‘The Assyrian’ and Rome…Connecting the Dots
Discerning Where the AntiChrist of the Last Days Arises From
John Paul Cook
Proverbs 25:2 “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.”
A while back I was asked a question that went something like this: “If you believe the anti-Christ comes out of Rome, then what do you do with scriptures that refer to the anti-Christ as ‘the Assyrian’ as found in Isa. 10:24 and Isa. 14:25? Or, what of Dan. 8:9 that says that the ‘little horn’, which is also a name for the antiChrist, comes out of one of the four divisions of Alexander the Great’s kingdom (356 – 324 B.C.)? Mysteriously, I would say the answer lies in the questions themselves. What I mean by that is the anti-Christ is given many names in the bible like: ‘the beast’ Dan. 7:11, Rev. 13:17; ‘man of sin’ 2 Thess. 2:3; ‘vile person’ Dan. 11:21; ‘that Wicked (one)’ 2 Thess. 2:8; just to name a few. However, some of the other names he is given are the ones I would like to focus on; that being ‘Bel’, ‘Merodach’ Jer. 50:2, ‘the hammer of the whole earth’ Jer. 50:23, ‘The king of Babylon’ Jer. 50:43, while also bringing in the other reference to ‘the Assyrian’ found in Micah 5:5.
While seeing the importance of the events happening around the world as declaring ‘we are in the last days’, it is imperative that we keep a ‘broad spectrum lens’ on our eyes while trying to determine where this person who will become the antiChrist comes from. What I mean by that is, we must consider all of the verses together that speak of the anti-Christ along with the world kingdom visions given to Daniel (Ch. 2) and John (Rev. 17:10) along with the composite beasts of Rev. 13 and Dan. 7 that will make up the armies of the anti-Christ, while at the same time considering secular history (not in the bible), in the hopes of giving a reasonable defense of where this arch-nemesis arises out of. (Yes, please humor me, I believe Dan. 7 is synonymous or contemporary with Rev. 13, and I know I’m ‘swimming against the current’ of the common belief that Dan. 7 is another way of looking at the world empires of Dan. 2).
KEEPING THE FOCUS ON THE FOUR KINGDOMS / NOT THE FOUR DIVISIONS
When I first stumbled upon Adam Clarke’s bible commentary on Daniel chapter 8, I just knew it was right. However, I was really frustrated with how he did not give an explanation for how he made the jump from describing how the little horn (antiChrist) comes out of one of the four divisions of Alexander’s kingdom, and then going on to explain how Rome, although small in it’s beginnings, in time conquered Egypt and Assyria, and eventually made Judea (the pleasant land) vs.9, a province. Geographically speaking it made sense to me. The verse reads Dan. 8:9 “And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.” Again, geographically if you are looking at Rome on a map, Egypt, Syria and Israel all are situated to the south and east. And if we keep in mind that Dan. 8:9 should be read with verses 22,23 the accompanying verses, it says that this ‘little horn’ comes to power ‘in the latter time of their kingdom‘, or at the end of the age, i.e. in these days! When we consider that four kingdoms were described to Daniel in chapter 2 and know from history that the fourth was Rome, the same one that was in power when the Revelation was given to John, and in the giant image-vision of Dan. 2 when he describes the fourth kingdom (Rome) in verse 40, he just continues on in verse 41 as if it’s a continuing narrative with no time lapse, but we know from verse 44 that there is a space in time for it reads: ‘in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed’, ‘these kings’ being the 10 toes / horns correlating with Dan. 7:7,8 and Rev. 13:1. Again, Dan. 2:40,41 reads like it’s a continuing story as if the prophet was seeing the final world / beast system continuing out of the fourth with no breaks, which we have the luxury of knowing from hindsight, looking back over history, was Rome, and there was a 2000 year break! This would correlate with Dan. 9:26,27 the great prophecy of Daniel’s 70 weeks. In verse 26 it says that after 69 weeks “shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (the Roman army) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war (end of the age – our days) desolations are determined. 27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week” (7 years – Daniel’s 70th week)…. The ‘he’ in verse 27 is the antiChrist and verse 27 flows out of verse 26 like a continuing narrative. as if there are no breaks, just like in Dan. 2:40,41. Which again, we know from our vantage point of history there has been roughly a 2000 year break. In both of these cases, it points back to Rome! That’s one way I’m ‘connecting the dots’.
A CLOSER LOOK AT EGYPT
As I started researching two of the divisions of Alexander’s kingdom, namely the Seleucid empire which would include modern day Syria, making one of the titles for the anti-Christ ‘the Assyrian’, a tempting proposition for a Syrian antichrist, and the Ptolemaic empire of which Egypt was a part, a number of events stood out to me about the latter. Under Ptolemy of Egypt it was noted that the name Ptolemy actually means ‘the Savior’, now I don’t read too much into that, I just thought it was interesting, just as he also became a Pharaoh eventually in Egypt. It was noted, and I think is significant, that Ptolemy was one of Alexander’s most trusted generals, and was among the seven somatophylakes (bodyguards) attached to his person. He was a few years older than Alexander, and had been his intimate friend since childhood. When Alexander died in 323 BC, Ptolemy is said to have instigated the resettlement of the empire made at Babylon, including even taking great pains in acquiring the body of Alexander the Great and placing it temporarily in Memphis, Egypt, only later to moved to Alexander by his successor Ptolemy II (his son). By custom, kings in Macedonia asserted their right to the throne by burying their predecessor. Through the Partition of Babylon, or the division of the territories of Alexander the Great between his generals after his death in 323 BC., was God Himself pointing to ‘this general’ as the one to which ‘the mantle’ would temporarily pass (in a sense) until the Roman empire completed its rise to power as the fourth component of Daniel’s image (chapter 2)? My answer, yes.
Alexander wanted to make Babylon (where he died) the capital of his empire. Ptolemy took his body and buried it in Egypt, thereby, as their custom was, declaring himself the successor to the throne. And indeed was kept by divine Providence from multiple attempts by invading armies of various nations, and eventually built a very strong and secure kingdom, a kingdom I might add that outlasted the Seleucid empire, only to in the fullness of time succumb to, you guessed it, Rome. Rome, also as was pointed out earlier, swallowed up the Seleucid empire. Too often much is said about the Seleucid empire, and there is little focus on the other three generals which stemmed from the great Alexander’s kingdom. I believe this is in large part due to the majority of bible commentaries attributing such great significance to Antiochus Epiphanes and the atrocities he committed, and thereby focusing the attention on the Seleucid empire. So, I just wanted to shed a little light on this particular kingdom of which I think gets overlooked, and believe was the intended focus of Dan. 8:9., but will contend was only a small piece to the much larger ‘puzzle’ that God so masterfully concealed, of which even Daniel was told would only be revealed in our time (Dan. 12:9). So, no matter which of the four kingdoms / divisions of Alexander’s empire one sees as the focus, we eventually have to see Rome’s swallowing up of both kingdoms.
I believe the key phrase here is “the resettlement of the empire made at Babylon” that I mentioned before. In other words, there was a shift, or change of geographic and prophetic location that God often employs when painting this big picture. The Hellenistic culture, (meaning ancient Greek, or one who uses the Greek language), seemed to be ‘the bridge’ that connected Alexander’s empire to Ptolemy’s, and then to Rome’s. To quote a passage from the opening of M.M. Austin’s book (which I just ‘ironically’ happened to stumble across) “The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest”, “The Hellenistic period as conventionally understood is framed by two military conquests: the first, the Macedonian invasion of the Persian empire, under Alexander, rapid and deliberate (334-323 BC), the second, the Roman takeover of much of the Hellenistic world, hardly deliberate, but a long-drawn process, which started in the late third century BC but was not complete until 30 BC with the overthrow of the Ptolemaic (Egypt) dynasty (the last one standing, of the four divisions of Alexander’s kingdom) after the battle of Actium.” Daniel chapter 11 is critical here, and is ‘the key’ to understanding this change or shift that occurs in the prophetic / geographic location that God points to for a particular season, and must be kept in mind while trying to understand historical events leading up to the last days. In Daniel chapter 11, after verse 4 which clearly (I believe we would all agree) speaks of Alexander and his kingdom being divided ‘toward the four winds of heaven’, it says in verse 5 “And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes”, Ptolemy’s kingdom, of the four, was the one that was situated farthest to the south and that outlasted the others, and is the intended focus I am claiming.
As I stated earlier, in a plea not to get ‘bogged down’ in making the focus of where the final antiChrist arises from, in confining or limiting it to ‘one of the four divisions of Alexander’s kingdom’, another critical text on the subject of the beast (antiChrist) should be brought into the conversation and it is found in Rev. 17: 10,11. For context purposes, the apostle John is seeing a vision of a scarlet colored beast that has seven heads and ten horns with a woman riding on top of it of which we will talk about later in more depth. For now the focus is on verses 10 and 11 which read “10 And there are seven kings (or kingdoms): five are fallen (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia and Greece had come and gone at the time John wrote this), and one is (Rome – in power at the time of this writing), and the other is not yet come (I’ll go out on a limb here and say this is speaking of the Holy Roman Empire or papal Rome, or the final pope when the final appointed days arrive, [the final 42 months or 3 ½ years]); and when he cometh, he must continue a short space (the greek word used here can mean ‘a while’, or ‘for a season’). 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven (later in this writing I try and show how this final enemy’s roots can be traced through all of these world kingdoms making it ‘of the seven’ and ultimately back to Genesis chapter 10 with the first evil leader of an organized rebellion against God; (that is Nimrod), and goeth into perdition.”
Also noteworthy is the word ‘hepta’ in Rev. 17:11 is almost always interpreted ‘seven’,but can be translated ‘seventh’, and when you couple it with the Greek word ‘ek’ or ‘of’ as in the ‘he’ (Antichrist) that the context is talking about, the ‘of’ can also be translated ‘out of’. So the text reads ‘he is the eighth, and is of the seven’, but it could have been translated ‘he is the eighth, and is of (or comes ‘out of’) the seven (seventh). Well, if this interpretation is taken, it points clearly to the seventh world empire, which would be the Holy Roman Empire which flowed out of Rome, which was the sixth.
KINGS OF THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH
Continuing on in Daniel chapter 11 it says in verse 6, being a very important verse because it’s a transitional verse, due to the phrase “And in the end of years”, there is a giant leap made into more recent history and begins describing various kings of the north and south that change geographic locations multiple times starting in verse 6 and leading up to verse 21 where a ‘vile person’ is introduced, (being yet another name for the antiChrist) and then continues to tell of these northern and southern kings all the way through the end of the chapter. So, Daniel chapter 11 goes to great lengths to show (although very well hidden) how these actors who are said to be ‘kings’, which represent nations, change their geographic locations multiple times starting with the Persian kings of around 480 BC (verse 2) leading all the way up to ‘the Day of the LORD’ which brings us to the return of our Lord at the end of the chapter. The key verse; however, for our discussion is verse 21 which again describes this ‘vile person’ (anti-Christ) as coming out of the ‘estate’ (office or place) of the ‘raiser of taxes’ in verse 20.
AN APPOINTED TIME WITH A GREAT MAN OF GOD
For the identifying of this ‘raiser of taxes’, I must bring into the conversation one of the greatest men of God that I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing a number of years back in Kansas named Craig. He went home to be with the Lord some time ago (1998), but the memories he left me and the discussions we had remain precious to me even today. On one particular occasion, I took a week of vacation from work and drove daily to Craig’s house spending about eight hours a day listening to this ‘seasoned’ man of God expound on the things the Lord had shown him through the years. On one particular day he was sharing a revelation he was given on a portion of Daniel 11 that had to do with this ‘raiser of taxes’ in verse 20. This revelation started in the portion of verses just preceding verse 20, and he believed this section was referring to Hitler during WWII. There were some mysterious phrases mixed in among those verses that he didn’t have understanding on and this troubled him. Verse 20; however, he was convinced (by revelation) was speaking of Stalin from Russia as the ‘raiser of taxes’, and the verses just preceding that involved Hitler of Germany (the king of the north) as the main actor.
Unbeknownst to me, God was using these brief few days to bring me to a place, as He has so many times in my walk with Him, where I would have to cry out to Him out of desperation to intervene in a particular situation. What I mean by this is that I had tremendous respect for Craig, and I knew he believed that the antiChrist was going to come out of Russia. He made a strong case for this using Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 as the backdrop, while also bringing in the revelation he had of Daniel 11:20 and the verses just preceding it. This deeply troubled me, because on the one hand I knew in my heart that what he was explaining to me was from the Lord, but I also had no doubt that God had been showing me for years that the antiChrist would come out of Rome. How, I wondered, could both be true? When I tried to share this with him (about a Roman antiChrist), he became very frustrated with me (as many others have over the years), and tried his best to dissuade me from this belief. He was not the only one feeling overwhelmed that day, and because of the tension, I decided to drive to my house and eat lunch there (I lived just a few minutes from his house). I can’t explain how the feelings of frustration and desperation grew immensely in me during that short drive, but it seemed to reach a breaking point as I walked into my empty house and literally fell on my face before God in the living room crying out to him to intervene and for understanding. The cries were no sooner out of my mouth when God spoke to me, no, I would rather describe it as a shout and rebuke. He said, do you remember this book I put into your hands (while showing me a picture of a particular book by Avro Manhattan titled ‘The Washington, Moscow, Vatican Alliance’)? To which I replied trembling, Yes, but I tried reading it years ago and couldn’t understand it (the writing style of Manhattan is more European with a lot of big words which I’m a little ashamed to admit is a bit hard for me to follow). He said, Go get it! Now as I got up from the floor and started walking towards the storage area of the house, I looked at the piles of boxes and had no idea where to start looking. In a matter of moments I was directed to look in a particular box, and having dug to the bottom, I found ‘the book’. As I stared at the cover in confusion, not knowing where to start, He spoke again, Open it! (Now I must say here that this was not an audible voice, but Him speaking to my heart.) So turning the cover over my eyes fell on a picture on the inside cover of three past popes. Scanning from left to right, there was a picture of Pius XII with a symbol of the German swastika above him, in the middle, there was a picture of John XXIII with the symbol of the Russian hammer and sickle above him, and on the right, a picture of John Paul II with an American flag above him. These symbols above their heads were indicators of the particular political leanings or direction the vatican was pursuing at that moment in history. The thrust of this book by Manhattan uses his vast knowledge of Vatican diplomacy along with his many contacts in Rome to showcase that the Vatican and the papacy are not just a religious entity, but an extremely powerful and cunning political force in world politics. After staring at the picture on the inside cover for a few minutes and pondering the pictures of ‘the German and Russian popes’ in particular, again I was prompted to open the book. Not knowing where to start, I just flipped open the book (if my memory serves me correctly, it opened to somewhere around page 100). As I began to read I felt the presence of the Lord grow even stronger and it immediately broke upon me that what I was reading correlated perfectly with Daniel 11 that pertained to the portion of verses just preceding verse 20 that Craig had revelation on, while also shedding light on the mysterious phrases he didn’t understand mixed in among those verses. Manhattan described how a certain portion of history that had been covered up and that no one, to his knowledge, had ever been able to explain, of how pope Pius XII, just prior to becoming Pope when he was Cardinal Secretary of State and papal nuncio to Germany had helped Hitler rise to power with the assistance of the catholic church in Germany and had secretly (or behind the scenes) backed Hitler. When things seemed to be going their way and they had the momentum, for some mysterious reason (that made no natural sense), pope Pius warned Stalin of Russia about what was coming, that is the German armies coming for him, and this warning ultimately led to the Russian military being able to stop Hitler’s advance. This answers to Daniel 11: 13-19 with the exception of verse 16 which I believe is parenthetical or is looking forward to the last days (more on that later). So the king of the north in this passage is Germany and the king of the south is France. “Neither His chosen people” of verse 15 are the Jewish people killed during the holocaust. In verse 17 it says “He shall also set his face to enter (enter what? the glorious land vs. 16 {land around Jerusalem}), the following is a quote from a meeting between the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Hitler on 11-28-41 “the Fuhrer (Hitler) would on his own give the Arab world the assurance that its hour of liberation had arrived. Germany’s objective would then be solely the destruction of the Jewish element residing in the Arab sphere under the protection of British power.” Of course we know from history that Hitler never made it all the way there, and so verse 16 is parenthetical, awaiting fulfillment during the last half of Daniel’s 70th week i.e. the great tribulation period or final 3 ½ years, which is accomplished in Daniel 11:41. A fulfillment that will be accomplished with a Roman prince (Dan. 9:26,27) and a Russian king (of the north) Dan. 11:40. I go into further detail of this ‘hidden’ relationship between the Antichrist and the ‘king of the north’ in my booklet ‘7 Signs Leading To The End’, and how they are not one and the same, but the king of the north serves the Antichrist.
Also consider the following excerpt from Dave Hunt’s book “A Woman Rides the Beast”, “ “Christian” Rome slaughtered Jews by the thousands (I would argue millions) —far more than pagan Rome ever did. The land of Israel was seen as belonging to the Roman Catholic Church, not to the Jews. In 1096 Pope Urban II inspired the first crusade to retake Jerusalem from the Muslims. With the cross on their shields and armor, the Crusaders massacred Jews across Europe on their way to the Holy Land. Almost their first act upon taking Jerusalem “for Holy Mother Church” was to herd all of the Jews into the synagogue and set it ablaze. These facts of history cannot be swept under the carpet of ecumenical togetherness as though they never happened. Nor can the Vatican escape considerable responsibility for the Nazi Holocaust, which was thoroughly known to Pius XII in spite of his complete silence (I would argue he was complicit) throughout the war on that most important of subjects. The involvement of the papacy in the Holocaust will be examined later. Had the pope protested, as representatives of Jewish organizations and the Allied Powers begged him to do, he would have condemned his own church. The facts are inescapable: In 1936, Bishop Berning of Osnabruch had talked with the Fuehrer (Hitler) for over an hour. Hitler assured his lordship there was no fundamental difference between National Socialism and the Catholic Church. Had not the church, he argued, looked on Jews as parasites and shut them in ghettos? “I am only doing,” he boasted, “what the church has done for fifteen hundred years, only more effectively.” Being a Catholic himself (Hitler was not an atheist as many have been led to believe), he told Berning, he “admired and wanted to promote Christianity.””
Hence the struggle I was having with my friend was answered by this revelation. Once back at Craig’s house, I shared with him what had happened to me and the revelation I received, and I vividly remember him falling back into his chair in his study and declaring “tell me everything you know” with a look of astonishment on his face and tears welling up in both our eyes from the felt presence of God in that room.
As we continue on in verse 17 after he (Hitler) sets “his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom (the German military), and upright ones with him (Pope Pius XII and some of the hierarchy of the catholic church); thus shall he do: and he shall give him (another person is introduced here) the daughter of women, corrupting her: (pope Pius had a lot of difficulties with the priests of the catholic church in Germany getting them to go along with this plan; many fought against what was happening, behind his back): “but she (Catholic church) shall not stand on his side, neither be for him (Hitler)”.
Another interesting book written on this subject involves an excellent reporter who was a devout catholic named John Cornwell. He had petitioned the Vatican to scour through their underground library (beneath the Vatican) kept under strict security where books of world history are locked away that tell of our true history, as opposed to the history being taught today that has been rewritten and covered up. He wanted to defend the Vatican and the papacy from the false attacks and allegations being leveled against the church about Pius’ involvement with Hitler, and the Vatican felt with his devotion to the church along with his credentials, they had in him someone that would finally put this story ‘to rest’. Unfortunately for them, when he was granted access to the archives, he followed his conscious, and the results that came out in the book he wrote titled “Hitler’s Pope” proved to be more incriminating for the Roman church. It was interesting to see how some time later people came out in droves to try and discredit Cornwell, the author.
Pope Francis had announced in 2019 that the archives were going to be allowed access to, in order to review Pius’ involvement with Hitler by a select few historians, at the beginning of March 2020; but then Covid lockdowns “happened”, and Vatican City was shut down somewhere between the 6th and the 10th of March as far as i can tell through research.
Daniel 11:18: “After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many”, could be a reference to the taking of the Channel isles belonging to the British isles, but more likely since the hebrew word for isles can mean countries or regions, I think the latter is the intended meaning since Hitler was successful in invading and occupying the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France (king of the south, at that time, Dan. 11:14,15), Denmark, Yugoslavia, Greece, Norway and Western Poland. “But a prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him.” This is a very key phrase, it again points out that there are two rulers in view here, and the one causes the reproach offered by the other one to cease, even without his own power (because the papacy has no standing army/military). In verse 17 these two were working with each other, and in verse 18, the one is selling the other out. This answers perfectly to the portion of Manhattan’s book that I was led to that puzzled the author: Why would Pius who had been helping Hitler up to that point suddenly and without any reasonable explanation jump ship and change sides, thereby helping Stalin (Russia) which eventually led to Hitler’s (Germany) defeat? The answer, although seemingly simple, is not; he (pope Pius) was fulfilling prophecy and unknowingly yielding to the Sovereignty of God (Prov. 21:1; Ps. 75:7; Dan. 4:35), and although Hitler who is a type of antiChrist, and the biggest example we have in recent history, was not the final one (it was not the ‘appointed’ time). One more geographic shift had to take place for this great prophecy involving kings from the north and the south to be complete, and that shift would be to Russia (king of the north), Moscow being due north of Jerusalem / Israel (the final king of the south) (Dan. 11:40).
Verse 19 says “Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found.” Hitler, when seeing his defeat was imminent, retreated to his underground bunker (the Hebrew word for ‘fort’ means place of safety, protection, refuge, stronghold), and history says he killed himself with a gunshot to the head. His body was burned (although not completely), buried, dug up and moved several times, until it was finally taken to Magdeburg for a time. The Soviets, fearing German nazi loyalists would one day try and steal the remains of Hitler, sent a three man team to dig up his remains, take them to a place in the mountains and burn them to ashes, which they reportedly did and then scattered them to the winds, thus fulfilling “he shall not be found”.
A RECENT REVELATION
For further proof of this interpretation of the mysterious extra person injected into Daniel 11:17 as before mentioned “and he shall give him”, I want to bring attention to a revelation I was given on Ezekiel chapters 28-32 a short time back, and show how two mysterious figures found in these chapters will once again collaborate their efforts in the last days (our days), while also keeping in mind that there was a shift from Germany to Russia in comprising the title of ‘the king of the north’. Chapter 28 describes a prince called ‘Tyrus’, which I am saying is yet another name for the anti-Christ, and we know from verses 12-15 that this is a description of Satan who before he was judged was Lucifer, and ultimately becomes the ‘man of sin’ or antiChrist when he embodies or takes up residence in this ‘winsome’ person halfway through the final 7 years known as Daniel’s 70th week. We also know (for context) from the end of the chapter, verses 25 and 26, that it is a reference to the last days when God will deliver Israel ushering in the millennium. In verse 7 a phrase “the terrible of the nations” is introduced which I am saying is a hidden reference to Russia, then in chapters 29 and 30 we learn of the judgement of Egypt, which according to 29:19 and 30:10,11 is accomplished by Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, whom I will declare is the head of Russia and ‘the terrible of the nations’ his military. Again, using Eze. 30:3 as a context for what time this is: “For the day is near (note: not quite here, but near), even the day of the LORD is near”. My view on ‘the day of the LORD’ is that it not only speaks of that particular day when the Lord returns, but also can be applied to the time (“the time of the heathen” (nations) Eze. 30:3 / “times of the Gentiles” Rev. 11:2) of the final 3 ½ years known as ‘the great tribulation (for Christians) and the time of Jacob’s trouble’ (for the Jewish people). Due to the fact that Egypt is humbled before the final 3 ½ years (day of the LORD) begins, remembering that day is near and not quite here, I am stating that this is the first southward move of the antiChrist in Daniel 11:25-28, and the phrase “And both these kings’ hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table”, (while referring to two leaders: pope Francis and Putin of Russia), is the final fulfillment from the shift that took place from Germany to Russia after WWII, for the fulfillment of the great prophecy of the kings of the north and south. So the pattern that was begun in Dan. 11:17,18 of not one, but two leaders, and that runs through the rest of Daniel 11 is confirmed in Eze. chapters 28-32 as Nebuchadrezzar serves Tyrus (although for a season i.e. final 3 ½ years). So in other words, when this ‘mysterious’ other personage is introduced in Dan. 11:17, it carries through to the end of the narrative. This is yet another way ‘I’m connecting the dots’ of ‘the Assyrian’….. to Rome. Again, see my booklet ‘7 Signs Leading To The End’ at 777theend.com for more on this.
THE DAUGHTER OF WOMEN / BABYLON / ROME
We must remember that Assyria was an enemy of God’s people during Isaiah’s day, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine God, when speaking to his prophet, to use the title ‘the Assyrian’ when giving him a revelation of what would befall his people in the latter days. That’s the easy explanation, but what I will now attempt to show is ‘the unholy cord’ that connects the very beginnings of this false religious system that had its origins in Genesis 10:10 under Nimrod “And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel (Babylon)”, then in verse 11 “ Out of that land went forth Asshur”, or Assyria where Nimrod is mentioned in their writings as their first king, then continues to run through all of history until we see its final manifestation as the composite beast found in Revelation chapters 13, 17 and 18. This is confirmed in Jer. 50:17 which describes Israel as a scattered sheep stating that while their persecution began with the king of Assyria (the Assyrian) it ends with this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon (Russia as the head of this composite beast or multi national military machine serving Tyrus / Satan / antiChrist).
There is a woman (whore Rev. 17:1) who rides this scarlet colored beast that I will say is a reference to the earlier passage cited “the daughter of women” in Dan. 11:17, and is also connected to the “daughter of Babylon” in Jeremiah 50:42, and the phrase “become as women” Jer. 50:37 (putting the two together – ‘daughter of women’, I believe is pointing to Dan. 11:17); and Zechariah 2:7 of which ‘Zion’ (Jerusalem) is told to “Deliver thyself” (escape) “O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon”, “Remove out of the midst of Babylon” Jer. 50:8, “Flee out of the midst of Babylon” Jer. 51:6, and ultimately, as seen in Jer. 50:28, “escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion”, note the words ‘out of and in’, showing that Zion (Jerusalem) is separate from, and not the intended focus of this impending wrath / annihilation as found in Revelation chapters 17, 18, and is in fact differentiated from Babylon / Rome of which Rev. 18:8 says “her plagues (death, mourning and famine) shall come in one day and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her” (the greek word for judgement here is krino which can mean ‘condemn’ and in light of verse 21 which says she shall be ‘found no more’, I believe is the correct inflection). Also, in Jer. 50:13 it is said “because of the wrath (different from judgement) of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate”. This kind of ultimate condemnation can only be reserved for this false religious system that had its origins back in Genesis and not for Israel / Jerusalem. Revelation chapters 17 and 18 should be read together with Jeremiah chapters 50 and 51 for they are companion chapters and they all speak of this false religious system that God will not just judge, but again, annihilate (Jer. 51:64; Rev. 18:21), and that’s just not true of Israel or Jerusalem, which God has nothing but redemptive purposes for, following their judgement / chastisement (not wrath). So to summarize, the one city Babylon (Rome) is set for one type of judgment which leads to wrath and annihilation and the other city Jerusalem which God has chosen for Himself (Ps. 132: 13,14; Ps. 135: 4,21), after her judgment / chastisement will be redeemed and enjoy the preeminence that was always ordained for her. For she (Jerusalem) is inextricably connected to God’s people Israel (Dan. 9:24).
THE WOMAN / CITY ON SEVEN HILLS
In Revelation 17:9 it says “here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits.” Then in verse 18 it declares that this woman is a great city which reigns over the kings of the earth. There is only one city in the world that is known as ‘the city on seven hills’ and that is Rome! After ‘googling’ it, I found an abundance of information on this, but one in particular stood out. That would be Dave Hunt’s book “A Woman Rides the Beast” that I quoted from earlier. In it he gives a lot of information in a short space while pulling from his wealth of knowledge on this subject. There has been much written on the subject of trying to identify who ‘the woman’ is in Rev. 17,18 especially in the last few years. A very popular view is to try and identify America with the description given in these two chapters, but the problem there is twofold. One, America has only been around in recent history whereas papal Rome has been around for close to 2000 years and was a continuation of where pagan Rome left off, thus answering to ‘the legs, feet and toes’ of Daniel’s vision in chapter 2. I will also show how it’s roots can be traced all the way back to the early parts of Genesis. Secondly, the woman is confined by the text to be a city and not a nation which must meet all of the other criteria in the text. No other city in the history of the world can do that except Rome, or vatican city in particular, which also happens to be recognized as a sovereign nation around the world, even by the United Nations. No other city has ever been recognized as a sovereign nation as vatican city has, which when spoken about is usually referred to as Rome, the two (Rome / vatican city) are used interchangeably. The city, which in Rev. 17:1 is described as a whore / prostitute that sits on many waters, (waters in the bible symbolizes people, which the Roman church says has over a billion people following her) it should be noted, is explained to the apostle John, not just by any angel, but the angel which had the seven vials / bowls of ‘wrath’ and not ‘judgment’, again showing that the city in view here will undergo complete destruction thus distinguishing itself from Jerusalem, which God will redeem after their coming judgment / chastisement. In the second verse, it says the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and kings and presidents from all over the world travel to Rome / the vatican on a regular basis to have private audiences with the pope to discuss political / religious matters.
In Rev. 17:4 it says the woman was arrayed in ‘purple and scarlet’ colors, which are the official colors of the clergy in the Roman church: Purple being the color that the bishops trim their clothing in, while red is reserved for the cardinals. On an ironic note, when the current pope came out to present himself to the crowds in Rome after being elected, he chose to wear ‘all white’ instead of the traditional red color that is tradition for the popes to present themselves in at their unveiling. Could this have been a mysterious and sovereign ‘singling out’ by God of what this individual will do when he “confirms the covenant with many for one week (or seven years)”, thus fulfilling Dan. 9:27 and Rev. 6:2 (I believe these two verses are the same event which begins the final seven years) (the first horse of the Apocalypse is white)? Also noteworthy is the name which the current pope chose when he was elected, being Francis, which I read of the two names no pope in history has ever had the audacity to choose, that being Jesus or Francis (of Assisi, which the cardinals esteem on the same level), to which it was also reported that there were audible ‘gasps’ when he uttered that name which he had chosen, and after being elected by the cardinals, it was reported that he exclaimed “God help you for what you’ve done”!
Continuing on in verse 4 we read that she was “decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand”. Consider the following quotes from a portion of Dave Hunt’s book “A Woman Rides The Beast”, “The Roman Catholic Church is by far the wealthiest institution on earth. The value of innumerable sculptures by such masters as Michelangelo, paintings by the world’s greatest artists, and countless other art treasures and ancient documents which Rome possesses (not only at the Vatican but in cathedrals around the world) is beyond calculation. There is no church, no city which is a spiritual entity, no religious institution past or present which even comes close to possessing the wealth of the Roman Catholic Church. A recent newspaper article described only a fraction of that treasure at one location:
The fabulous treasure of Lourdes (France], whose existence was kept secret by the Catholic Church for 120 years, has been unveiled…. Rumours have been circulating for decades about a priceless collection of gold chalices, diamond-studded crucifixes [a far cry from the bloodstained cross on which Christ died], silver and precious stones donated by grateful pilgrims. After an indiscreet remark by their press spokesman this week, church authorities agreed to reveal part of the collection … [some] floor-to-ceiling cases were opened to reveal 59 solid gold chalices alongside rings, crucifixes, statues and heavy gold brooches, many encrusted with precious stones. Almost hidden by the other treasures is the “Crown” of Notre Dame de Lourdes, made by a Paris goldsmith in 1876 and studded with diamonds. Church authorities say they cannot put a value on the collection. “I have no idea,” says Pierre-Marie Charriez, director of Patrimony and Sanctuaries. “it is of inestimable value.”… Across the road is a building housing hundreds of [antique] ecclesiastical garments, robes, mitres and sashes — many in heavy gold thread… [The treasure described here is only part of that which is kept in one location, the small town of Lourdes, France!]
In verse 6 it says “I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” and at the end of the 18th chapter, which wraps up a two chapter long description of this woman / city, it says in verse 24 “And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.” Only God Himself can make such an ultimate and condemning verdict on an institution that has deceived and/or killed untold millions and even billions of people over the course of history. Oh how the church has been lulled to sleep over recent history to be blind to such information as is found in writings such as David A. Plaisted’s paper which he wrote in 2006, of which the following quote comes from “W. E. H. Lecky says: “That the Church of Rome has shed more innocent blood than any other institution that has ever existed among mankind, will be questioned by no Protestant who has a competent knowledge of history. The memorials, indeed, of many of her persecutions are now so scanty, that it is impossible to form a complete conception of the multitude of her victims, and it is quite certain that no power of imagination can adequately realize their sufferings.” — “History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe,” Vol. II, p. 32. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1910.” Again, how is it possible that the church has forgotten all of this bloody history in only the last 100 years? We have been blinded by ‘the prince of the power of the air’ (Eph. 2:2). Please read this man’s paper – the church needs to be retaught history – for it is coming again, this time only on a much bigger scale (Mt. 24:21)! chrome-extension://bpmcpldpdmajfigpchkicefoigmkfalc/views/app.html
THE ASSYRIAN AND THE PAPACY
At the beginning of this writing I gave a few uncommon or lesser known names that are linked to the antiChrist found in Jeremiah. I will now try and present some evidence tying some of these not so common names together and show how they relate to each other while citing an author and a book that for many years christians used and referred to as a classic work for defending Protestantism; that book is “The Two Babylons” by Alexander Hislop. Much can be gleaned from the section of Hislop’s book entitled “The Child in Assyria” when attempting to understand how the title of ‘the Assyrian’ can be applied to the papacy, here is where I learned the meaning of the mysterious references to Bel, Merodach, and the king of Babylon that I quoted at the beginning of this writing found in Jer. 50, which from the context of verses 4 and 5, describing the restoration of Israel, we know is a vision speaking of the last days. Backing up first and starting in Genesis chapter 9 where we learn of the prophetic ‘curse’ by Noah on his son Ham and his lineage, after seeing his father’s nakedness. We also learn of some names and cities in this lineage that have had a evil history, while some even continue to have reference to today. Examples include Cush and Nimrod (Gen. 10: 6,8), Sidon (Zidon) vs 15, Gaza, Sodom, Gomorrah (vs. 19), just to name a few. It seems that whatever came out of the lineage of Ham and his descendants after being prophetically cursed, pertained only to evil. We learn from history, cited by Hislop, that this ‘Bel, Merodach along with the reference to the hammer of the whole earth’ (Jer. 50:2,23) was a reference to Cush, Nimrod’s father, who history says founded ancient Babylon, but his son Nimrod was the builder of it, namely the tower of Babel, and ultimately he and his wife Semiramis (known in the bible as Ashtaroth Judges 2:13; the queen of heaven Jeremiah chapters 7 and 44; and Diana in Acts 19) deceived the children of God into believing they were gods and were to be worshipped (beginning of Baal worship). This eventually led to God coming down, confounding their language and scattering them across the whole world. Nimrod was eventually killed, and Semiramis being pregnant at the time had a son which she called Tammuz (Eze. 8:14). She deceived the people that were worshipping her and Nimrod as gods into believing that her son was Nimrod reincarnated. This is the real meaning behind the graven images of ‘Mary and the baby Jesus’ in the Catholic church – it is in fact the ancient Semiramis and Tammuz (Baal worship).
Mysteriously, Nimrod is mentioned in Micah 5:6 in association with ‘the Assyrian’ in verses 5 and 6. When the phrase “and the land of Nimrod” is used in verse 6, it’s used in conjunction with the phrase “the land of Assyria”, showing that Syria proper is not the one in view here I will argue, but is a metaphor that is pointing back to this false religious system associated with Nimrod. Consider the following quotes in light of Micah 5:5,6 “the Assyrian”, from “the land of Nimrod”. “NIMROD, THE KING and founder of Babylon (and the first king of Assyria), was not only its political leader, he was its religious leader also. He was a priest-king. From him descended a line of priest kings each standing as the head of the occult Babylonian mystery religion. This line continued on down to the days of Belshazzar (Dan. 5)” http://www.granddesignexposed.com/babylon/papaloffice.html; “Rome is in very deed the Babylon of the Apocalypse; that the essential character of her system, the grand objects of her worship, her festivals, her doctrine and discipline, her rites and ceremonies, her priesthood and their orders, have all been derived from ancient Babylon; and, finally, that the Pope himself is truly and properly the lineal representative of Belshazzar” (and Nimrod, my emphasis, also taken from the previous website). The title of ‘the Assyrian’ as ascribed to the antiChrist when viewed through these lenses becomes something entirely different.
THE SEAT OR THRONE OF SATAN
Now I would like to direct your attention to a curious passage found in Rev. 2:12-15, and show that of the seven churches Jesus spoke to at the beginning of Revelation, this was the only one he ascribed as the very location of the ‘seat (throne) of Satan’, that church being Pergamos. The name Pergamos means ‘much married’, and the Roman church has been ‘married very much’ to paganism and ancient Babylonian mysteries throughout it’s history. “The last king of Pergamum, Attalus III, left his territory to Rome, and it was made the capital city of the Roman province of Asia. It was the first city of Asia to openly support emperor worship. In 29 BC a temple was dedicated “to the divine Augustus and the goddess Romauh,” and thus became the heart of emperor worship at that time. Observance of this worship became a test of loyalty to Rome and refusal to take part in the daily cult was considered high treason, punishable by death. Thus, in other cities, believers were primarily in danger on the one day of the year they were required to offer sacrifices to the emperor; however, in Pergamum they were in danger every day. Because the center of Baal worship had shifted from Babylon to Pergamum, He (Jesus) commended them for remaining true to His name even though they lived where Satan had his throne”. http://jaymack.net/revelation-commentary/Bb-The-Church-at-Pergamum.asp
“Pergamos existed from 313 – 606 A.D. This spans the time from Constantine’s Edict of Toleration for Christians to what is considered the first actual true pope and the beginnings of the Catholic Church. This is the root system, building up to the Catholic Church. Satan’s throne has been seated during the whole church age (times of the Gentiles, my emphasis) in the name of Roman Catholicism at Rome. The bishop of Rome continued to rise in power and authority until he was recognized as the head of the church.” http://sheltonjack.tripod.com/id28.htm
Jesus also rebuked the church at Pergamos for holding to the doctrines or teachings of Balaam (‘seducing the people’ vs. 14) and the Nicolaitans (dominating the people; elevating and worship of a man vs. 15), both can easily be applied to the papacy.
THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST – 666
Rev. 13:16-18 “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six” (666). This quote from Revelation chapter 13 is well known by both believers and unbelievers alike, and must be brought into the conversation when discussing the antiChrist of the last days. I have known for over 20 years after reading in ‘Halley’s Bible Handbook’ that the early church father Irenaeus, who was a disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of John the apostle, had been given understanding on the number of the beast. The ancient languages of Hebrew, Greek and Latin have numerical values appointed to each letter of their alphabet, this process is known as gematria. Irenaeus (who also, by the way, believed the world would only last 6000 years, in other words, we are there), was given understanding that the number 666 in Greek was to be applied to the name ‘Lateinos’: “Lateinos is the oldest and most common interpretation of the number of the Beast. Lateinos signifies Latin MAN or Latin kingdom, and is also the name of the king who founded the Latin state, namely King Latinus.” “Then also Lateinos has the number six hundred and sixty-six; and it is a very probable [solution], this being the name of the last kingdom [of the four seen by Daniel]. For the LATINS are they who at present bear rule” (Saint Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book V, ch. 29). This name ‘Lateinos’ is not the only way the number of the beast can be applied to the papacy, after doing more research I found quite a few other ways of applying 666 to this institution. Under the Greek lettering the titles ‘the latin kingdom’, ‘Italian church’, ‘apostates’, and ‘tradition’ all equal 666. In the Latin lettering, the all important title ‘vicarius filii dei’ which being interpreted means substituting or in place of the Son of God. Which was also inscribed on a tiara the popes from the past used to wear (although not lately because of the controversy), also in Latin ‘captain of the clergy’, ‘vicar of the court’ can be applied. In Hebrew lettering the names ‘Roman Kingdom’ and ‘Roman Man’ can be attributed to 666. This list while impressive does not seem to be exhaustive.
Consider the following quote from Hislop’s book, “The name of the system is “Mystery” (Rev. 17: 5). Here, then, we have the key that at once unlocks the enigma. We have now only inquire what was the name by which Nimrod was known as the god of the Chaldean Mysteries. That name, as we have seen, was Saturn. Saturn and Mystery are both Chaldean words, and they are correlative terms. As Mystery signifies the Hidden system, so Saturn signifies the Hidden god. * To those who were initiated the god was revealed; to all else he was hidden. Now, the name Saturn in Chaldee is pronounced Satur; but, as every Chaldee scholar knows, consists only of four letters, thus–Stur. This name contains exactly the Apocalyptic number 666.
If the Pope is, as we have seen, the legitimate representative of Saturn, the number of the Pope, as head of the Mystery of Iniquity, is just 666. But still further it turns out, as shown above, that the original name of Rome itself was Saturnia, “the city of Saturn.” This is vouched alike by Ovid, * by Pliny, * and by Aurelius Victor. * Thus. then, the Pope has a double claim to the name and number of the beast. He is the only legitimate representative of the original Saturn at this day in existence, and he reigns in the very city of the seven hills where the Roman Saturn formerly reigned; and, from his residence in which, the whole of Italy was “long after called by his name,” being commonly named “the Saturnian land.” Saturn and Lateinos are synonymous or interchangeable. As a side note, and I’m sorry to sound weird or ‘flaky’ here, but over the last couple of years I have become keenly aware of the importance of ‘numbers’ in relation to God and especially ‘the last days’, and as I was pondering one person’s comments on the number of the beast “Let those who have insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666. (Revelation 13:16-18). In the Old Covenant Book of Esther, Haman–the great enemy of the Jews–was associated with the number 13. Haman symbolizes the Papal dynasty, so the 2 numbers of the Papacy are 666 and 13.” (13 stands for rebellion and is the most important number in satanic circles.) Then one day as I was reading Esther 3:13, I was reminded that the current pope was elected on 3-13-13, it felt unusually eerie to say the least. The scripture reads “And the letters were sent by posts into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day (sounds a lot like what Hitler’s intentions were, and also like the middle of the week or final 3 ½ years here to me [or beginning of the great tribulation / Jacob’s trouble]), even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.”
POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF POPE FRANCIS
For those who are interested in bible prophecy while also surveying the current political scene along with world news events, I want to offer some interesting observations. Many I’ve talked to recently who are trying to discern where the antichrist might arise from, may entertain the pope as a possible candidate for the false prophet (Revelation 13), but have a hard time considering him as a candidate for ‘the’ antichrist, because they see the pope as being more ‘religious’ than political. Also,for those who struggle with the prospect of the pope being a viable candidate for the antichrist because they are looking for a person to fill that role who is more along the lines of a political / military personage, I offer the following:
In the following article “How Pope Francis Became A Foreign Policy Player” written by Sylvia Poggioli that I came across recently, I was struck by some of the things in the article that confirmed my suspicions of ‘who’, I believe, this man pope Francis is, how close we are to the ‘end’, and concerned that more in the church don’t recognize what he represents and where we are heading… and fast. I wanted to highlight some of the things in the article that stood out to me and what I believe are prophetically significant statements / actions as I know we all lead very busy lives (I am guilty of this too), and don’t have time to read news articles that we may not deem that important. I admit, in my quest to keep up on current events, and especially in relation to this individual whom I believe will fulfill the role of ‘the anti-Christ’, I almost skipped over this one (article).
Before I get into the article, let me just touch on something that I know I’ve mentioned in the past, and that I also know will seem trivial to some, but I believe is greatly significant, and that is the ‘color’ that this pope chooses to wear on almost every occasion, that color being ‘white’, and on an ironic note, when the current pope came out to present himself to the crowds in Rome after being elected, he chose to wear ‘all white’ instead of the traditional red color that is the protocol for the popes to present themselves in at their unveiling. Could this have been a mysterious and sovereign ‘singling out’ by God of ‘who’ this individual is, and what he will do when “he confirms the covenant with many for one week (or seven years) (which will be a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians which will also include Jews being allowed to rebuild their temple with animal sacrifices being restored on the temple mount)”, thus fulfilling Daniel 9:27 and Revelation 6:2 (I believe these two verses speak of the same event which begins the final seven years….the first horse of the Apocalypse is white!)? Relevant in light of the timing of the recent animal sacrifices in view of the temple mount on this last Passover in Israel: http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/66076/passover-sacrifice-makes-comeback-overlooking-temple-mount-photos/
Add to this the remarks made by Israel’s chief rabbi recently, “he would like to see a Third Temple built, and expressed his belief that the Muslim holy sites located on Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount need not be demolished in order to make room for it.”
“In that place, by the way, in the same place where it was, there’s room for Jews, there’s room for Christians, there’s room for Muslims, there’s room for everybody,” Rabbi Lau continued. “It won’t take up the entire Temple Mount — take a look at its measurements.” Rabbi Lau’s argument that there’s room for all three monotheistic religions on the Temple Mount”.
We can see with the Pope’s recent trip on Feb. 4 2019, during his trip to the UAE, where he signed the Document on Human Fraternity, and then in October of 2020 with the release of his encyclical ‘Fratelli Tutti’ (all brothers), what his goals are. Then if you consider the new ‘Abrahamic Family House’ that is going to be built featuring a synagogue, a church and a mosque on Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island, I suspect that this is his goal for the Temple Mount.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1802051/world
Also noteworthy is the name which the current pope chose when he was elected, that being Francis, in which he said right after he was elected that one of the reasons he chose that name was for ‘peace’ that he would be promoting, which I also have read, of the two names no pope in history has ever had the audacity to choose, (Jesus or Francis, as in Francis of Assisi, which the cardinals esteem on the same level). It was also reported that there were audible ‘gasps’ in the room where the cardinals were enclosed to vote on the future pope when he uttered that name which he had chosen, and after being elected, it was said that he exclaimed to the cardinals “God help you for what you’ve done”, and although I’m sure he meant it as ‘tongue and cheek’, I can only imagine that it reverberated with a kind of eerie if not prophetic overtone to the cardinals in the room.
Recently pope Francis did something historic when he ‘bridged the gap’, that had been in place for the last 1000 years, of the schism between the catholic church and the Orthodox church, an awesomely significant event in itself, when he met Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, in Jerusalem to mark the 50th anniversary of “The Catholic and Orthodox Churches split in 1054 in a dispute over papal power, among other things. The Second Vatican Council’s call for greater Catholic outreach to other Christians resulted in Pope Paul VI’s historic meeting with the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox, Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, in Jerusalem in 1964. In 2014, Francis and Bartholomew marked the 50th anniversary of that event with a meeting in Jerusalem, which was followed by Francis’ visit to Istanbul later that year. The two men clearly get along well: Francis cited Bartholomew’s environmental writings in his own 2015 ecological encyclical – a first for a pope.” Which encyclical, by the way was unveiled at the United Nations on their 70th anniversary when the Pope was invited to be their ‘keynote’ speaker, which by the way, happened to coincide with the 4th blood moon of the famous 4 blood moons of 2014-15 (see my booklet on Blood Moons and the Last Days – The Final 7 Years).
But perhaps even more significant than this meeting was the one between him and Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Orthodox church, given that relations between the two leaders “have been extremely tense, especially since the end of the Cold War. Besides longstanding theological disputes, the Russian Orthodox Church has accused Catholics of poaching on its turf, trying to lure its members and win converts.
Given the Russian Orthodox Church’s close relationship with the Russian government, it’s widely believed that President Putin strongly encouraged the meeting between the pope and Patriarch Kirill. Putin himself has traveled twice to the Vatican to meet Francis. The two have found common ground in the protection of Christians in the Middle East and elsewhere they are under threat.”
Sound familiar? This is imperative to get!, considering the relationship between Hitler and pope Pius XII during WWII. Hitler was not an atheist as many have been taught, but had religious leanings toward the Roman church just as Putin does. The pope chose to meet Kirill in Cuba of all places, significant in light of him being given the credit for brokering a ‘peace deal’ of sorts between the U.S. and Cuba. “Pope Francis will land in Cuba on Saturday with his credentials already polished – not just as one of the most popular pontiffs of modern times (now the most popular leader in the world, according to recent polling),
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35892917
but as the man who played a key role in forging the historic detente (a French word meaning a ease of tensions between countries) between Havana and Washington. His decision to visit Cuba immediately before his three-city tour of the United States is being seen as highly symbolic (again, all of this was happening around the time of the 4th blood moon). Within hours of the rapprochement being announced last December, it emerged that the first Latin American (and Jesuit) Pope in history had hosted secret talks at the Vatican between US and Cuban officials.”
Some statements made by pope Francis and Kirill of Russia in a joint statement released recently in Cuba are noteworthy:
“1. By God the Father’s will, from which all gifts come, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the help of the Holy Spirit Consolator, we, Pope Francis and Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, have met today in Havana. We give thanks to God, glorified in the Trinity, for this meeting, the first in history.
It is with joy that we have met like brothers in the Christian faith who encounter one another “to speak face to face” (2 Jn 12), from heart to heart, to discuss the mutual relations between the Churches, the crucial problems of our faithful, and the outlook for the progress of human civilization.
2. Our fraternal meeting has taken place in Cuba, at the crossroads of North and South, East and West. It is from this island, the symbol of the hopes of the “New World” and the dramatic events of the history of the twentieth century, that we address our words to all the peoples of Latin America and of the other continents.
7. …responding together to the challenges of the contemporary world… Human civilization has entered into a period of epochal change.
11. We lift our prayers to Christ, the Saviour of the world, asking for the return of peace in the Middle East…We address, in a fervent appeal, all the parts that may be involved in the conflicts to demonstrate good will and to take part in the negotiating table. At the same time, the international community must undertake every possible effort to end terrorism through common, joint and coordinated action. We call on all the countries involved in the struggle against terrorism to responsible and prudent action.
12. …We believe that these martyrs of our times, who belong to various Churches but who are united (ecumenism) by their shared suffering, are a pledge of the unity of Christians.
13. Interreligious dialogue is indispensable in our disturbing times. Differences in the understanding of religious truths must not impede people of different faiths to live in peace and harmony. In our current context, religious leaders have the particular responsibility to educate their faithful in a spirit which is respectful of the convictions of those belonging to other religious traditions.
14. In affirming the foremost value of religious freedom, we give thanks to God for the current unprecedented renewal of the Christian faith in Russia, as well as in many other countries of Eastern Europe, formerly dominated for decades by atheist regimes.
And I couldn’t help but put this last part in:
30. With grace–filled gratitude for the gift of mutual understanding manifested during our meeting, let us with hope turn to the Most Holy Mother of God, invoking her with the words of this ancient prayer: “We seek refuge under the protection of your mercy, Holy Mother of God”. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, through her intercession, inspire fraternity in all those who venerate her, so that they may be reunited, in God’s own time, in the peace and harmony of the one people of God, for the glory of the Most Holy and indivisible Trinity!
Now getting back to the article that I cited at the beginning of this section, “How Pope Francis Became A Foreign Policy Player”, “When Pope Francis travels to the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday (April 16, 2016), he will likely bring with him a sharp rebuke for Europe’s response to the migrant crisis. In 2013, on his very first papal trip, he traveled to Lampedusa to decry the “globalization of indifference” toward refugees and migrants. That 2013 trip, and the message that Pope Francis carried with him, was one of the first signs of a more assertive and less predictable Vatican stance on the global stage. Throughout the Cold War, the Vatican remained firmly in the Western camp. With Pope Francis, the first pope from the Global South, the Holy See showed his willingness to offer an unflinching critique of the West and its foreign policy failures. (Again, this shows how the vatican is leaving the side of the U.S. and shifting its support to Russia, predicted in Daniel 11 in preparation for the ‘last days’.) Jorge Bergoglio, son of Italian immigrants (which would make him Italian actually, interesting in light of the famous ‘prophecy’ by Archbishop Malachy from 1139 which many of the cardinals and bishops in the catholic church believe to be true, which says that the last pope in this ‘prophecy’, which is Francis, will turn into the anti-Christ.)
Francis is the first non-European pope in nearly two millennia, and contrary to his two predecessors, he has put his focus on social, economic and environmental issues rather than church rules on sexual morality. He has irritated conservatives inside and outside the Catholic Church with his criticism of free-market capitalism (Pope Francis grew up in Argentina steeped in Liberation Theology which has as it’s core principle the hatred of capitalism: which country represents capitalism more than any other? America. Therefore he hates America and I believe his goal is to bring her down), the ills of globalization and his warnings about climate change. The trip will be mostly symbolic. But Francis is a master at blending the spiritual with the political…When he became pope, there was some concern that Francis lacked experience with the wider world. He had traveled little outside of his native Argentina, his pastoral experience was rooted in a metropolis, Buenos Aires, and its shantytowns, addressing problems of everyday life — poverty, migration and human trafficking. No one expected him to become a global player. But Francis is also the first Jesuit pope. (For an interesting read, see ‘The Secret History of the Jesuits’ by Edmond Paris which you can find online) Over the centuries his religious order often waged its own diplomacy, acquiring extensive knowledge of other cultures. The training shows. Early in his papacy, in September 2013, Francis called for a worldwide day of fasting in opposition to the possibility of U.S. airstrikes in Syria. That move was seen by many observers as having helped persuade President Obama to pull back. Vatican analyst John Allen said at the time that anti-war action won the pope goodwill in the Islamic world, where the memory of the Christian-led Crusades is still alive. “On the Muslim street,” Allen said, “the fact that he came out against Western intentions earned him a lot of political credibility.” The pope’s position on Syria was closer to Russia and China than to the West, a significant shift in the Vatican’s geopolitical strategy. (Here is a picture of the Bear/Leopard or Russia/China of Revelation 13 and Daniel 7 forming an alliance with the antichrist) Francis, who as a Latin American (actually Italian) does not carry the European baggage of the Holocaust and Colonialism, hosted a prayer summit at the Vatican with Israeli and Palestinian leaders (also a first). Then, the pope, who as a Latin American had a lot of credibility in Havana, helped pave the way to the U.S.-Cuba thaw.
The foreign policy area where Francis has raised the most eyebrows is in relations with Vladimir Putin’s Russia. In February, on his way to Mexico, the pope made a stopover in Havana for a historic meeting with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill — the first ever between a pope and the leader of the powerful and influential Russian Orthodox Church since the schism in Christianity almost 1,000 years ago. Francis has made the restoration of Christian unity (ecumenism) — with Orthodox and Protestants — one of the major goals of his papacy. Relations between the Vatican and the Istanbul-based Patriarch Bartholomew have flourished in recent years. But Francis is clear about where his priorities lie. In a long interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera before meeting Patriarch Kirill in Havana, he indicated that on some issues he is closer to Moscow than to Washington. Francis said the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and the disappointing outcome of the Arab uprisings were predictable. Turning to Libya, before and after the Western bombing campaign, he said, “before there was one Qaddafi, today there are 50. The West should be self-critical. On this topic,” he added, “in part, the Holy See and Russia have a convergence of analysis (in other words they think alike and have the same goals). In part, it’s best not to exaggerate because Russia has its own interests.” Massimo Franco, the political analyst who conducted the interview, says Pope Francis perceives that “Eurocentrism is over and the West is in deep crisis” and in a multipolar world, he sees Russia as a valid interlocutor (the word means: as in a master of ceremonies or in the political sense, a ‘broker’ or ‘peacemaker’ between countries, which would really describe Francis) because of “the void left by the West.” Negotiation and reconciliation are pillars of the Francis papacy. In that same interview he said, “bridges last and help peace, walls do not. Walls seem to defend us, but all they do is separate us, for this reason they must be torn down.” The pope, who described himself as coming “from the other end of the earth,” has embraced the bully pulpit of the papacy and has emerged as a daring, independent broker on the global stage.”
Pope Francis has been blazing a trail on the global stage since being elected in March of 2013. He also has had two back to back meetings of bishops in 2014 and 2015 which is unusual since this normally occurs every three or four years, and there is a report that he is planning another one next year on ‘global peace’ of all things.
http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/report-pope-considering-global-peace-topic-next-synod-bishops
Another bold move was him meeting with Iranian president Rouhani which is talked about in the following article from ‘The Independent’:
In this article “pope Francis aims for middle east peace as next diplomatic miracle”, one can see how busy Francis is on both the religious front as well as the political, in which it states, “Pope Francis’s intention to enter the cauldron of Middle-East and interfaith politics was underlined by a high-profile visit to Rome’s Synagogue and the expectation that the trip will be followed by an appearance at the capital’s Grand Mosque. It comes hot on the heels of the Holy See’s historic (first) treaty with the “State of Palestine” at the start of the year.”
Most recently (March 2021), Pope Francis visited Iraq, another ‘first’ for a Pope. While there, he visited the city of Ur, which is considered the birthplace of Abraham and the place where the former ‘tower of Babel’ was located. While there, he hosted a ‘multi-faith’ prayer service (which ironically did not have any Jewish presence, revealing the hidden animosity toward the Jewish people, I believe). Could there not have been one single Jewish Rabbi brought to this meeting? He also met with Ali al-Sistani, considered the most influential leader of Shiite Muslims, where he seemingly was trying to ‘bridge a gap’ between Shiite and Sunni Muslims, after meeting with Sunni Muslim leaders in Egypt in 2019 with whom he signed ‘the document on human fraternity’. Reaching out to both Muslim communities has been a priority for this Pope.
SOME CLOSING THOUGHTS
Although there is a lot of disturbing information contained in this writing, it is NOT intended to be criticism or an offense to the people in the catholic church, but rather for some of the leaders and hierarchy in the vatican, and this current Pope in particular. For it says in Rev. 18:4, and it is God that is saying it, “Come out of her, MY PEOPLE, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues.” And it is this Holy Proclamation that will be at least in part responsible, along with, I believe, the coming outpouring of God’s Spirit that is declaratively coming for those days, that will empower the church, producing the kind of mind boggling numbers that get saved during this final time period of the final seven years (and particularly the final 3 ½ years) that is talked about in Rev. 7: 9-14. So my plea to anyone reading this, in reference to that great company is, BE THERE! Be among that great company that will enjoy the glory and goodness of God for all of eternity, where there will be fulfilled the concluding verses of that great chapter I just referred to found in Rev. 7: 15-17 which reads: “Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and He that sits on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb (Jesus) which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”
And to my unbelieving friends that may be reading this, I encourage you to get your hands on a bible and start reading it. If you’ve never attempted this, might I suggest starting in the gospel of John (fourth book in the new testament), and get to know Jesus; start talking to Him as you read His Word – He is our only Hope for what is coming just over the horizon. For the scriptures say in Acts 16: 31 “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved”, and in Joel 2: 32 (in reference to the dark days coming that I’ve been talking about) “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD (Jesus) shall be delivered: (saved)…”. That is saved from eternal separation from God: the Father, Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit.
John Paul Cook
777theend.com
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