World Geopolitics by the Bible: Whither America? Part 3 :: By Wilfred Hahn

Published on: October 31, 2021 by RR7

We continue our quest for the identities of the 7 Ruler Kings, which represent the geopolitical history of the world in that they circumnavigate the fate of the Hebrews. Why are we pursuing this study? For one, it allows us to determine the seasons and the times. There can be no doubt: We are living in an interesting time, as some major prophetic events are at the very door. These will have an enormous impact upon the world … expressly so also upon America.

In that vein, we must be sure of our interpretations of Scripture. Correct foundations and facts are key, as we pointed out in the previous part of this series. Errant interpretations down through history have been disastrous for the reputation of Bible prophecy. We continue our quest for the identities of the 7 heads of the beasts shown in Revelation 12, 13 and 17.

Importance of Correct Interpretation

But why should the true identity of the 7 heads even matter? Aren’t the visions of the prophets too imprecise and vague to allow for any specific meaning? If we were to argue over their identity, would it not be, as Apostle Paul says, “to devote [oneself] to myths and endless genealogies”? Is it not true that things like these “[…] promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work” (1 Timothy 1:4)?

Of course, we should not “promote controversial speculations.” However, we should be advancing God’s work by rightly dividing the Word. This we want to do, and there is great profit in doing so. Everything in the Bible has been written for a reason. As Paul says, all of it “is useful for teaching [and] correcting” (2 Timothy 3:16) or “as examples […] written down as warnings for us” (1 Corinthians 10:11).

Also, an incorrect interpretation of the Bible is never without consequence. Most certainly, an incorrect eschatology has lured much of Christendom onto the slippery slopes of Reconstructionism, Social Gospel, Amillennialism, Anti-Semitism and Anti-Zionism, Relativism, etc. (to name a few distortions).

We offer at least three reasons why it is beneficial to study the meaning behind the “beast images” and the various heads and horns found throughout Scripture. For one, this study definitely speaks to end-time geopolitical trends. These images give Bible-studying Christians—even more so the Jews—an ability to accurately determine the “season” of the world.

For example, were Jews to study Daniel and accept Revelation also as inspired Scripture, they would not be so susceptible to being deceived by the False Messiah when he comes. An understanding of this topic better prepares the Christian to identify the prophetic “season.”

Secondly, a proper understanding of the beasts provides a bulwark against deception. Our enemy is the father of lies and deception (John 8:44). The Last Days are repeatedly characterized as deceptive and a trap … all instigated by the Dragon (Satan). This time is truly treacherous.

“The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie” (2 Thessalonians 2:9). We are persuaded that those deceptive times are already upon us today.

And thirdly, the visions of the world’s 7 Ruler Kings extend to today. How so? All the ones that Daniel sees will be in existence and on the world scene during the Last Days. The prophet Daniel says that it will be “in the time of those kings [that] the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed” (Daniel 2:44).

Common Characteristics of World Geopolitical Rulers

Are there any commonalities among the 7 Ruler Kings (RKs)? We note at least seven common characteristics shared by all.

First, all the Ruler nations are only of primary significance as they have a role in relation to the history of Israel. All of them suppressed Israel and/or Judah.

Said Isaiah: “Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us. Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us” (26:12-13). Israel was often under the thumb of neighboring countries. However, these were small, and their occupations were relatively short.

Regarding Assyria and Egypt’s role, the Bible says this: “O my people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians, who beat you with a rod and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did […]” (see Isaiah 10:24-27).

Further, also referring to Babylon, the Bible states: “Israel is a scattered flock that lions have chased away. The first to devour them was the king of Assyria; the last to crush their bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon” (Jeremiah 50:17).

In conclusion, all the original 7 Kings (depicted as heads, plus also the 8th who is the Antichrist) have or yet will intersect with the descendants of Hebrews. All of them will find at least part of their kingdoms geographically and politically extending into the Middle East at one time or another.

All seven societies of these Ruler Kings were/are essentially pagan. They are part of an “unreasoning” beast that will perish. Many scholars have produced reliably documented works that connect the pagan religions that underlay all seven kingdoms (including that of our day!). This provides evidence that the same “scarlet whore” (signifying spiritual harlotry and paganism) was common to all kingdoms.
The collective times of the 7 RK rule show a Man/Satan conspiratorial insurrection against God. Satan and his “princes” (aka demons or fallen angels) conspire to mislead mankind.
All these 7 kingdoms are noted in the Bible for their pride and over-confidence…even rising up to heaven. They are all symbolized as mountains and tall, lofty trees on one or more occasions in the Old Testament.
Each successive RK kingdom supersedes the prior RK—each time expanding the realm and influence of the previous kingdom (except, of course, Egypt, which was the first).
All seven of the world kingdoms show a merging of religion with prosperity and fertility worship (materialism). All these kingdoms, therefore, merged materialism with religion. Mammon was enjoined by religion as it is today. God and Mammon are worshipped simultaneously, though Christ clearly said this was not possible as they represent two opposite masters.
All seven kingdoms have left legacies and influences that are still visible in our time today. Readers will be interested to explore this last point further. Just what legacies have the Ruler Kings left to posterity?

We will explore this answer next.

Prophetic Modernity

The Bible indicates that the ruling world regime of the Last Days bears the characteristics of at least four world empires. Revelation 13 presents a beast that is a composite of the four previous world kingdoms —Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.

These are the same four world kingdoms that Daniel saw represented in animal/beast form—the lion, bear, leopard, and the terrible creature. Here in the New Testament, they are shown together in one beastly body (see Daniel 7).

Why are all four shown together as one animal in Revelation 13? There are at least two reasons. First, the prophet Daniel says that it will be “in the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed” (Daniel 2:44). These are the very same Ruler Kings that Daniel saw both as beasts and parts of the statue headed by Nebuchadnezzar. It is these four RKs only that are shown as part of the beast of Revelation 13.

It only follows that if these historical Ruler Kings are still in existence today, then it would not be surprising that they will have left their influence upon the world. Indeed, this is the case, as we will show.

The Modern-Day Legacies of Past Kingdoms

Our pagan ancestors remain with us under many guises. Accomplished historians, no doubt, will see many more connections than this writer can present. We will review at least one aligning Scripture verse.

Starting with the earliest kingdom that Daniel saw, here are some possible connections. Just what things or conventions do we encounter in our lives today that are of Babylonian origin? These are so embedded into our daily lives, no doubt we no longer notice them anymore.

Research shows that Babylon was the mother of modern-day commercialism and its preoccupation with wealth. Babylon represented the first “gilded age.” After all, it was shown as the head of gold in Daniel’s vision of the tall statue (Daniel 2). Nearly all the documents recovered from that early Babylonian era refer to commerce.

The concepts of banking, compound interest, promissory notes, and even mutual funds derive from that time. Its numerical system is based on the number 60 (the sexagesimal system, which extends back to earlier Sumerian cultures) and is still deeply embedded in our society.

We still count 360 degrees in a circle and in trigonometry. Until not too long ago, a 360-day cycle was still considered the financial year for purposes of calculating interest. The word “dozen” is the Babylonian word for “a fifth,” meaning one-fifth of sixty.

Twelve is a prominent number, probably because it was based upon the 12 moon cycles per year. We still count 60 minutes to the hour, 60 seconds to the minute. From these and other connections, we see that the lion remains the head of gold today. The same “commercial culture” will be (and is) the hallmark of the last-day global society (Zechariah 5:5-11; Revelation 18).

In the next part, we will continue our quest to prove the identities of the 7 Ruler Kings shown in Revelation 12, 13, and 17. As already mentioned, the reign of these heads strikes right into our times.

Just what attributes of ancient Medo-Persia are evident in our modern societies today?

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Wilfred J. Hahn is a global economist/strategist. Formerly a top-ranked global analyst, research director for a major Wall Street investment bank, and head of Canada’s largest global investment operation, his writings focus on the endtime roles of money, economics and globalization. He has been quoted around the world and his writings reproduced in numerous other publications and languages. His 2002 book The Endtime Money Snare: How to live free accurately anticipated and prepared its readers for the Global Financial Crisis. A following book, Global Financial Apocalypse Prophesied: Preserving true riches in an age of deception and trouble, looks further into the prophetic future.

Contact Wilfred at: staff@eternalvalue.com

Watch How Bible Truth Overcomes Deception, Part 2 :: By Gene Lawley

Published on: October 31, 2021 by RR7

Another false interpretation of Scripture of the end time is that the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 A.D., while accomplishing all prophecies of the future, also is the time when that prophecy of Daniel, of the “abomination and desolation of the temple” was fulfilled. A careful study of Daniel’s prophecy of that event in Daniel 9:27 will place it at halfway through the seven weeks of years mentioned in the verse, that is, in the middle of the seven years of tribulation detailed in the Book of Revelation, still future at this present time.

It is perfectly clear that no Roman soldier, leader, or footman stood up in the temple while it was being destroyed and proclaimed openly, “I am God; you must fall down and worship me, now!” This was the time of God’s fulfillment of His judgment of the Jewish people to scatter them among the nations, in finality, until the establishment of a sovereign nation for them on May 14, 1948. For 1,800 years, until about 1870, the land remained desolate, unable to support habitation for lack of annual rainfall. God preserved it for the return of His Jewish people. Mark Twain visited there in 1853 and wrote that it was the most desolate place on earth.

In the Preterist’s view, then, all of the prophecies of Jesus, Paul, John and Peter, in their writings, are merely allegories and symbolism. If that is so, why did God put them in the Holy Scriptures, for what purpose? The convenience of just calling those prophecies as occurring spiritually, not physically, does not give credence to it. When Jesus expanded on Mary’s reference to an end-time resurrection at the time of Lazarus’s death, He made an unqualified foretelling of how it would be then: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26). Did Jesus lie about His future and ours? No!

Likewise, when writing to the Thessalonians, explaining how events would unfold at the time of the last days, Paul discussed them as actual future events, speaking of “times and seasons,” of the “Day of the Lord coming as a thief in the night, with sudden destruction” happening then (1 Thessalonians 4:16 through 5:3). How easily many are deceived by listening to a false teacher rather than seeking the Word of Truth…and believing it! The bottom line is that there will be a Rapture of the saints at the beginning of the seven years of tribulation, not afterward. (Can you imagine the struggle it must be to set those seven years somewhere around the time of that 70 A.D. destruction of Jerusalem and the temple?)

My take on the Book of Revelation is that it is written in a chronological manner, just like it is indicated so in Revelation 1:19 where the Lord told John to “Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.” Any other manner proves utterly foolish and faulty.

Outright misinterpreting a Scripture or totally ignoring its importance in identifying a clear truth of the Word is glaring evidence of intent to deceive and declare a false doctrine. One such case is that of hard-core Calvinists who claim the Scriptures teach that Christ did not die for all mankind, but only for those who believe in Christ. They tell me that John 3:16 should be read this way: “For God so loved the world [of believers] that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” First of all, “world” means people, all of them, and “whosoever,” as I have underlined, means anyone who believes is saved. “Whosoever” means anyone without restriction, and notice that if “world” means only believers, then “whosoever” contradicts that position.

The Scriptures plainly refute that position elsewhere, too. Look at 1 John 2:2, which says, “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” Another verse is just as clear: “…because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe” (1 Timothy 4:10b). This clearly is not announcing universal salvation, as some have claimed, then refuting that concept as a truth of Scripture, and rightly so. Salvation is made available; just believe in Jesus.

Romans, chapter five, delves deeply into the contrast of Adam’s sin having brought all mankind into judgment, but the sacrifice of Christ has provided a gift of eternal life that will allow man to escape that judgment. But what is it that makes a gift become personal to the intended party? It is acceptance of that gift. Romans 5:18 lays it out plainly: “Therefore, as through one man’s offense, judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.”

Finally, this quote from the Old Testament (Joel 2:32) that Paul uses in Romans 10:13 (“Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved”) and its context locks in the truth that believing and receiving that gift of salvation is available to anyone; otherwise, whosoever does not mean whosoever, and God contradicts His own attribute of being no respecter of persons (shows no partiality). That is, as 2 Peter 3:9 proclaims, “God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” Thus, one who is repentant of his sins and calls on the Lord will be saved. He is the one whom God chooses, for no one will be in heaven who does not want to be there.

God’s foreknowledge tells Him who will believe, when once that person hears the gospel, is convicted of his sin, and believes. The picture the Lord gives of the two roads being traveled exemplifies that truth. In Matthew 7:13-14, He describes one way to life and another way to destruction. How is this, then, if God is not willing that any should perish? Man must choose.

Another interpretation and deviation from the truth of Scripture has to do with the supposed manner of the Antichrist’s deception of himself in Revelation 13. It has been claimed and then spread about that when John sees one head of the beast being mortally wounded, then surviving again, it is the Antichrist being killed and then resurrecting. Thus, he deceptively presents himself as the Christ to the Jews.

The truth is, first, that the only head of the beast, as a ruling regime over the world, was Rome, and it died away to return in the future as that misty, unclear seventh head of the beast. Such is acknowledged, now, that a return of that “head” is the United Europe, as it struggles to unite fully. The New World Order proclaims that future goal.

But about the perceived deception of the Antichrist, he does not need that kind of deception, for the Jews are definitely not looking for a Messiah who has nail holes in his hands, nor a wound in his side. They effectively wrote off that possibility when they cried out at the trial of Jesus, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Let His blood be on our hands and on the hands of our children!” When Daniel 9:27 comes to pass, and the Antichrist enables Israel to obtain a seven-year peace covenant authorized by the United Nations and then allows them to rebuild their temple, that is when he appears to them as one on a white horse of peace and friendship. He is the one they think is the glorified one for them.

Then, halfway through that seven-year period, which Jeremiah calls “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7), he cancels their temple worship. Then he demands that they worship him instead, and they realize their error.

In Zechariah 12:10, God says, “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”

Presently, the Jews are not looking for a Messiah who has nail holes in His hands, but at a future time, they will be looking at Him whom they have pierced and accepting Him for who He really is. Are Preterists skipping this actual event as a “spiritual happening” and not one of mortal content while they are fixed on the coming of a “new heaven and a new earth coming down from heaven” as the next thing on ‘God’s timetable? Truthfully told in the Scriptures, it is at least 1,007 years, plus that unknown time until the Rapture, before that event of Revelation 21:1 comes to pass!

“Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20b).

Now to Part 3.

Contact email: andwegetmercy@gmail.com

Addendum:

There is a four-step study method that brings one to search the Scriptures with the diligence that Acts 17:11 portrays, and perhaps the reader has used it already. However, if it is new to the reader, following are those steps that are useful for studying a verse, a passage, a chapter, or perhaps even a whole epistle:

What does the passage say? (Outline or summarize it.)
Where else does it say this? (Search for cross-references.)
What does it say that I don’t understand? (Write out questions.)
What does it say to me? (What is its application to me?)