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three empires and mucb more.
Rome divided intv east and west–
the two legs of the image-and
ruled longer than any of the prc–
ceding kingdoms- til l A.D. 476,
when the empire finally collapsed.
But remember the vision given
to king Nebuchadnezzar revealed
successive kingdoms that would
rule until the government of God
would be set up. Notice it in Daniel
2:44:
"And in thc days of thesc
kings shall the God of heaven set
up a kingdom, which shall never be
destroyed: and the kingdom shall
not be left to other
people, but it shall
break in pieces and
consume all these king–
doms, and it shall stand
for ever."
The kingdom of God
is not yet establishcd
over the earth. Man
continues to rule- still
writing the lessons of
human h istory. How,
then, did the Roman
empire continue after
A.D. 476?
The answer is found
in the book of Revela–
tion.
heads and ten horns." This pictures
the reviva! of the Roman empire
after A.D.
554.
And that's cxactly wbat hap–
pened. Coming out of the ashes of
the original Roman empire in the
west were to be seven successivc
revivals. At this time in history, in
1983, six of those successive stages
have already come and gone. In the
Plain Truth
magazine we will,
through a series of articles beginning
in the near future, take you step by
step through each of those empires
so you can thoroughly understand
kings: and they that are with him
are ca l led, and chosen, and
faithful" (verses 12-14).
That final rcsurrection of the
Roman empire is going to be made
up of ten nations or groups of
nations united together in one final
attempt of man lo maintain human
government. That union of nations
will be very short lived, as we read
in ver$e 12, and in Daniel 2:44. The
government of God will. be estab–
lished in the days of this final resto–
ration of the Roman empire.
Unde r s tandin g Bible
Symbo lism
We've already seen
severa! examples of
Bible prophecy using
symbols. Nebuchad–
nezzar, for example,
had seen a great image
symbolizing human
govcrnments in se–
quence. There are nu–
merous other Bible
symbols which, when
understood, givc im–
portant keys to under–
stand prophetic events.
In the 13th chapter
of R evelation, the
apostle John saw a
vision depicting the
same empires that God
revealed to Daniel. In
this chapter, J ohn saw
these nations symbol–
izcd by a strange ani–
mal that he called a
"beast." In verse 3 we
rcad: "And 1 saw one
of his heads as it were
In the 13th chapter of Revelat ion, the
apostle John saw a vision depicti ng the
same empires th at God revealed to
Dani el. In this chapter, John saw these
nations symbolized by a strange animal
that he called a " beast."
Perhaps a most im–
portant aspect of Bible
prophecy shou Id be
cxplained here. That
simply is:
the Bible
inrerprets the Bible.
In
othcr words, you do
not have to rely on
what someone thinks a
certain word or symbol
means.
If
you scarch
the Bible, you will find
the meaning of each
symbol revealed within
thc pages of the Bible.
Sometimes it will be in
the same verse. Other
wounded to death; and
his dead/y wound was
Jzea/ed:
and all thc world wondered
after the beast."
When Rome was finally defeated
in A.D. 476, it was only a wound.
The Roman empire did not die
totally in 476. The deadly wound
was healed in A.D
554.
The East–
ern Roma n emperor J ustinian
restored the empire in the west.
God further revealed to John in
Revelation 17:3: "So he carried me
away in the spirit into the wilder–
ness: and 1 saw a woman sit upon a
scarlet coloured beast, full of
names of blasphemy, having seven
May 1983
the story of what has happencd,
based upon Bible prophecy.
T he seventh and final stage or
resurrection of the Roman empire
is yet ahead. About it, John wrotc:
"And the ten horns which thou
sawest are ten kings, which have
received no kingdom as yet; but
receive power as kings one hour
with the beast. These bave one
mind, and shall give their power
and strength unto the beast. These
shall make war with the Lamb, and
the Lamb shall overcome them: for
he is Lord of lords, and King of
times it will be in the same chapter
or in the same book. But if not
interpreted in proximity to the
symbol, it will be interpreted some–
where else in the Bible. You might
find a symbol in the book of Reve–
lation interpreted by a prophccy in
the book of Matthew. Or some–
thing Zechariah saw might be
interpreted in the book of Revcla–
tion.
We've seen sorne examples of
this in the vision of king Nebu–
chadnezzar. In the second chapter
of Daniel, God revealed to Daniel
9