The Abomination of Desolation - St. Marys Coptic Orthodox Church

118 GREAT TRIBULATION
We also speculated on “the ten kings, which have one mind, and shall
give their power and strength unto the beast.” (Rev 17:12-13) If the
prophecies of Revelation pertain to our present time, then it is safe to
assume that these “kings” which have one mind could represent the
countries in the European Union. We also said that St. Hippolytus calls
them “ten democracies,” an amazing designation for a saint writing in
the middle of the second century. 1 If the reader accepts my theory then
Europe as a whole would not be a good place for a safe haven of the
Church, since the European countries would be in a military alliance
with Antichrist. This will become a must if Antichrist has his hands on
the petroleum rich Middle East.
Another clue comes from Isaiah’s prophesy about the Church
singing in exile, where he hears singing coming from “the isles of the
sea” and “the uttermost part of the earth”. (Isa 24:14-16) This
description could mean a place in the New World. What Isaiah heard
was singing coming from a far away land across the seas.
It is no coincidence that for the last one third of a century, Christians
have been leaving the Middle East, emigrating to Canada, U.S.A. and
Australia. In a previous article, we explained that this is the preliminary
phase of the exile of the Church that will happen in the time of the
Great Tribulation. 2
Some people believe that the two prophets Enoch and Elijah will
guide the elect into that place prepared by God for the Church, where
He shall feed and protect her during the Great Tribulation.
THE CHURCH IN THE OLD WORLD:
If we accept the thesis that the place of refuge prepared by God for
His Church will be in the New World, then what about the Church in
the Old World? Saint Hippolytus paints for us a grim picture:
Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land,
strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown
by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard,
as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.”(Isa 1:7-8)You
1 St. Hippolytus was a contemporary of Origen, whom he met.
2 The Abomination of Desolation (3) in Parousia December, 1998