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and consume all these kingdoms,
and it shall stand for ever" (Dan.
2:44).
The seventh chapter of Daniel lists
four beasts: lion, bear, leopard anda
"fourth beast, dreadful and terrible,"
unlike any beast known to mankind.
Daniel was inspired to foretell the
· destruction of this fourtb beast (the
Roman Empire): " . . .
1
bebeld even
till the beast was slain, and bis body
destroyed, and given to tbe burning
fiame" (Dan. 7:11).
·
Then follows the coming of tbe
Messiah to this earth in power and
glory: "1 saw in the night visions,
and, behold, one like the Son of man
carne witb the clouds of heaven....
And there was given him dominion,
and glory, and a kingdom, that all
people, nations, and languages,
should serve him: bis dominion is an
everlasting dominion, which sball not
pass away, and bis kingdom that
which shall not be destroyed" (verses
13-14).
Very few understand that the Ro–
roan Empire is to exist, quite literal–
ly, at tbe coming of the Messiah, and
once again will wreak great havoc in
the name of "peace"- just before the
establishment of the prophesied
Kingdom of God on this earth.
Unlted States of Europe
Immediately after World War 11,
Winston Churchill, in a speech at
Zurich, Switzerland, urged the cre–
ation of a "United States of Europe."
Since that time, many steps have
been taken toward achieving this
goal (the most recent being the first–
ever direct election to an expanded
and strengthened European Parlia–
ment) . A New Europe is coming as
certainly as the sun will continue to
rise and set.
Many Europeans realize they will
remain impotent as individual na–
tions unless they can bind themselves
together in a strong union. Only then
can they speak with a united ·voice
and exercise their political and mili–
tary power to utmost advantage.
The most recent war in tbe Mid–
east painfully .underlined Europe's
weakness in international disputes.
The nations of the Europeán Eco–
nomic Community (EEC) were
forced to stand by as the United
States and Russia made the impor–
tant decisions concerning the Octo-
14
ber 1973 Middle East struggle. Euro–
peans charge that they were not only
not
consulted, but they were only in–
formed belatedly, aftér the interna–
tional situation in the Mideast had
deteriorated to the point where the
United States felt impelled to put her
forces (including those on European
soil) on full alert.
Europeans now are demanding a
bigger say in what goes on in the
world- including the Middle East,
where their umbilical oil line could
be severed without either tbeir
knowledge or consent. The Common
Market maker's have appealed to the
Organization of Petroleum Export–
ing Countries (OPEC) for greater
cooperation between the two blocs.
In order to have more freedom to
maneuver in future crises, Europeans.
are continuing to consider steps to
bring about tbeir own political and
military independence from United
States control and infiuence.
Daniel prophesied over 2500 years
ago that Europe will sooner or later
end up witb a strong central govern–
ment like·tbat of the ancient Roman
Empire. This strong United Europe
is foretold in the seventeenth chapter
of Revelation: "And the beast [the
final manifestation of the Roman
Empire] that was, and is not, even he
is the eightb [head], and is of the
seven [of tbe seven heads of Daniel
7:4-7), and goeth into perdition"
(Rev. 17:11) .
The Coming Beast
Now notice that "tbe beast" (the
leader of t.his final reviva! of the Ro–
roan Empire) will havé under bis
control and direction the full power
of "ten kings" or ten rulers who will
give him full allegiance: "And the ten
horns which thou sawest are ten
kings, which have received no king–
dom as yet; but receive power as
kings one hour with the beast. These
have one mind, and shall give their
power and strengtb unto the beast.
These [the beast and the ten kings]
shall make war witb the Lamb
[Christ at His coming] , and the
Lamb shall overcome them: for he is
Lord of lords, and King of kings .. ."
(verses 12-14).
·
This battle, to occur near Jerusa–
lem (see Zech. 14:1-4), is described
in cbapter 16 of the book of Revela–
tion: " .. . The kings of the earth and
of the whole world [are marshaled by
the demon world) . . . . into a place
called in tbe Hebrew tongue Arma–
geddon" (verses 12-16).
For thousands of years, Megiddo
has been a most strategic place, the
very crossroads of the Middle East.
These kings and their armies meet at
Megiddo, then move south to tbe val–
ley of Jehoshaphat (near Jetusalem)
where tbe climactic battle actually
takes place. "And
1
saw the beast,
and the kings of tbe earth, and their
armies, gathered togetber to make
war agúnst bim [tbe returning
Christ] tbat sat on tbe horse, and
against bis army. And tbe beast was
taken, and witb him tbe false propb–
et. . . . These both were castalive into
a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
And the remnant were slain with the
sword of him that sat upon the
borse ... and all the fowls were filled
with their fiesb" (Rev. 19:19-21).
As we read earlier, this same anni–
hilation of the beast is described in
Daniel: " .. . 1 beheld even till the
beast [the human head of the coming
ten-nation combine] was slain, and
bis body destroyed, and given to the
burning fiame" (Dan. 7: 11).
I n the Bible a king often represents
a kingdom_ (see Daniel 2:38-39;
7:17, 23). So these
"beasts~·
are hu–
man governments or kingdoms which
bave plundered and.destroyed the na–
tions down through the centuries.
They have acted like wild beasts.
That appears to be why God com–
pares them to ravening animals.
Now return to the eleventh chap–
ter of Daniel.
We have seen that the king of the
north was Syria- until that nation
was swallowed up by Rome and be–
carne a part of the Roman Empire.
From that time forth , the successive
kings of the north were the successive
leaders of the Roman Empire.
We have also seen that the Roman
Empire would have seven beads or
revivals, beginning witb Justinian in
A.D. 554. The seventh (last) head of
this Roman Empire is yet to arise–
maybe sooner than we think!
End-Time Prophecy
The Mussolini-Hitler kingdom was
the sixth head of the beast. The
next leader to unite the peoples of
Europe will constitute the "beast"
mentioned in Daniel and Revela-
The
PLAIN TRUTH August 1979