End Times Encyclopedia

Bio: He is a graduate of the US Naval Academy and a Air Force veteran. Chuck is very technically capable, as a boy he operated a ham radio and built a digital computer in the family garage. He has a Masters degree in engineering from UCLA. He was also very successful in the business world. After a business failure however Hal Lindsay convinced him that he could make a living full time as a Bible teacher.

Views: Revived Roman Empire, Pre-trib

Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Van_Impe

Views: Pre-wrath rapture

Related links: http://www.kristenwisen.com/

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http://www.theologicalstudies.citymax.com/amillennialism.html

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http://www.raptureready.com/rr-iraq.html

In Daniel 7 there are four beasts described in Daniel's vision. The interpretation offered by an angel portrays them as four kingdoms, three, which would have authority for a time, and a fourth which was yet to come. This fourth would be a future kingdom ruled by the Antichrist.

Revelation 13 describes two beasts: one will come from out of the sea and the other from out of the earth. The one coming from the sea is similar to the fourth beast in Daniel 7 which represents a kingdom. Therefore, the beast out of the sea seems to be a kingdom but it also seems to talk about the Antichrist who is one of the seven heads of the beast. It seems that the Beast may refer to the kingdom that the Antichrist will rule as well as the Antichrist.

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In the book of Daniel chapter nine verse 24 in the Bible there is a prophecy. Here is the NIV translation. "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.

These weeks are understood to be prophectic weeks where each week lasts seven years. This is a total of 490 years. The reference to start the count was when the command went forth to rebuild Jerusalem. King Artaxerxes issued the command in 444bc The first 69 weeks or 483 years would come to an end would Jesus would be "cut off" This happened 483 years (the way Jewish people counted a year which was 360 days) later when Jesus was crucified. This left one week left to be fulfilled. The last week is supposed to start with the confirmation of the covenant between Israel and the Antichrist.

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http://www.gotquestions.org/seventy-sevens.html

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http://www.theologicalstudies.org/dispen.html

Who is the False Prophet and what role will he play?

Referred to as the second beast inthe book of Revelation (chapters 13), the False Prophet will rise as a powerful and beloved spiritual and/or political leader who will announce the arrival of the Antichrist, the first Beast, and will lead the world to serving him.

The Antichrist, or Beast, will make great claims and bold statements and perform many miracles. The False Prophet, who is subservient to the Antichrist, will serve the role of supporting the Antichrist’s claims and convincing mankind of his worthiness—that he deserves the world’s worship and devotion.

Just like the Antichrist/Beast, the False Prophet will “appear” good and appeal to the masses, even though he is evil. He will be responsible for giving life to the image of the Beast, enforcing the mark and number of the Beast, and demanding worship of the Beast.

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Israel is God's chosen people and existed as a nation since God brought the Jews to the Holy land after forty years in the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt.. Israel however was destroyed in 70 AD and had not existed as a nation again until 1948.

In Mathew 24 Jesus talks about the lesson of the fig tree. "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened."

Throughout the Bible Israel is refered to as a fig or fig tree.

Related links: http://www.allabouttruth.org/history-of-israel.htm

“He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” Revelation 13:16-17

This verse from Revelation pretty much says it all. The Anti-christ will make everyone take some kind of a mark on their right hand or forehead. This mark will somehow represent the beast and his number 666.

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In the second chapter of the Book of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had a dream where he saw a magnificent statue that was crushed by a rock that was cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands. He was so startled by the dream that he sent for astrologers, magicians, sorcerers and others and demanded they tell him what his dream was and interpret it, or he would have them torn into pieces.

The magicians, sorcerers and astrologers told Nebuchadnezzar it would be humanly impossible, and that no king had asked such a thing. This infuriated Nebuchadnezzar, causing him to call for the death of all the wise men of Babylon, including Daniel and three of his friends. Daniel asked the commander of the king’s guard why the decree from the king was so urgent, and the commander explained the situation, causing Daniel to approach the king, asking for time to interpret the dream.

That night, after praying with his friends, Daniel had a vision in his sleep. He awoke the next morning and praised God for the wisdom and power, and then told the king about his discovery.

“ Daniel answered before the king and said, "As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed.” (Dan. 2:27 - 28) Daniel began. Daniel then told the king what he saw … “an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron and feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.” (Dan. 2:31-35) Daniel then gave the interpretation of the dream, telling Nebuchadnezzar that he was the head of gold, expressing that God had given him power and dominion, and placed the fate of mankind and animals in his hands. Daniel explained that after his kingdom another would rise and fall, and then a third one, one of bronze, would rule, and then a fourth, as strong as iron, would rule and destroy all other kingdoms. Finally, Daniel interpreted that the iron and baked clay represented a divided kingdom, one that is partly strong and partly brittle. Daniel then explained the rock cut out of the mountain, saying that in the time of those kingdoms, God will establish a kingdom that will never be destroyed, but will crush all the other kingdoms and bring them to an end.

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Preterism is a unique school of thought in eschatology. It is based on the belief that the prophecies in the book of Revelation and most if not all prophecy has been fulfilled, usually in the first century A.D Two main divisions of Preterism exist—full Preterism and partial Preterism.

Full Preterism states that every prophecy relating to the End of Days has already been fulfilled, and that the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. was the final fulfillment of the prophecy. This has several striking implications on present-day life. First, that the "New Heaven" and "New Earth" that were referenced in the latter chapters of Revelation are not literally new, but instead "reborn," similar to the way a Christian becomes born again as described by Jesus in the New Testament.

Related links

http://www.gotquestions.org/preterist.html

http://www.biblequery.org/Prophecy/Preterism.htm

http://www.biblestudying.net/preterism1.html

Daniel chapters 2 and 7 tell of Daniel's interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream and of Daniel's own vision, respectively. Most conservative Bible scholars believe that the statue in Daniel 2 corresponds to the beasts in Daniel 7 and that they represent the same succession of world empires:

• the head of gold and the first beast like a lion with eagle's wings represent the Babylonian Empire
• the chest and arms of silver and the second beast similar to a bear represent the Medo-Persian Empire
• the belly and thighs of bronze and the third beast like a leopard with four wings represent the Greek Empire
• and the legs of iron and the fourth beast represent the Roman Empire.

The ten toes of the statue were part iron and part clay, representing a future empire partly of iron like the Roman Empire. That they are partly of clay would indicate that this future empire would not be quite as strong as the original version. The ten toes suggest ten kings, or rulers, similar to the ten horns that come out of the fourth beast in Daniel 7. Another king will arise from them, the Antichrist, who will subdue three of the kings, speak blasphemies against the Most High and oppress his saints. (Daniel 7:24-25)

Many scholars also interpret Daniel 9:26, “...and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary”, to indicate a revival of the Roman Empire. Since the context of the surrounding verses reveal that this is a reference to the Antichrist, and since the people who destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the temple, or sanctuary, in 70 A.D. were the Romans, we can expect the Antichrist to be somehow related to or identified with the Roman Empire. Since it no longer exists, it must arise again in some revived form.

There has been much speculation by prophecy students as to which entity or organization might fulfill the prophecy of the Revived Roman Empire. In 1959, the John Birch Society, whose namesake was a U.S. Military intelligence officer and Baptist missionary, began a campaign to urge the United States to withdraw from the United Nations on the basis that the aim of the UN was to establish a one world government. Even today, some believe that the UN could be the beginning of the one world government spoken of in Bible prophecy.

A great number of scholars believe that the European Union fits the description, citing examples such as the twelve stars on the EU flag which are “representative of the woman of the Apocalypse” ¹, as well as a poster issued by the EU showing the tower of Babel with the slogan, “Many tongues, one voice”, and a stamp, depicting a harlot riding a beast, issued by Britain to commemorate the first EU parliament election.

A smaller number of scholars have believed that this future evil empire could be the United States, who has clearly taken on the role of world sovereign. Some cite the United States involvement in Iraq as proof..

In recent years, though, interest among Muslims in international unity and the Caliphate has grown, revealing the possibility that an Islamic Empire could be the future kingdom of Iron and clay and not a revived Roman Empire.

Some well-known scholars, such as Henry M. Morris, don't believe the Bible teaches of a revived Roman Empire at all. Referring to Revelation 17:8, he states that “the beast is...a despotic world kingdom, raised up and energized by Satan. This kingdom existed in the past, does not exist in the present, and will be revived in the future. It could hardly be the revived Roman Empire,...however, since the Roman Empire never has actually ceased, but continues in the various kingdoms and political systems which developed out of it.” ² Instead, Dr. Morris believes a revived Babylonian Empire seems more logical.

1 http://contenderministries.org/prophecy/romanempire.php

2 The Revelation Record, by Henry M. Morris, p. 334

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http://contenderministries.org/prophecy/romanempire.php

In eschatology, the red heifer may be the fuse that will set off the end of the world. This is because of its connection with the anticipated Third Temple.

So far, the temple in Jerusalem has been destroyed twice. King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple first when he sacked Israel in 586 B.C., and later the Romans destroyed the temple in 70 A.D. According to several eschatology experts, a third temple will eventually be constructed.

There's a catch, though—due to Jewish laws and strictures, the only way a Jew can enter the Temple Mount without defiling it is to be purified as the result of a specially prepared sacrifice. The sacrifice is a pure red heifer, and these beasts are very hard to come by. In fact, according to Jewish tradition, a pure red heifer hasn't been born inside Israel since the fall of the Second Temple! Several red heifers have been announced in the last few years but all have become disqualified for one reason or another, such as white hair being found.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapture

The Whore of Babylon, as described in the New Testament book of Revelation, has been the subject of much speculation, debate, and even controversy throughout many centuries by biblical scholars, theologians, and other experts. Specifically, the debate has focused on the identity of the Whore of Babylon, and whether or not Christians are to interpret Revelation, namely chapters 17 and 18, literally or metaphorically; and if the latter, exactly what, or who, the Whore of Babylon symbolizes.

When discussing the Whore of Babylon, Christians, exegetical experts, and others interested in understanding the book of Revelation are referring to that which is described in Revelation, mostly in chapters 17 and 18. Revelation talks about the evil-filled city of Babylon and its prophesied destruction. Babylon is also referred to as a prostitute (the Whore of Babylon), who is associated with and connected to the seven-headed, ten-horned beast, in whose hands her apocalyptic demise is foretold to occur.

Revelation 17:3-6 reads as follows: “ Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones, and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. This title was written on her forehead:

I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished” (New International Version).

The traditional and longstanding interpretation of “Babylon” as described in Revelation is that it’s a metaphorical, symbolic “code name” for pagan Rome and the power of the Roman Empire, which was responsible for oppressing and persecuting the early church and early Christians and Jews. Further, many scholars argue that the use of “Babylon” in 1 Peter 5:13 refers to Rome.

However, there exist other interpretations of Babylon and her harlot. For example, some experts claim that the Whore of Babylon is referring not to the Roman Empire but rather to Earthly Jerusalem. These experts state that in Revelation 17:9, the “seven mountains” upon which the whore sits are in fact the seven hills under Jerusalem and that Jerusalem’s fall in 70 AD is to what the fall of Babylon refers.

Others, particularly those of a fundamentalist Protestant Christian background, have long considered the Whore of Babylon to represent the Roman Catholic Church because the seven mountains Revelation 17:9 could serve as a reference to the seven hills of Rome. Some also identify the Pope as the Antichrist. Most practicing Catholics object to this overall interpretation, however, as do many Protestant individuals, churches, and even denominations.

Many other scholars, Christian and non-Christian alike, claim that the Whore of Babylon is referring to all false religions that rise up and go against the way of Jesus Christ. In more recent years, modern interpretations have pointed to such entities as the United States as a whole, the cities of New York and San Francisco, as well as the institution of multinational corporations as to what the Whore of Babylon symbolizes.

Related links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon#Reconstruction

http://architecture.about.com/cs/countriescultures/a/saddamspalace.htm

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Troops near the ruins of the biblical city of Babylon during the Iraq war. Click here for copyright information.