea of a European deal with Israel\u00a0is far-fetched, even within Israel, many suggested such a deal.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Getting back to his interpretation of the Bible, Joel Richardson also wrote:<\/p>\n

In fact, going back to the first few centuries of the church, the consistent testimony of the early believers is that the Antichrist, his empire and his religion would arise from out of the Middle East, and not Europe. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That is simply not really the case.\u00a0 Here is more of what the book 2012 and the Rise of the Secret Sect<\/a> teaches:<\/p>\n

The first early writing that has been found suggests that a Roman, or the Roman Empire, is 666, was \u00a0by Irenaeus\u00a0(who was likely influenced by Polycarp).\u00a0 In the 2nd<\/sup> century, Irenaeus wrote:<\/p>\n

Then also Lateinos (LATEINOS) has the number six hundred and sixty-six; and it is a very probable [solution], this being the name of the last kingdom [of the four seen by Daniel].<\/p>\n

The late John Ogwyn\u00a0wrote this about 666:<\/p>\n

The earliest proposed solution to the meaning of 666\u00a0is a tradition attributed to Polycarp, the disciple of the same Apostle John who wrote Revelation. This tradition is preserved in the second century writings of Irenaeus. The number 666 is “\u2026contained in the Greek letters of Lateinos (L=30; A=1; T=300; E,=5; I=10; N=50; O=70; S=200)” (Commentary on the Whole Bible, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown<\/em>). Lateinos is a Greek term referring to the Romans. Interestingly, the Greek expression meaning “the Latin kingdom” (h Latine Basileia) also has a numeric value of 666. Greek writers commonly referred to the Roman Empire\u00a0in this way. The book of Revelation was originally written in Greek, as it was written to Greek-speaking churches in ancient Asia Minor…<\/p>\n

The founder of ancient Rome\u00a0was Romulus, from whose name Rome and Roman are derived. The Latin name Romvlvs is written in Hebrew as Romiith. In the Hebrew language this also adds up to 666\u00a0(resh=200, vau=6, mem=40, yod=10, yod=10, tau=400). Thus, in both Greek and Hebrew, the two languages of the Bible, the number 666 is stamped upon the kingdom that derived from Rome<\/p>\n

Thus, 666\u00a0will be the leader of the revived Roman Empire\u2014an empire that seemed to suffer from a \u201cdeadly wound\u201d (cf. Revelation 13:3) centuries ago, but that is now apparently in process of forming again.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Early writers basically all felt that the 666 was stamped on the Roman Empire.\u00a0 Nero was probably the first person that some in the Christian era suspected.\u00a0 To suggest that the early Christians did not consider that the European Roman Empire was to be the final Beast power is inaccurate.\u00a0 The Roman Empire, though having territories in the Middle East, was based in Europe.<\/p>\n

Notice what The Catholic Encyclopedia<\/em> reports:<\/p>\n

St. Iren\u00e6us (Haer., V, xxx) does not hesitate to explain the number of the beast 666 (Revelation 13:18) by the word “Lateinos” since the numerical value of its constituent [Greek] letters yields the same total (30+1+330+5+10+50+70+200=666); while sober critics of our own day are inclined to solve the mystery upon the same principles by simply substituting for Latinus the words Nero Caesar written in Hebrew characters which give the same result (Thurston, Herbert.<\/span> “Use of Numbers in the Church.”<\/span> The Catholic Encyclopedia.<\/span> Vol. 11.<\/span> New York: Robert Appleton Company,<\/span> 1911.<\/span>