Now, in this series we began by talking about UFO’s and their connection to – or manifestation as – a demonic presence that could possibly lead to ‘The Great Apostasy,’ – a sudden falling away from the biblical teachings of scripture and open the way to the rise of both the False Prophet of Revelation and the Antichrist. We traced it back to ancient times; to Genesis 6 and the Tower at Babel, followed it through the corruption of much of the Church and the advent of the secret societies and their role in our current chaos. Most recently, we looked at the traditional End Times teachings of the rise of a Revived Roman Empire to usher in the New World Order of the Antichrist. And then we offered the counterpoint theory of an Islamic Antichrist. Perhaps these are not mutually exclusive. Perhaps there is room at the table for both. [I’m NOT saying, ‘Just sayeth…’ – I’m just saying.]
An Islamic Antichrist in no way necessarily excludes the more traditional view that Rome and the system it represents will play an important role in End Times events.
“For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.” (Revelation 17:17-18)
If we hold to some scholars conclusions, that the Antichrist is to come out of Islam, then how could Rome and its religion and Europe possibly fit in to the picture of the Last Days? We can begin by examining the writings of John and just what he may have meant. The Apostle John of course was a Jew, writing to a primarily Jewish church that would therefore understand Jewish idiom. It was unsafe in those days to take on the governing power of the Empire and so Jewish writers had developed a code word to refer to Rome: They called it Mystery Babylon. Amazingly, both Rome and historical Babylon invaded Israel and destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem on the very same day of the year; the 9th day of the month of Av. The religion of Rome was but an updated version of the pagan Babylonian system. It can be found in numerous Jewish writings and one church father used that designation as late as the 4th century. So, when his readers read “Mystery Babylon” they knew that in some sense John was referring to Rome.[i]
Remember that Revelation 17 describes the Harlot, the False Religious system, as a woman sitting on a beast. Now Greek mythology has it that Europa was a goddess seduced by Zeus.[ii] She is portrayed as riding a bull with crescent horns. This is the symbol of the ancient god Baal, with which the Israelites contended in the Bible. This symbol morphed into the crescent moon and is today the symbol of Islam. This symbolism can be traced all the way back again to ancient Babylon. Scripture is telling us that in the last days there will be a revival of the False Religion of ancient Babylon.[iii] [iv] [v]
Now we’ve already seen that over the centuries, – and sometimes with the best of intentions, – how paganism crept into the Church later centered at Rome. Still, Catholic teaching does not deny the divinity of Christ, – but in contrast strongly teaches that Jesus is the True and only begotten Son of God. With that in mind, it cannot be claimed as some suggest that Catholic Rome “is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.”[vi] On the other hand, as we have seen, even Catholic writers are looking for a future apostate pope that will head the Roman Church in the Last Days. Rome is the premier ‘Religious System’ in the world today. Revelation 17:4 says of the final world religion, “The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.” These are the very ecclesiastical colors adopted by the Catholic Church. In Revelation 17:9 we are told that “The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits.” We know already however that the hills are really mountains, which are really kingdoms. But there seems to be a case for dual fulfillment. Rome is the City of Seven Hills in which the Vatican makes its home.[vii] We saw how even the late Pope John Paul II believed that Mary will soon deliver worldwide spiritual power to the Vatican.
There is more to the case. Revelation 17:6 tells us “I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” Authors such as Dave Hunt point out the tortures and slaughter of the Inquisition. Anywhere from hundreds of thousands to a couple of million fell victim to the papal decrees for disagreeing with Rome over the interpretation of Scripture. “Huguenots, Albigenses, Waldenses, and other Christians…massacred, tortured, and burned at the stake.” In Revelation 17:18 we find the woman described as “that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.” Through the centuries popes served as kingmakers, wielding the power of the Church to enforce their will. Pope Nicholas I declared: “We [popes] alone have the power to bind and to loose, to absolve Nero and to condemn him; and Christians cannot, under penalty of excommunication, execute other judgment than ours, which alone is infallible.” In Revelation 17:1 she is called a “harlot” and in 17:2 it is said that she “committed fornication” with “the kings of the earth.” When Scripture speaks in this way it is meaning spiritual adultery. To many, it is Rome’s ‘christianizing’ of pagan beliefs and rituals, (ie purgatory, Queen of Heaven etc.) along with her pursuit of wealth and power that qualifies her in this regard. [viii]
So, an Islamic Antichrist could certainly serve alongside of an all-tolerant False Prophet out of Rome. [Pope Francis is today constructing the architecture that would produce a Roman Church that says that we are ‘all children of God’- and that all ways are somehow valid.] The resultant political unity would satisfy the requirement of a Revived Roman Empire, – in both its Western and Eastern legs. [Remember, that the statue talked about in Daniel two represented the successive empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. The Roman Empire was split for good between East & West, by the Emperor Theodosius I in 395 AD.] A future apostate faith out of Rome could certainly serve as the religious component of the prophesied civil / religious World Order to come. This religious Babylon would abandon the divinity and the primacy of Christ in the name of unity forged in allegiance to a false Mary that would bring in the hordes of Islam.
[i] Perry Stone, The Pope, The Eagle And The Iron Sickle, Voice of Evangelism, 2006, pg 117
[ii] Europa, Mythology, Wikipedia
[iii] Dave Hunt Europa Rides The Beast
[iv] Perry Stone, The Pope, The Eagle And The Iron Sickle, Voice of Evangelism, 2006, pgs 115-117
[v] Islam and Europe: The Unholy Alliance, Out of Africa, Shekinah Ministries & Kalibu Ministries, November 2002
[vi] Walid Shoebat, from his presentation at the International Prophecy Conference 2007
[vii] Perry Stone, The Pope, The Eagle And The Iron Sickle, Voice of Evangelism, 2006, pgs 115
[viii] Dave Hunt, A Woman Rides The Beast, Chapter 6, Harvest House, 1994,
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