Beast of Revelation.pdf - Friends of the Sabbath Australia

The Beast of Revelation
time from the Persian Empire all the way to the last days.
Verse 4 shows Alexander’s empire dividing into the four parts
we’ve seen. The rest of the chapter focuses on the ongoing struggle
between the “king of the North” and the “king of the
South”—from the geographic perspective of the Holy Land,
called the “Glorious Land” in the prophecy.
At first, the king of the North was Alexander’s general
Seleucus and his successors, who ruled Syria (north of Judea),
whereas the king of the South referred to Ptolemy and his successors
in Egypt (south of Judea). But later, when the Romans
took over Syria in 65 B.C., the Roman state became the kingdom
of the “North.” (Note that when Egypt was swallowed up by
Rome in 31 B.C., the Roman leader did not then become the king
of the South—because he was already the king of the North.) The
king of the South at the end will probably be a powerful Arab
leader who will bring about a temporary confederation of much
of the Islamic world (cf. Ps. 83:5–8). He will somehow provoke
the end-time king of the North into launching a blitzkrieg against
him, which will result in European occupation of much of the
Arab world—as well as the land of Israel (Dan. 11:40–43).
On the religious scene, the Roman Church’s headquarters
will apparently be moved to, or already be in, Jerusalem at that
time. Notice that the False Prophet “opposes and exalts himself
above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as
God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God”
(2 Thess. 2:4). In more than one sense, this has long been the
case. For instance, the pope is called “Holy Father”—the name of
God the Father (John 17:11; cf. Matt. 23:9)—as well as the
“Vicar of [substitute for] Christ.” According to one Catholic publication,
“the Pope is not only the representative of Jesus Christ,
but he IS Jesus Christ, hidden under a veil of flesh” (The Catholic
National, July 1895). But Paul, as just noted, mentions something
about sitting in the temple of God. Other scriptures also support
the reconstruction of a literal Jewish temple in Israel—something
many orthodox Jews continually campaign for. So it seems that
the end-time religious leader will actually enthrone himself in
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