THE KINGDOM OF ROME AND THE ANTICHRIST, THE FOURTH KINGDOM (Ancient Rome) (Vatican) (Prophecy) (Pope Francis) (New World Order) (Caesar) (Fall of Rome) (Roman Empire) (Final Pope)

The Kingdom of Rome and the Antichrist, the Fourth Kingdom [Print Document]

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The Roman Empire was the most powerful empire of the ancient empires. It controlled vast amounts of territory around the Mediterranean Sea. Its roads, many buildings, and aqueducts still exist today, revealing how well-designed they were. But, Rome's legacy never ended. In this article, we will show how Rome never truly ceased to exist as a powerful, multicultural, and geopolitical empire. We will show how the Roman Empire is alive and well in a form that one may not expect.

Daniel 7:7-8

“[7] After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. [8] I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.”

The kingdom or Empire to succeed the Greek kingdoms was Rome. After years of fighting on and off with Greece, Rome was able to conquer the Greek city-states, which were not always friendly with each other. Rome spread its control around the Mediterranean Sea and all the way up to Britain. But, the European tribes did not like their conquerors. Later, when Rome was weakened and slowly collapsing, disgruntled Germanic tribes (Goths and others) attacked Italy. The western Roman empire eventually was divided up into small countries or regions controlled by Germanic tribes, including the Franks, Goths, Visigoths, Vandals, and others. But, many of these tribes adopted some of the culture and customs of the Romans.

Diocletian Divides the Empire

(Diocletian divided the empire.)

A couple centuries earlier, when the empire became somewhat weakened and it could not effectively control its vast territories, the emperor Diocletian divided it in two (in 284-285 A.D.), fulfilling the prophecy in Daniel 2. In Daniel 2, King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream about a statue, symbolizing major empires that existed through history during Daniel’s time and afterward. It reveals that the Roman Empire, the legs of iron, would be divided into two realms.  These are represented by the two legs of the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.

Daniel 2:33 says: “His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.”

Daniel 2:40 says: “And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.”

After Diocletian divided the empire, the western Roman empire continued to struggle with moral, economic, and social issues, and its administrative power eventually collapsed under the weight of its own corruption. The Apennine Peninsula was captured by Germanic tribes who divided up the land into weak kingdoms. However, Charlemagne, the king of the Franks, became the first “Holy Roman Emperor.” Pope Leo III announced, in 800 A.D., that Charlemagne was the Western Roman Emperor or the Emperor of the Romans. So, in actuality, Rome did not end at this time. Its administrative grip over the land was transferred to the political and religious influence of the Roman Catholic Church, and to the weak Holy Roman Empire.

(A map of a divided Roman Empire)

Rome Continues to Exist

Meanwhile, the eastern Roman empire, called the Byzantine Empire, lasted for centuries until it was conquered by the Ottoman Turks. During this time, while the Holy Roman Empire existed, the main power in Europe was the influential power of the Catholic Church, which influenced the way people lived and the politics of their countries. This organization claimed to get its origin from the 12 apostles, whom Jesus Christ appointed. But, its origin is found in the religions of Egypt and Greece, which got their beliefs from Babylon thousands of years ago, around the time that all the tribes of the world were located in the Middle East when it was more fertile. (Note: I write this article not to attack Catholics but because I care about them, and want to point out some historical facts to challenge readers. I present this information to encourage readers to think for themselves about this subject, and to seek God about it.)

(A ziggurat) 

In Genesis 11, the Bible tells us how Nimrod and the people in his area built a city and a great tower. This tower of Babel was being constructed by people who all spoke the same language. But, when God saw how they wanted to corrupt themselves with idolatry and with a desire to become like God, He changed their languages so that they spoke different languages. These languages are the parent languages of the modern ones that exist today.

The Egyptians brought from that early culture ideas about a goddess with a child that they worshiped as Isis and Horus. In the Middle East many people of different ethnic groups worshiped Ashtoreth (or Astarte, Ishtar), a goddess of “love,” fertility, the moon, and other attributes, including being the supposed “mother” or “creatress” of mankind (Reference “Ashtoreth”). She was worshiped in connection with Baal.

The Catholic Church took the concept of a motherly goddess and paired that concept with a child god to form their version of Mary with her son. This baby is by no means Jesus. This baby would be the son of the goddess, which pagans from many cultures would be familiar with.

The pagan Romans did not actually worship a mother goddess with her child in the exact way that Catholics do, but the Egyptians did, and the Greeks had the concept of a powerful mother goddess from ancient times. Long before the cult of Zeus was accepted by ancient Greeks, they worshiped a goddess called Hera (Sidwell), a so-called “great goddess,” or a “mother goddess.” Much later, when they adopted the cult of Zeus, the Greeks made Hera into a wife of Zeus, and no longer worshiped her as a great “mother goddess.”

An article by Robert T. Sidwell details how Hera was worshiped as a powerful goddess before the cult of Zeus emerged in Greece. He wrote:

“Hera, however, was originally connected to an older matrifocal world far more ancient than the cult of Zeus in Greece-a world in which she held a powerful and important status in her own right.” [End quote] (Sidwell).

Early Catholics adopted the concept of a mother goddess for their religion by taking pagan teachings from other religions and bringing them together into many of the doctrines of the Catholic Church. They modified the scriptures or twisted them to suit their pagan beliefs. For instance, Catholics often pray to a statue or a picture of Mary with a halo over her head. The halo can be found in pre-Christian artwork, such as a Roman floor mosaic of Apollo with a halo about his head (right). There are many examples of halos found on ancient vases prior to the time of Catholicism.

Pagan festivals and gods were assigned different names and incorporated into the Catholic Church. Easter is an example. Nowhere in the Bible does it teach that Christians should keep Easter. The Easter egg is not found in the Bible. It comes from pagan festivals. The Encyclopedia Britannica (1991) mentioned that:  “...folk customs have collected, many of which have been handed down from the ancient ceremonial…symbolism of European and Middle Eastern pagan spring festivals…for example, eggs…have been very prominent as symbols of new life and resurrection”[.]  

The Catholic Church Is the Incarnation

of Its Predecessor, the Roman Empire.

The Holocaust: The Truth about This Great Destruction of the Jewish People

The Holocaust: The Truth about This Great Destruction of the Jewish People

The year was 1938. All across Germany the Nazi propaganda machine had been spewing out lies and deceptions about the Jews, trying to rally the German people behind their effort to eventually eliminate every last Jew. Germany had had many economic problems due, in part, to the strict reparations imposed on them by the League of Nations and the Great Depression which came in 1929 (a) (See Works Cited at the end). The Nazis had blamed the Jews for their economy. They had blamed the Jews for their problems and the hatred of the Jews was reaching a boiling point.

Anti-Semitism in Medieval Europe

Like their European ancestors before them, the citizens of Nazi Germany blamed the Jews for their national and personal problems. Blaming the Jews for problems and then killing them later is nothing the Nazis invented. Nearly 550 years earlier, in 1389, hatred toward the Jews was also boiling over in the medieval city of Prague.

The Jews were not allowed to live with the rest of the people of most European cities and instead lived in separate communities called Ghettos. Due to a Catholic belief that Catholics should not be creditors or tax collectors, those jobs were left for the Jews (c). This sadly gave the Europeans an excuse to hate them more. Jews were blamed for sicknesses which were really due to bad hygiene and other problems. In 1389, citizens of Prague massacred thousands of Jews in the Prague Ghetto and looted and ransacked their homes (b).

“Kristallnacht”

Fast-forwarding to 1938, over five-hundred years later, Nazi Germany was also blaming the Jews for her problems. The propaganda was working and during the night of November 9–10 (later called “Kristallnacht”), thousands of Germans took out their anger on the Jews. Across Germany (which included Austria at the time) over 1,000 synagogues were set ablaze and approximately 7,500 Jewish businesses were looted and vandalized (d). During the chaos, over 90 Jews were murdered and 30,000 were arrested. While this horror was taking place, fire brigades and police were told to let Jewish properties burn and be vandalized. They could only intervene if “Aryan” properties were accidentally harmed (d).

Tragic Events Leading Up to the Holocaust

Defending the Jews: “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion Exposed” (Part 2 of 2)

In part one, we looked at Anti-Semitism in medieval Europe and during the Catholic Crusades. We saw how Medieval rule forced Jews to wear special badges identifying them as Jews (just as in Nazi Germany), and how they were forced into ghettos, and how they were wrongfully accused of unfounded crimes (both in Nazi Germany and in medieval Europe).

Defending the Jews: "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion Exposed"

(Part 2 of 2)

(Click here to see part 1.)

The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion Exposed

(Sergei Nilus)

There is a mistaken belief (existing even today) that Jews are behind the Illuminati and a sort of Jewish New World Order. Henry Ford believed it and he wrote many newspaper articles attacking the Jews, claiming that they were part of a conspiracy to destroy America (g) (see Works Cited below). This belief was also made popular by the publication of The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. The book was published in Russian in 1905 by Sergei Nilus (d). In the book the Jewish characters are conversing back and forth about their plans for controlling the world. It has been proven that The Protocols… is a hoax and was based on an earlier publication.

In 1865, a book titled “Dialogue aux Enfers entre Machiavel et Montesquieu, ou la Politique de Machiavel au XIX. Siècle. Par un Contemporain” (or "A Dialogue in Hell Between Montesquieu and Machiavelli") was published in Brussels, Belgium (e). Its author Maurice Joly was a lawyer and satirist who lived during the reign of Napoleon III. He wrote the book as a dialogue between different characters with the intention of criticizing his government (d). He was arrested shortly after its publication and was sentenced to 18 months of jail time (e).

Some 40 years later, The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion was published. Its similarity to “Dialogue in Hell…” by Maurice Joly is very striking.

(Maurice Joly)

“A Dialogue in Hell”, by Joly (f):

[Fourth Dialogue]

“Machiavelli: You do not know the unfathomable cowardice of humanity, servile in the face of force, pitiless in the face of weakness, implacable before blunders, indulgent before crimes, incapable of supporting the contrarieties of a liberal regime, and patient to the point of martyrdom before all the violences of bold despotism, upsetting thrones in its moments of anger, and giving itself rulers whom it pardons for actions the least of which would have caused it to decapitate twenty constitutional kings.”

Now, compare The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion to "Dialogues in Hell".

“Protocols:”(f)

[Number 3, Paragraph 16]

“It is the bottomless rascality of the goyim peoples, who crawl on their bellies to force, but are merciless toward weakness, unsparing to faults, and indulgent toward crimes, unwilling to bear the contradictions of a free social system but patient unto martyrdom under the violence of bold despotism. It is those qualities which are aiding us to independence. From the premier-dictators of the present day the goyim peoples suffer patiently and bear such abuse as for the least of them they would have beheaded twenty kings.”

There are many more examples of plagiarism in “The Protocols.”

Maurice Joly’s “A Dialogue in Hell:” (e)

[pg. 250.]

“MONTESQUIEU: How are loans made? By the issue of bonds entailing on the Government the obligation to pay interest proportionate to the capital it has been paid. Thus, if a loan is at 5 per cent., the State, after 20 years, has paid out a sum equal to the borrowed capital. When 40 years have expired it has paid double, after 60 years triple: yet it remains debtor for the entire capital sum.”

“Protocols:”(e)

[pg. 77]

“A loan is an issue of Government paper which entails an obligation to pay interest amounting to a percentage of the total sum of the borrowed money. If a loan is at 5 per cent., then in 20 years the Government would have unnecessarily paid out a sum equal to that of the loan in order to cover the percentage. In 40 years it will have paid twice; and in 60 thrice that amount, but the loan will still remain as an unpaid debt.”

[Click here to see more examples.]

As you can see, The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion plagiarized Maurice Joly’s much earlier publication. The only reason for it being published was to spread lies about the Jews. Sadly, Henry Ford bought into this big lie, as did Adolf Hitler. In Hitler’s Germany, the Nazi party published and distributed large quantities of “The Protocols” (h).

Hitler wrote (in Mein Kampf) in strong support of “The Protocols” (h):

Defending the Jews: The Truth about Israel (Part 1 of 2) (The Truth About Anti-Semitism in Medieval Europe and the Knights Templar)

Defending the Jews: The Truth about Israel

(Part 1 of 2)

(Click here to read part 2.)

For thousands of years Israel was recognized as an important nation in the Middle East. During different periods of Israel’s history, kings and rulers gave her tribute and gifts. She was accepted as being a legitimate country and was envied by her neighbors. During the days of King Solomon, Israel had vast stores of gold and silver and precious stones: wealth that today would exceed the wealth of billionaires. This was ancient Israel’s golden age. But it didn’t last.

When Israel turned away from their God and served the idols of the nations around them, they became wicked and burned their children in the fires of Moloch, the Caananite god of child-sacrifice.

God brought them warning, by the mouth of prophets, time and time again, but they did not listen. Finally, God allowed the Assyrians to capture the northern kingdom of Israel, leaving the southern kingdom of Judah and Benjamin. The Jews in Judah and Benjamin did not learn from their northern brothers and continued in a period of idolatry (which was broken up by periods of returning back to God).

Again, God in His mercy sent prophets to warn the people and to turn them back to Him, but the people (for the most part) did not listen. And, eventually God allowed Babylon to take the Jews into captivity. After a period of 70 years, just as God had promised, He returned the Jews back to their land.

Some time went by and then Jesus Christ, the Messiah, came. Jesus Christ fulfilled all the prophecies of the Messiah who God promised to be the Savior of the Jews and of the Gentiles (see Genesis 3:15, Psalm 22, and Isaiah 53). The self-righteous, arrogant Pharisees and Sadducees rejected Jesus Christ as the Messiah, even after all the miracles He did, and had Him crucified on a Roman cross. But, other Jews believed in Jesus Christ and they spread the Gospel message of salvation to the world, starting at Jerusalem. (Paul the Apostle was a Jew, as were all the 12 disciples of Jesus.)

In 70 A.D. Titus, a Roman general, besieged Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple, and Jews were scattered into many countries. In their new countries, they gathered together in communities and preserved their culture as best they could.

Jews in Europe

(Jews wearing yellow badges in Medieval Europe.)

During their whole existence in Europe and elsewhere, the Jews were despised by their Gentile neighbors. Sir Walter Scott, author of Ivanhoe, gives the reader a taste of the hatred and loathing Europeans felt toward Jews during the middle ages.

Scott writes (Ivanhoe, Chapter IV, pg. 1.):

Oswald, returning, whispered into the ear of his master, "It is a Jew, who calls himself Isaac of York; is it fit I should marshall him into the hall?"

"Let Gurth do thine office, Oswald," said Wamba with his usual effrontery; "the swineherd will be a fit usher to the Jew."

"St Mary," said the Abbot, crossing himself, "an unbelieving Jew, and admitted into this presence!"

"A dog Jew," echoed the Templar, "to approach a defender of the Holy Sepulchre?"

"By my faith," said Wamba, "it would seem the Templars love the Jews' inheritance [the land of Israel] better than they do their company."

[…]

"Hush," said Cedric, "for here he comes."

Introduced with little ceremony, and advancing with fear and hesitation, and many a bow of deep humility, a tall thin old man, […] approached the lower end of the board. His features, […], would have been considered as handsome, […][but] during those dark ages, was alike detested by the credulous and prejudiced vulgar, and persecuted by the greedy and rapacious nobility [….]

[…]

[…] Cedric himself coldly nodded in answer to the Jew's repeated salutations, and signed to him to take place at the lower end of the table, where, however, no one offered to make room for him. […] and the very heathen Saracens, as Isaac drew near them, curled up their whiskers with indignation, and laid their hands on their poniards [daggers], as if ready to [kill him] [….]

Jews have been vilified and mistreated for thousands of years and it is nothing they have earned. Many people today detest them for simply being Jewish. But, this attitude is nothing new. It has been around for a long time. During the middle ages Jews, who were sometimes vilified as “Christ-killers”, were denied the right to own land. Because the Catholic Church did not permit their members to lend money, Jews were allowed to do the lending (a) (see Works Cited in part 2). They also were allowed to serve kings as tax collectors, and sadly many people despised them (a).

The Knights Templar and the First Crusade