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NOTE: This article or series has not been updated recently. As such, it may possibly contain some outdated information, and/or ideas and beliefs which I no longer embrace, or which have changed to some degree.



As I've made clear in the previous parts of this series, as
well as in other of my Endtime articles, it is my current
belief that the coming Kingdom of Darkness of the Beast may
be an Islamic Empire comprised of Muslim states currently in
existence in the Middle East. Based on my understanding of
the prophecies of such books as Daniel and Revelation, I
have proposed that the political/military figurehead of this
Empire may quite possibly arise out of Syria; and if not
there, then possibly out of Iraq. In fact, due to new
information I have discovered, I will take this a step
further and suggest that Turkey also offers some
possibilities. While Turkey is currently warming up to
Israel, we must remember that the Middle East is a very
volatile area of the world. Conditions are always changing;
loyalties are always changing. While we are presently
witnessing a military alliance between the U.S.A., Turkey
and Israel, things could change dramatically overnight. For
example, if the Muslims were somehow able to gain control of
the secular government, it is obvious that Israel would lose
her ally and gain a very powerful enemy. Therefore, Turkey
is a key player in the Endtime scenario.

As I stated previously, in a geographical sense, Syria and
Iraq are both potential 'kings of the north' because they
are situated north and northeast of Israel. This also
applies to Turkey. Additionally, all three of these
countries occupy territory which was formerly the northern
and eastern regions of the divided Grecian Empire as I
partially explained in the article 'The Kings Of The North
And The South'. This makes them the perfect candidates for
the home of the Beast. In describing the expansion of this
leader's powerbase, the Prophet Daniel wrote:

"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." (Daniel 8:9)

All three of these countries could expand in these three
directions to varying degrees, some more than others. For
example, from Baghdad, Sadaam Hussein could easily expand
eastward into Iran, southward into Saudia Arabia and the
Gulf States, and westward towards Israel, (the pleasant
land), through Jordan and/or Syria. In the case of President
Suleyman Demirel of Turkey, he could also move eastward
through Armenia into some of the former Soviet republics,
southward towards Syria, Jordan, Saudia Arbia, etc., and
southwestward into Israel and Lebanon. Finally, if King
Assad were to expand from Damascus, he could also move
eastward towards Iraq, directly southward towards Jordan,
and southwestward into Israel. In all three cases, if they
were to invade Israel, it would most likely be from the
north through the Golan Heights, an elevated area in
northeastern Israel which as of January 1998 is still a
point of dispute between Israel and Syria. The Golan Heights
represents Israel's most vulnerable point on her
northeastern border, and that is why she adamantly refuses
to return it to Syria.

In part five of this series, I discussed the unique
relationship between the Beast and the False Prophet. In my
view, if the Muslims in the Arab countries and Iran are able
to continue resolving their differences, this could very
well open the way for someone like the Ayatollah Khamenei of
Iran to become the False Prophet. Such a powerful Islamic
leader could easily encourage the Islamic masses to follow
behind someone like Saddam Hussein. While Mohammad Khatami
is the actual president of Iran, it is an established fact
that Khamenei is the real supreme leader of the country.
Like his predecessor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Khamenei
is a very charismatic leader. Additionally, he has made no
effort whatsoever to hide his displeasure when he has
disagreed with President Khatami who is a moderate by
Iranian standards. As an example, according to one Reuters
report I read recently, Khatami's supporters have often
accused the state radio and television, (which are headed by
a director appointed by the Ayatollah), of being politically
biased against him, that is, against Khatami.

During the final Gulf Cooperation Council conference of
1997, the Persian Gulf states expressed more trust, albeit
guarded trust, in the leadership of Iran, which is not even
an Arab nation, than in Saddam Hussein of Iraq. As the
events of 1979 revealed, there are powerful spiritual forces
at work in Iran. It was in that year that the pro-Western
Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was deposed and Iran became the
first Islamic republic based on shari law under Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini. As such, it would not be wise to rule
out that ancient nation, formerly known as Persia, as a
possible location for the origin of the political, military
and spiritual team known as the Beast and the False Prophet.
After all, just like King Assad of Syria and Saddam Hussein
of Iraq, the leadership of Iran also has the vision for
becoming the leader of the Muslim world. Additionally, in
recent years she has made great strides in a military and
technological sense; so much so that the Israeli leadership
fears Iran as much as it fears Syria and Iraq!

There are other reasons why we should keep a close eye on
Iran. As I have stated before, history and prophecy seem to
repeat themselves until their final fulfillment. In part
five of this series I mentioned how God drove King
Nebuchadnezzar from his kingdom for seven years after he
forced his subjects to worship a ninety-foot-tall golden
idol, which I theorized was made after his own likeness.
While the Nebuchadnezzar of our modern-day has not been
driven from his kingdom, (although internal forces supported
by the West have tried to bring that about), Saddam Hussein
has indeed been humbled the past seven years since his
'defeat' during the Persian Gulf War of 1990-91. The reason
I place the word 'defeat' in quotes is becaue there are
those who are of the opinion that the entire Persian Gulf
War was a staged event meant to purposely build up the
vanity and false-confidence of the Western powers,
particularly that of the United States of America, in
preparation for a major and unexpected Muslim and Soviet
offensive against Israel and Eastern Europe. As we are told
in the Scriptures:

"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit
before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18)

"For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden
destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with
child; and they shall not escape." (1 Thessalonians 5:3)

However, it is also interesting to note that in the case of
Babylon of the past, just as Nebuchadnezzar devoured many
nations, the Lord eventually punished the Babylonian Empire
by laying a snare of His own:

"I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O
Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also
caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD."
(Jeremiah 50:24)

Concerning Saddam Hussein, not only was his military might
crushed, but he has also had two no-fly zones enforced upon
him; one to protect the Kurds in the north, and the other to
protect the Shi'ite Muslims in the south. Remember, the
'Tikrit Clan', of which Hussein is a part, are Sunni
Muslims. Additionally, Hussein's people have suffered
greatly due to seven years of sanctions being imposed upon
them by the United Nations. This has been due primarily to
pressure from the United States of America which is intent
on seeing this man removed from power one way or the other.
The question then is this: Is 1998 going to herald some
world-shaking events before it is over? Let us not forget
the passing of Comet Hale-Bopp last year. The Bible clearly
tells us that the Lord placed these things in the heavens as
signs and warnings for those who have the wisdom to
understand them. They are meant to serve as celestial
markers, and omens of impending doom and world change:

"And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the
heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for
signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:'
(Genesis 1:14)

While I do not really involve myself in Biblical numerology,
or gemmatria, to add to the potential importance of this
current year, let me again remind you of the fact that the
year 1998 is a triplicate of the number '666'. In other
words, if you add up '666' three times, you arrive at the
sum of 1998. Perhaps this is merely a coincidence; but then
again, maybe it isn't.

Regardless of whether Saddam Hussein is removed from power,
or if he attains to even greater heights like the great
cedar tree which symbolized his ancient counterpart, it is
still going to be a world-shaking event. If he rises to even
greater power and influence in the Middle East after his
dismal 'defeat' of the past seven years, the whole world
will truly wonder after him, exactly as we read earlier in
the Book of Revelation. However, what if he is removed from
power? Then what? If we follow the scriptural example, it
could still lead to some very interesting developments.
While secular historical records list four additional
Babylonian kings following the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, the
Book of Daniel goes directly to his son Belshazzar who was
either the final king, or viceroy under Nabonidus. As I
shared in part four of this series, Saddam Hussein, our new
Nebuchadnezzar, is currently preparing his younger son Qusay
to be his successor being as the eldest son, Uday, has
fallen from grace and suffered a serious injury in 1997.

Here again we see another possible parallel to the Old
Testament Scriptures. In part five I discussed several
interpretations of the 'Image of the Beast' and the
'Abomination of Desolation'. I also shared one possible way
to interpret the infamous '666'. Another idea which I heard
once before, (and which is now beginning to make more sense
to me), is that the amount of gold used by Nebuchadnezzar to
make his immense idol may possibly have been six hundred and
sixty-six talents. If this was part of the gold which was
stolen from the Temple at Jerusalem, this would add even
further weight, (no pun intended), to the idea that
Nebuchadnezzar was assigned the number '666' by the Lord
because this is what he owed the Lord. As I explained in my
article 'Mondex And The Mark Of The Beast', since Old
Testament times, the value of Jewish currency was determined
by its weight. When Jeremiah bought a field just prior to
the Babylonian invasion, we see him weighing out the money:

"And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that was
in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen
shekels of silver. And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed
it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the
balances." (Jeremiah 32:9-10)

The whole reason the Lord had Jeremiah do this was to serve
as a sign to the Jews that after they had completed their
'Seventy Years of Captivity' in Babylon, the Lord would
allow them to return to Israel and purchase lands again:

"Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences,
and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin,
and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of
Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities
of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will
cause their captivity to return, saith the LORD."
(Jeremiah 32:44)

This very same system of weight was also used to determine
the value of the vessels, furniture and ornaments used in
Solomon's Temple: Consider the following verses:

"And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they
were exceeding many: neither was the weight of the brass
found out. And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained
unto the house of the LORD: the altar of gold, and the table
of gold, whereupon the shewbread was, And the candlesticks
of pure gold, five on the right side, and five on the left,
before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the
tongs of gold, And the bowls, and the snuffers, and the
basons, and the spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and
the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house,
the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, to wit,
of the temple. So was ended all the work that king Solomon
made for the house of the LORD. And Solomon brought in the
things which David his father had dedicated; even the
silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he put among the
treasures of the house of the LORD." (1 Kings 7:47-51)

When King Nebuchadnezzar's forces invaded and destroyed
Jerusalem, they took all of these items to Babylon as part
of their spoils of war. Part of this happened in the days of
King Jehoiachin, and the remainder was taken during the
final assault against Jerusalem eleven years later during
the reign of King Zedekiah:

"And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of
the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in
pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel
had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said."
(2 Kings 24:13)

"And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the
LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the
house of the LORD, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and
carried the brass of them to Babylon. And the pots, and the
shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the
vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.
And the firepans, and the bowls, and such things as were of
gold, in gold, and of silver, in silver, the captain of the
guard took away." (2 Kings 25:13-15)

As I said previously, King Nebuchadnezzar never fully
repented of his sins because, even though he was impressed
by the way the Lord saved Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego
from the fiery furnace, and even though the Lord kicked
Nebuchadnezzar out of his kingdom so that he went insane and
became as a wild beast for seven years until he had learned
his lessons in humility, he still didn't take any steps to
free the Jews or to return their wealth to them. In Daniel
chapter five, we discover that Belshazzar continues in the
sins of his father. In that chapter he celebrates a great
feast in which he blasphemes against the God of Israel by
drinking out of the gold and silver cups which his father
had stolen from the Temple of Solomon. Because of this, the
Lord boldly tells him through the handwriting on the wall,
that his days as king are numbered:

"Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his
lords, and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar,
whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and
silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out
of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his
princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.
Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of
the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and
the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines,
drank in them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of
gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of
stone. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand,
and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of
the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of
the hand that wrote. Then the king's countenance was
changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints
of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against
another." (Daniel 5:1-6)

"This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath
numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art
weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy
kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians."
(Daniel 5:26-28)

Belshazzar was so frightened that his knees were knocking
together! Notice the means by which the Lord determines the
fate of Belshazzar. Is it a coincidence that just as the
Jews weighed their money and metallic objects to determine
their value, the Lord is likewise weighing Belshazzar and
finding him wanting? In other words, Nebuchadnezzar incurred
a debt with the Lord when he profaned the Temple and robbed
it of all of its vessels, furniture and ornaments of gold,
silver and brass. Not only did he not return the items, but
now his son Belshazzar is doing worse by actually drinking
out of them! The Lord was so upset with him that it sounds
like He wrote on the wall with His very Hand to let
Belshazzar know that he had blasphemed against the Lord.
Sure enough, according to the historical records, the Medes,
led by Darius, snuck in under the massive walls of Babylon
and took over the empire:

"In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans
slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about
threescore and two years old." (Daniel 5:30-31)

Just as the Lord had severely punished the Philistines when
they stole the gold-laiden Ark of the Covenant, here again
His judgments are swift. However, this isn't the end of the
story. As I explained in part four of this series, once the
Jews had fulfilled their 'Seventy Years Of Captivity'
according to the prophecy of Jeremiah, beginning in the
first year of the reign of Cyrus the Persian, the Lord began
to open the way for the Jews to return to Jerusalem. Over
forty-two thousand Jews took part in that first massive
exodus out of Babylon:

"Now these are the children of the province that went up out
of the captivity, of those which had been carried away, whom
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto
Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, every one
unto his city;...The whole congregation together was forty
and two thousand three hundred and threescore,"
(Ezra 2:1, 64)

Unlike Nebuchadnezzar and his descendants, we are told that
Cyrus returned some of the holy items to the Jews. However,
as I will explain shortly, I am not certain that it was all
of it:

"And all they that were about them strengthened their hands
with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with
beasts, and with precious things, beside all that was
willingly offered. Also Cyrus the king brought forth the
vessels of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had
brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the
house of his gods; Even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring
forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered
them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. And this is the
number of them: thirty chargers of gold, a thousand chargers
of silver, nine and twenty knives, Thirty basons of gold,
silver basons of a second sort four hundred and ten, and
other vessels a thousand. All the vessels of gold and of
silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these did
Sheshbazzar bring up with them of the captivity that were
brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem." (Ezra 1:6-11)

"Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests,
Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,
And weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the
vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, which
the king, and his counsellors, and his lords, and all Israel
there present, had offered: I even weighed unto their hand
six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels
an hundred talents, and of gold an hundred talents; Also
twenty basons of gold, of a thousand drams; and two vessels
of fine copper, precious as gold. And I said unto them, Ye
are holy unto the LORD; the vessels are holy also; and the
silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the LORD
God of your fathers. Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh
them before the chief of the priests and the Levites, and
chief of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the
chambers of the house of the LORD. So took the priests and
the Levites the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the
vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our
God." (Ezra 8:24-30)

As I explained in 'Mondex And The Mark Of The Beast', a gold
talent weighs roughly two hundred and fifty pounds; and a
dram is approximately 8.32 grams. Therefore, in the second
set of verses above, after doing all of the necessary
conversions for one hundred talents of gold, and twenty
basons containing one thousand drams of gold each, we are
told that Cyrus returned approximately one hundred and three
talents of gold in various forms, which is equal to about
25,750 pounds of gold or about 12.875 tons of gold! At $350
dollars an ounce, that is about U.S. $144,200,000 worth of
gold in our modern times! Now, I am sure that seems like a
lot of gold to you, and by most people's standards it is;
however, if we consider how much gold Solomon is said to
have earned in a single year, the amount the Children of
Israel took back to Jerusalem was but a drop in the bucket.
Exactly how much did Solomon earn in a year? Here again
comes that infamous number '666':

"Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was
six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,"
(1 Kings 10:14)

King Solomon earned '666' talents of gold, or 166,500
pounds, or 83.25 tons of gold every single year! The book of
1 Kings tells us that Solomon reigned forty years in Judah;
therefore, if the figures recorded by the Jews is not an
exaggeration, we come up with another very interesting
figure. During his lifetime, King Solomon alone earned
6,660,000 pounds of gold! If we again multiply that by $350
an ounce, that means Solomon earned U.S. $37,296,000,000!
Folks, that is a staggering figure! When the Queen of Sheba
came up to visit Solomon with all of her royal pomp and
ceremony, and a long train of servants carrying great wealth
for Solomon, she was completely amazed by how much Solomon
already possessed:

"And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon
concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with
hard questions. And she came to Jerusalem with a very great
train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and
precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she
communed with him of all that was in her heart. And Solomon
told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from
the king, which he told her not. And when the queen of Sheba
had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had
built, And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his
servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their
apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went
up unto the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in
her. And she said to the king, It was a true report that I
heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.
Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine
eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy
wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard."
(1 Kings 10:1-7)

If you want to see exactly how rich King Solomon was, just
read the entire chapter. The main point I am trying to make
from all of this is that Solomon was filthy rich! I also
want to point out that I think it is very significant that
he earned '666' talents of gold a year, or 6,660,000 pounds
of gold during his entire lifetime. The reason I am
stressing all of this is because I feel it may tie in
directly with a number of things we have already discussed.
Let's consider the facts:

1. Nebuchadnezzar robbed Jerusalem of an undetermined amount
   of gold, silver and brass in various forms.
2. Nebuchadnezzar constructed an image of gold which
   measured 60 cubits high and 6 cubits in width, and I have
   theorized it was also 6 cubits in depth as well so that
   it was perfectly balanced and would stand upright.
3. Solomon earned '666' talents of gold a year, or 6,660,000
   pounds of gold in his lifetime.
4. The number of the Beast is '666'.
5. When the Children of Israel returned to Jerusalem, they
   only took with them about 103 talents of gold.
6. When Belshazzar was weighed in the balances, he was found
   wanting.

Here then are several speculations for you to consider. When
the Lord weighed Belshazzar in the balances and found him
wanting, He was basically saying, 'Your father
Nebuchadnezzar robbed Me of so much gold, and not only have
you not returned any of it to My children, but now you have
defiled the gold and silver vessels by drinking out of them.
You owe me big time Mister!' There is no record in the
Scriptures of anyone in Nebuchadnezzar's lineage having ever
paid back the Lord for all of that gold they had stolen.
Perhaps I am really stretching this bit of speculation, but
could it be then that the Lord has held it against
Nebuchadnezzar's descendants ever since then? If Saddam
Hussein is indeed of the lineage of Nebuchadnezzar as he
claims, could that mean that the Lord has marked him, and
any of his descendants who may follow him, with the '666'
because they have a big debt which has never been paid back?

Really think about this. If Solomon alone in his lifetime
earned that much gold, not to mention what Saul and his
father David may have earned, or any of the kings which came
after Solomon, doesn't it seem rather unusual that Cyrus the
Great would only return 103 talents of gold? Does that mean
that Nebuchadnezzar only hauled 103 talents of gold from
Jerusalem to Babylon, an extremely small amount, and left
all of the rest? It certainly doesn't make any sense to me.
He was a very greedy man. He wanted it all! Now, we can
assume that the Jews probably did manage to hide some of it
within the city. However, remember that Jerusalem was under
siege for a number of years before it actually fell; so
there is no way they could have hidden it anywhere except
inside the city. Not only that, but Jerusalem wasn't nearly
as big then as it is today. It seems to me that the
Babylonians would have scoured every corner of the city
until they recovered anything of worth. Even today rumours
abound that the Ark of the Covenant may still be hidden in a
hidden chamber within the Temple Mount.

So the question still remains: Why is it that Cyrus only
returned about 103 talents of gold to them? Is it because
that is all he had which belonged to them? Or is it because
he was selfish? Or could it be that there was a good reason
he was unable to return the rest of it, which must have
amounted to many thousands of talents? I am going to suggest
the only possibility which seems to make sense to me, and
which I can support with the Scriptures. In part five of
this series when I first discussed the image built by
Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter three, I was assuming that
it was probably similar in construction to the idols of wood
overlaid with thin plates of gold or some other metal as
were made in Israel prior to Nebuchadnezzar's invasion. We
find a description of this in the tenth chapter of the Book
of Jeremiah:

"For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a
tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the
workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with
gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it
move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not:
they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not
afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it
in them to do good." (Jeremiah 10:3-5)

While the above verses are commonly used to expose the
vanity of the tradition of decorating Christmas trees, a
closer reading suggests that they were actually fashioned
into either a human or an animal form because we are told
they cannot speak or move on their own. No one in their
right mind would describe a Christmas tree that way. My
article 'The Sins Of Disobedience' discusses in detail the
many false gods worshipped by the heathen and the
backslidden Israelites. However, what I also discovered is
that some of the ancient Jewish idols were actually made out
of pure metal. Such appears to be the case of the golden calf
fashioned by the rebellious Israelites in the desert of
Sinai. There is absolutely no mention of it being made of
wood. We are told that it was a MOLTEN calf which was melted
and formed in the fire with a graving tool. Not only that,
after the Israelites had sinned, Moses ground the calf into
a fine powder and mixed it with water and made them drink
it:

"And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings,
which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of
your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people
brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and
brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand,
and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a
molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel,
which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt...And I said
unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off.
So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there
came out this calf...And he took the calf which they had
made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and
strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel
drink of it." (Exodus 32:2-4, 24, 20)

So then, based on these examples, I am going to speculate
that perhaps one of the reasons that Cyrus did not return
more gold to the Jews is because a lot of it was used to
build a ninety-foot-tall idol of solid gold. That is a ten
store tall monument! Similar to Nebuchadnezzar's 'Hanging
Gardens Of Babylon', this great monument was one of his
crowning achievements which must have awed the world.
Considering the height of this image, plus the fact that it
was built on the plain of Dura, it must have seemed even
more impressive at the time to those who stood and
worshipped at its base. Despite the fact that Cyrus, Darius
and Artaxerxes treated the Jews well, perhaps even they were
so overcome by the magnificence of this towering figure that
they dare not tear it down in order to give the Jews
additional compensation.

Another indication that Babylon contained much more gold
than what was returned to the Jews is found in a chapter I
discussed earlier concerning the judgment against Babylon:

"That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of
Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden
city ceased!" (Isaiah 14:4)

Here we see a clear picture of the Devil's counterfeit in
Babylon the Great. Just as the Heavenly City, New Jerusalem,
is described as a magnificent city made of gold and precious
stones, so too was ancient Babylon, the pride of the
Babylonian kings. Not only that, as I have already
discussed, our modern-day Nebuchadnezzar has also built
himself a magnificent palace overlooking the ancient ruins.
What is also interesting about this golden image made by
Nebuchadnezzar, is that it has never been found; at least it
has not been reported in the pubic media. Of course,
considering how valuable such a discovery would be, should we
even expect a public announcement to be made? Another
possibility is that the statue was eventually broken down by
the enemies of Nebuchadnezzar. Who knows, perhaps much of
the gold which currently circulates in the modern false
system of man is actually part of the stolen spoils of war
from Jerusalem of the Babylonian era.

In the previous section of this series, I suggested that
Hussein, or his successor, or whoever the Beast ends up
being, may actually march into Jerusalem where, together
with the False Prophet, he will build the 'Image of the
Beast' on top of Mount Moriah. Is it possible that this
blasphemous idol will be built out of some of the recovered
stolen gold thus bringing the prophecy of old to a full
closure as the Nebuchadnezzar of old has his image restored
by the Nebuchadnezzar of the Endtime?

As I thought on these many uncanny connections between
Nebuchadnezzar of old and Iraqi president Saddam Hussein,
some other interesting verses came to my mind which may be
yet another confirmation of Hussein's importance in the
Endtime. Those verses are the following:

"Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the
desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify
himself above all. But in his estate shall he honour the God
of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he
honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and
pleasant things." (Daniel 11:37-38)

These verses can be applied to Saddam Hussein in more ways
than one. For example, he is not really a devout Muslim.
After all, if he magnifies himself above all, thus making
himself a god, how can he possibly claim to be submitting
himself to the will of Allah? Concerning not regarding the
desire of women, while one interpretation which has been
applied to this is that it is referring to homosexuality, it
might also simply be a reference to the fact that in Islamic
society, women are really second-class citizens. As to
honouring the god of forces, this can definitely be said of
Saddam Hussein. He is an extremely brutal man. For the past
seven years, the whole issue has been, how much nuclear
capability does he possess, how many chemical weapons does
he possess, and how many biological weapons does he possess?
These gods of forces are definitely not gods which were
known to his ancient forefathers.

In the previous section, I also explained why I feel the
'Image of the Beast' and the 'Abomination of Desolation'
might be one and the same thing. I also showed how the Lord
views Nebuchadnezzar as an abomination, a foul thing which
even the grave would not want; possibly a shaded reference
to the resurrection of the Babylonian Empire in the Endtime.
Another reason the Lord views Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar,
and possibly their modern descendant as an abomination is
because they have all been weighed in the balances and found
wanting; they owe the Lord, and what does the Book of
Proverbs say?:

"A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just
weight is his delight." (Proverbs 11:1)

"Divers weights are an abomination unto the LORD; and a
false balance is not good." (Proverbs 20:23)

This whole topic is very profound, much moreso than I think
most people realize. You see, we are all weighed in the
Balances of the Lord. We are all tried in the furnace of
faith just like Shadrach, Meshack and Abed-nego so that the
dross in our lives is removed and we come out as pure gold.
This is precisely what the Great Tribulation is all about.
The Heavenly City, New Jerusalem is made out of pure gold as
clear as glass because we are that City, we are God's
purified Living Temple. We will inherit the Eternal Glories
if we are weighed in the Balances of the Lord and not found
wanting; and we won't be if we allow Him to mold us and
shape us in this current life through the fiery afflictions
we endure now and in times to come. Remember, judgment must
first begin at the House of God, and after that, the
judgment of the world. Here are some verses to
confirm all of this:

"Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin,
shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, which brought you out
of the land of Egypt." (Leviticus 19:36)

"Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know
mine integrity." (Job 31:6)

"Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just
bath." (Ezekiel 45:10)

"My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers
temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith
worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work,
that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."
(James 1:2-4)

"And they that understand among the people shall instruct
many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by
captivity, and by spoil, many days. Now when they shall
fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many
shall cleave to them with flatteries. And some of them of
understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to
make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is
yet for a time appointed." (Daniel 11:33-35)

"For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house
of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be
of them that obey not the gospel of God?" (1 Peter 4:17)

"Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but
grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable
fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised
thereby." (Hebrews 12:11)

"That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than
of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might
be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ:" (1 Peter 1:7)

"Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come
forth a vessel for the finer." (Proverbs 25:4)

"And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away
thy dross, and take away all thy tin:" (Isaiah 1:25)

"And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to
our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these
stones to raise up children unto Abraham." (Matthew 3:9)

"And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if
these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately
cry out." (Luke 19:40)

"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house,
an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices,
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2:5)

"Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold,
the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be
tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou
faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."
(Revelation 2:10)

"I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that
thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be
clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear;
and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see."
(Revelation 3:18)

"And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down
from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband." (Revelation 21:2)

"And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the
city was pure gold, like unto clear glass."
(Revelation 21:18)

What truly inspiring verses, and what a motivator to keep
hanging on to the Lord! Returning to Saddam Hussein and the
Book of Daniel, just as Babylon did not fall in the days of
Nebuchadnezzar, but rather some years later during the rule
of his son Belshazzar, is it possible that this pattern will
be repeated in our modern times? What if, after seven years
of hardship and humiliation, Saddam Hussein is deposed this
year and his son Qusay takes over? Or perhaps, there will be
a few other leaders in Iraq, and then Qusay will eventually
come to power. According to the Biblical pattern, Qusay
would then have to be defeated by the Medes sometime in the
future. The question then is: What nation or ethnic group is
most qualified to represent the Medes in our modern day?
From all of the information I have provided in previous
sections of this series, perhaps you already know. Have you
ever wondered why Saddam Hussein hates the Kurds so much? I
never really did. However, while doing the research for this
series, I came across some very interesting information I'd
like to share with you:

----- Begin Quote -----

"For nearly three thousand years the Kurds have lived along
the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. This places
them at the very source of the nations and at the crux of
history's most momentous events - including the Creation of
Man, the Fall, Noah's Ark, the Tower of Babel, the Calling
of Abraham, the Assyrian Exile, the Babylonian Empire, and
many more. The Kurdish belief that they are descendants of
the biblical Medes reflects this rich background. They base
this claim on geographical, linguistic and cultural factors.
The Kurds have a strong case."

"To begin with, the Kurdish language, like modern Persian,
is derived directly from the imperial tongue of the ancient
Medo-Persian Empire. Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes each left
inscriptions in this language that can be compared with
other documents, allowing us to trace the evolution of Old
Persian into its present form. Since Kurdish is
significantly different from modern Persian, it is easy to
draw a parallel between the situation of the Medes and the
Persians in the Bible and the modern Kurds and Persians.
(Persian is the designation of the largest ethnic group in
Iran, and the name of their language.)"

"According to Herodotus, the Bible and other ancient
sources, the Persians and Medes were closely related, but
not identical peoples. They both settled in northwest Iran;
the Medes remaining the more northern of the two. The only
Medo-Persian nations of any size in this region today are
the Kurds and the Iranian Persians. It is reasonable to
assume then, that if the Kurds are not the Persians, they
must be the Medes. After all, the Kurds still inhabit the
homeland of the Medes, and like their presumed forbears, the
modern Kurds are closely related, yet not identical, to the
Persians. As one Kurdish scholar put it to me, 'If we are
not the modern Medes, who are?' His point is well taken:
there are no other contenders in the arena."

"We would caution that a one-for-one parity with the ancient
Medes is impossible to prove. No nation is pure. Even an
Israeli cannot justify his descent from Judah based on a
pure blood line. That's the intriguing thing about nations.
Their cohesiveness is based on faith and identification as
much as on history. Therefore, we can admit that the Kurds
have a mixed ancestry from nations that predate the Medes
and from a host of later interlopers like the Arabs. This
does not matter. The Medes still form a commanding share of
the Kurdish heritage. From this point of view, many modern
nation states are built on far flimsier evidence than what
the Kurds have presented. They have in their favour a 2500
year consistency of language, geography and religion linking
them directly to the Medes. This is a record that few can
match."

----- End Of Quote -----

If this information is accurate, then for good reason Saddam
Hussein, and the Turkish government as well, have been
persecuting the Kurds. In fact, the fact that Turkey has
sent troops into northern Iraq to quell the Kurdish
resistance has caused friction between the two countries as
this excerpt from an October 1997 Reuters report verifies:

----- Begin Quote -----

"Baghdad is also at loggerheads with Turkey over several
cross-border operations by Turkish troops in northern Iraq.
About 15,000 Turkish troops, supported by Kurdish militia
forces, entered Iraq last week, (Oct. 1997), in a campaign
against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas who operate
from the region in their fight for self-rule in southeast
Turkey."

----- End Of Quote -----

If Saddam Hussein were to be defeated by the Persian Kurds,
that is, the Iranians, not only would it follow the ancient
Biblical pattern, but it might also open the way for the
fulfillment of another prophecy written almost two thousand
years ago. Would it surprise you if sometime in the near
future there is a severe drought in the Middle East? It
shouldn't, because this is precisely what the Book of
Revelation may possibly be predicting:

"Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the
four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates."
(Revelation 9:14)

"And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great
river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that
the way of the kings of the east might be prepared."
(Revelation 16:12)

As most Bible students know, the Euphrates River is one of
the most important rivers mentioned in the Bible besides the
Jordan and Nile Rivers. The Greek lexicon states that the
name 'Euphrates' means 'the good and abounding river'. In
addition to major events of the Endtime, it is associated
with the Garden of Eden, and with a number of historic
battles involving Egypt, Israel, Syria, Assyria and
Babylonia. According to the Encyclopedia of the Orient, in
Turkey, this river is known as the 'Firat', while in Arabic
it is referred to as the 'al-furaat'. This encyclopedia
provides this additional information regarding this great
river:

----- Begin Quote -----

"A river in the Middle East, rising in Turkey, passing
through Syria, before it ends in Iraq where it, together
with the Tigris, forms the Shatt al-Arab river way. The
Euphrates is 2,735 km long, and has a discharge of 900,000
litres per second. The surface area of the river is 450,000
km2. The Euphrates gets 90% of its water from Turkey,
through a set of tributary rivers, like the Karasu, Murat,
and Khabur."

----- End Of Quote -----

Besides possibly referring to an extended drought, another
way to interpret the above verses from the Book of
Revelation, is that the Euphrates River will be used as a
weapon of war against Syria and/or Iraq. This is nothing
new. In ancient times when a city was besieged, it was a
common practice to dam up or divert its water supply in
order to force the people to surrender. During the days of
King Hezekiah, the Prophet Isaiah prohesied against King
Sennacherib of Assyria saying in part:

"I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole
of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged
places." (2 Kings 19:24)

You see, the Jerusalemites were well familiar with the
tactics used by Sennacherib; and that is why King Hezekiah
constructed a secret conduit in order to bring water into
the city from the Gihon spring. If memory serves me
correctly, this is the very tunnel which caused quite an
uproar in 1997 between the Arabs and Jews when the Jews
decided to re-open it and use it as a tourist trap:

"And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might,
and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water
into the city, are they not written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Judah?" (2 Kings 20:20)

I found the following interesting information regarding this
ancient conduit in Easton's Bible Dictionary:

----- Begin Quote -----

"The 'conduit of the upper pool', (Isa 7:3), was formed by
Hezekiah for the purpose of conveying the waters from the
upper pool in the valley of Gihon to the west side of the
city of David, (2Ki 18:17, 20:20, 2Ch 32:30). In carrying
out this work he stopped "the waters of the fountains which
were without the city", i.e., "the upper water-course of
Gihon", and conveyed it down from the west through a canal
into the city, so that in case of a siege, the inhabitants
of the city might have a supply of water, which would thus
be withdrawn from the enemy."

"There are also the remains of a conduit which conducted
water from the so-called 'Pools of Solomon', beyond
Bethlehem, into the city. Water is still conveyed into the
city from the fountains which supplied these pools by a
channel which crosses the valley of Hinnom."

----- End Of Quote -----

People can go for a while without food, but no one can go
without water for more than a few days at best. It is
vitally essential for our physical well-being. The question
then is: Failing a serious drought in the Middle East, is it
possible that someday in the near future the Euphrates River
will be totally stopped or diverted at some point along its
long and winding way to the Persian Gulf? Before you dismiss
this possibility, consider the fact that there have already
been such water disputes between Turkey, Syria and Iraq,
over dams built by the former. The Encyclopedia of the
Orient has this to say:

----- Begin Quote -----

"The Euphrates is one of the most important sources for
tension between Turkey, Syria and Iraq, as all three
countries tries to exploit the water both for agriculture
and for electricity, as best as they can. Turkey has
constructed the Ataturk Dam, while Syria has the Assad Dam.
Especially Syria and Iraq are vulnerable to decrease in the
water output, as both countries' agriculture is already
receiving a minimum of water of what is needed."

----- End Of Quote -----

That this river is indeed currently being used by the
government of Turkey to chastise both Syria and Iraq, is
verified by the following excerpts taken from an October
1997 Reuters report:

----- Begin Quote -----

"Iraq accused upstream neighbour Turkey on Wednesday of
threatening the flow of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers by
building dams and urged Ankara to reach a water-sharing
accord."

"'Turkey monopolises the flow of waters of the Tigris and
Euphrates as dictated by its own interest at the expense of
Iraq and Syria's interest,' the ruling Baath party
newspaper al-Thawra said."

"'The country where these rivers rise should not monopolise
waters of such international rivers the way it likes,' the
paper said in an article written by Mohammed al-Douri, an
Iraqi university professor."

"Iraq protests have grown since last year when Turkey
announced a plan worth $1.62 billion for its fourth dam on
the Euphrates to produce power and irrigation for a large
chunk of southeastern Turkey. Syria and Iraq say the
current flow of water from Turkey is not enough."

----- End Of Quote -----

Having now established the extreme importance of the
Euphrates River to these countries, as well as to Endtime
events, the next question which arises is: Who are the
'kings of the East' which are going to cross this river?
Some eschatologists have suggested that the 'kings of the
East' are a reference to Japan and the economic dragons of
Southeast Asia. However, as I said in part one of this
series, we must remember that most of the Endtime prophecies
were written from a Jewish perspective to show the Jews what
would happen to them in the years before the Second Return
of Christ. For example, in the Book of Daniel we find the
Heavenly Messenger saying to the Prophet:

"Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy
people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many
days." (Daniel 10:14)

While Japan and the Southeast Asian countries have a vital
interest in the Middle East due to their need for oil, as
far as I can tell, none of them have any current military
interests in that area of the world; and that is what these
prophecies are all about, a military invasion. Additionally,
as I have made clear throughout my articles, I believe that
these Endtime kings are Muslims. Having clarified that, I am
now going to propose three possibilities for who these
'kings of the East' might be. I think some of you might be
surprised by some of the discoveries I have made concerning
this issue. As I pointed out earlier, the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers cut right through and actually join in
southern Iraq where they form the Shatt-Al-Arab waterway
which flows into the Persian Gulf. This waterway is
extremely important because not only is it the border
between Iraq and Iran, but it is also through the Shatt
al-Arab that oil tankers reach the Persian Gulf on their way
to foreign destinations.

You may recall that a number of years ago, the mouth of the
Persian Gulf, known as the Strait of Hormuz, was under
danger of being blocked off. This would have choked the
world's oil supply. If there is one flashpoint for causing
WW III, this would definitely be it! However, before
returning to our main topic, that is, the 'kings of the
East', there is one other reason why the Shatt al-Arab may
be very important in the near future. Situated in this wide
river is an island called Abadan on which is located the
city of al-Abadan. Here is what the Encyclopedia of the
Orient has to say about it:

----- Begin Quote -----

"City in Iran with 300,000 inhabitants. Situated in the
south-western corner of Iran, on the island of Abadan, that
lies in the river of Shatt El Arab. The economical base of
the city is petroleum refining and shipping, as oil is
transported from the Iranian oil fields up north, through
pipelines, to Abadan.

----- Begin Quote -----

"City in Iran with 300,000 inhabitants. Situated in the
south-western corner of Iran, on the island of Abadan, that
lies in the river of Shatt El Arab. The economical base of
the city is petroleum refining and shipping, as oil is
transported from the Iranian oil fields up north, through
pipelines, to Abadan.

HISTORY:

1847: With the agreement of Ezerum, Abadan is passed on from
      the Ottomans to Persia.
1908: Oil is discovered near Abadan.
1913: Abadan becomes the centre of oil refining for Persia.
1980-88: Much of the Iran-Iraq War, is staged near Abadan,
         principally because of the wealth that the city
         represents with its oil resources."

----- End Of Quote -----

If you have a sharp eye, and a good knowledge of Endtime
events, perhaps you have already seen the possible
significance of this island in the Scriptures. In the Book
of Revelation, we find the following verses:

"And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from
heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the
bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there
arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great
furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of
the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke
locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as
the scorpions of the earth have power...And they had a king
over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose
name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek
tongue hath his name Apollyon." (Revelation 9:1-3, 11)

As I explained in part five of this series, it is my belief
that the Bottomless Pit is synonymous with the Old and New
Testament term 'hell' where it is referring to the bowels of
the Earth, the inside of our planet, the common grave, as
well as to the spiritual abode of wicked spirits deep within
the Earth. In the above verses, we see the fifth angel
sounding his Trumpet. The Seven Trumpets pertain to the
Seventh Seal of the Book of Revelation. After this angel
sounds, a star, or angel, falls to the Earth and opens up
the Bottomless Pit. In other words, he is opening up the
bowels of the Earth. Upon doing this, a great smoke ascends
out of the Earth. It is so black that the Sun and the air
are darkened by it. We are then told that strange locusts
come out of the smoke and sting men. You can read the whole
chapter in order to get a fuller description of this event.

Towards the end of this unusal account, we are told that
these locusts are led by their demon king 'Abaddon'. This
word 'Abaddon' is the English transliteration of the Hebrew
word 'abaddown'. The Greek and Hebrew lexicons provide the
following information regarding this word:

----- Begin Quote -----

Abaddon {ab-ad-dohn'}

Of Hebrew origin

Abaddon = "destruction"

1) ruin
2) destruction
3) the place of destruction
4) the name of the angel-prince of the infernal regions, the
minister of death and the author of havoc on the earth

----- End Of Quote -----

Notice that 'Abaddon' means 'destruction'. In part five I
shared the following verse from the Book of Proverbs:

"Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are
never satisfied." (Proverbs 27:20)

This verse uses the very same Hebrew words we have been
discussing, that is, 'sheol' for 'hell', and 'abbadon' for
destruction. In other words, this demon king of the realm of
the dead, the insides of the Earth, is NEVER satisfied, just
like men are never satisfied with what they have. Therefore,
this demon king is always looking for more people to fill up
his dark realm. What is his principal means of acquiring
souls for his kingdom? If he were to do it one at a time, it
would take a very long time. Thus, he has resorted to a more
effective means of filling up hell; and that is through
something which has plagued the Earth for about six
millennia. Do you know what it is? It is wide-scale war; and
today, with the help of this evil demon king, man has
perfected his killing skills to a very fine degree. Just by
dropping one nuclear bomb, as in the case of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, he can not only kill, but he can totally evaporate
the bodies of thousands upon thousands of human beings in
literally seconds! Of those that have survived such blasts,
many would have preferred to have died instantly rather than
a slow agonzing death due to radiation sickness, skin burns,
losing limbs, cancer, etc.

Aside from nuclear bombs, man has invented other weapons of
mass destruction including chemical and biological weapons.
As I pointed out earlier in this series, this has been
clearly evidenced in the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-88, as well
as in the Persian Gulf War of 1990-91 where thousands upon
thousands died due to exposure to these lethal germs and
chemicals. How all of this might fit into our current
discussion is quite interesting. Within eschatological
circles, there are those who are convinced that the above
description from the Book of Revelation may be a direct
reference to either the Iran-Iraq War, or to the Persian
Gulf War, or possibly to both. The oil refineries of Abadan
Island, as well as the oil fields of Kuwait were indeed
destroyed or damaged during these awful wars. While the
whole world watched on their television screens, the skies
over these areas became literally black with smoke from the
thousands of gallons of oil burning which were spewed from
within the bowels of the Earth, from the Bottomless Pit!

During the Persian Gulf War, the government of the United
States of America and her allies partially relied upon their
helicopter gunships to defeat Saddam Hussein and bring the
situation under control. Might these 'winged' machines
indeed be the locusts which came out of the black smoke as
described by John the Revelator? I honestly do not know, but
the similarities in description is a bit uncanny. I leave it
up to you the reader to form your own opinion based on a
close reading of Revelation chapter nine.

What is extremely interesting about all of this is that
following these events announced by the fifth angel, we have
the sixth angel sounding which results in the Euphrates
River drying up to prepare the way for the 'kings of the
East! If this interpretation of the fifth angel is correct,
if it does symbolize the Iran-Iraq War followed by the
Persian Gulf War, then we may indeed be much further along
in prophetic history than many people realize. It means that
we may soon see the armies of the 'kings of the East' flow
over in a great land-based army to fight a Great Battle in
Israel, just as I explained in part four of this series, as
well as in other of my articles dedicated to the Endtime.

Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, this possibility has
become even more of a reality as the peoples and ethnic
groups which were formerly under her dominion have been
striving for their political, economic and religious
freedom. Many of these people are Muslim fundamentalists.
Following the example in Iran, some of them want to convert
their nations to Islamic republics. Take for example the
continuing developments in such places as Chechnya where the
people appear to be achieving their goals. If we accept this
interpretation of the 'kings of the East', then some of the
countries which I feel we need to keep a close eye on are
those which are near the Iranian borders. These are
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan,
Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

What I find interesting about this particular interpretation
is that if some of these nations were to join forces with a
Beast/False Prophet team originating in Iran, in order to
invade and conquer Israel, they would have to pass through
three countries: Iraq, Saudia Arabia, and Jordan. Do you
remember the verse I shared earlier from the Book of
Daniel?:

"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." (Daniel 7:8)

While the above scenario seems very plausible, there is one
thing which puzzles me. A quick glance at any half-decent
map of the Middle East will reveal the problem. In order for
these kings to invade Israel, after coming in through Iran,
they would also have to cross the Tigris River on their way
through Iraq. Despite this fact, the previous verse from
Revelation only mentions the Euphrates River being dried up.
Why is this? One possibility is that the 'kings of the East'
is not referring to Iran and other Muslim nations which
surround her, but rather to someone else. You see, in our
modern-day, when we hear the word 'king', we automatically
think of a leader of an entire nation. However, in Biblical
times, this was not necessarily the case. Oftimes, the word
'king' is referring to military leaders of smaller groups of
people under the king; in other words, generals, commanders,
captains and the like. As an example, when Benhadad the
king of Syria went to war against Samaria, we are told that
he had thirty-two kings with him. Now, Syria isn't that big,
so this seems a bit odd:

"And Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his host
together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and
horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria,
and warred against it." (1 Kings 20:1)

"And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking
himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty
and two kings that helped him." (1 Kings 20:16)

In the above two verses, the word 'king' is derived from the
Hebrew word 'melek' which is pronounced meh'-lek. Here we
are clearly told that Benhadad has thirty-two kings under
him. However, only two chapters later, we have these same
thirty-two kings described in a different way. Now they are
no longer kings, as in the leader of a nation, but rather
captains and commanders of war:

"But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains
that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with
small nor great, save only with the king of Israel."
(1 Kings 22:31)

This word 'captains' is derived from the Hebrew word 'sar'
which itself is derived from sarar which means 'to be or act
as prince, rule, contend, have power, prevail over, reign,
govern'. Notice the similarity to the title given in times
past to the leaders of Russia, that is 'czar' or 'tsar'. Is
this another hint of behind-the-scenes Jewish control in
Russia? The Hebrew lexicon provides the following
information regarding 'sar':

----- Begin Quote -----

sar {sar}

1) prince, ruler, leader, chief, chieftain, official, captain
1a) chieftain, leader
1b) vassal, noble, official (under king)
1c) captain, general, commander (military)

----- End of Quote -----

Why would any king give control of his chariots to the kings
of other nations? Most kings wouldn't. As a modern-day
example, consider the fact that some of the American
soldiers who were sent to Bosnia to join the United Nations
'peace-keeping' troops refused to wear the U.N flag on their
uniforms; and would not take orders from anyone but other
Americans. Anyone who has been in the military knows that
this problem with obedience and morale is one reason why it
is difficult for the New World Order folks and the United
Nations to create a 'universal army'. Most folks of high
moral values will refuse to turn against their own people.
Thus, bringing in foreign troops to subdue the masses is the
only way to create such a universal force. The only other
way to look at the above verses is to say that Benhadad had
thirty-two kings under him who in turn had thirty-two
captains under them. Given the size of Syria, I honestly
don't believe this is what it is saying. Thus, my conclusion
is that these thirty-two men under Benhadad were not really
kings of other nations, but rather commanders of his own
army.

If we turn to the New Testament, we find another
confirmation of this dual meaning of the word 'kings'. In
almost every single verse, we discover that it is derived
from the Greek word 'basileus', pronounced bas-il-yooce',
which means 'leader of the people, prince, commander, lord
of the land, or king'. Notice the many different meanings
applied here. I am now going to show that the 'kings of the
East' who cross the Euphrates River may not necessarily be
kings of other nations, but merely military captains and
commanders under the king, or president, of one nation who
join forces with armies from other countries who are also on
their way to the Battle of Armageddon. Compare these two
verses which are talking about the very same people:

"And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great
river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that
the way of the kings of the east might be prepared."
(Revelation 16:12)

"That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of
captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of
horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all
men, both free and bond, both small and great."
(Revelation 19:18)

What I am suggesting then as a second possible
interpretation is the following: If Saddam Hussein, or his
successor, were to launch an attack from Baghdad, (which we
might view as Babylon since it is the modern-day capital
which was indeed burned with fire during the Persian Gulf
War), his army would only have to cross one river on its way
to Israel. Baghdad is located on the banks of the Tigris
River. That means they would only have to cross the
Euphrates River to the west of them, EXACTLY as the verse
from Revelation tells us. Thus, the 'kings of the East'
might simply be a reference to Saddam Hussein and the
military forces under him. This leads us to one final
possibility concerning the 'kings of the East'; and it is
indeed an interesting one.

As I have already pointed out, in order to cross the
Euphrates River, there needs to be either an extended
drought, or else Turkey is going to have to completely dam
up or divert the river. Not only would it cause extreme
hardships for the people of Syria and Iraq, but I am also
wondering what effect it would have on the level of the
Shatt-al-Arab waterway. Would it be sufficient to make
shipping difficult if not impossible? In othe words, could
it stop or at least slow down the world's oil flow? What I
find interesting is that following the Iran-Iraq War, the
leadership of Iran must have realized the vulnerability of
Abadan Island. Thus, since that time, they have been
exploring other alternatives for importing and exporting oil
and natural gas. For example, the following excerpts are
taken from a 1996 Washington Post article:

----- Begin Quote -----

"NATO member Turkey today signed several accords with Iran
designed to bolster trade between the neighboring countries,
ignoring a U.S. call to isolate Tehran."

"The agreements, designed to double the trade volume between
Turkey and Iran to $2 billion, were signed near the end of a
four-day visit to Turkey by Iranian President Ali Akbar
Hashemi Rafsanjani that has caused concern in Washington."

"The accords illustrated the warming of relations between
Turkey and Iran that has been fostered by Turkey's Islamist
Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan. Erbakan visited Iran
shortly after taking office in June and concluded a $23
billion natural gas deal. Turkish officials said
construction of a pipeline to carry the Iranian gas to
Turkey will begin next year."

"Under the accords signed in Ankara, Turkey and Iran grant
each other most favored nation trading status, call for the
encouragement and promotion of mutual investment, outline
new cooperation in maritime trade, including the use of
shipping lanes, ports and territorial waters, and agree to
establish a joint chamber of commerce."

----- End Of Quote -----

Today, in 1998, although some of the leadership which
orchestrated this agreement has changed, and despite the
fact that the United States continues to view these
developments with concern, the pipeline project continues to
be developed. This is one prime example of why it is
sometimes difficult to know the true position of countries
in the Middle East. One minute they are at war with each
other, and the next they are allies and trade partners. What
it all really comes down to is the worship of the god of
this world; and I am not just talking about Satan, but what
he offers people: money! What makes this particular union
even more interesting is the fact that, while Iran was and
continues to be the catalyst for Islamic change in the
world, since October 1923, Turkey has had a secular-oriented
government which is controlled by the military. This all
came about because of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, after whom
Turkey is named. Following are some interesting excerpts
from the Encyclopedia of the Orient regarding this man who
founded the modern pro-Western republic of Turkey:

----- Begin Quote -----

"Founder of the modern republic of Turkey. His original name
was Mustafa Kemal, and the honorary title 'Ataturk' was
bestowed upon him as late as 1934, by the Grand National
Assembly, and means 'Father of the Turks'."

"Ataturk's achievements were many, but most were formed after
clear Western ideals. Ataturk meant that the traditional way
of running Muslim countries had outlived itself, and that
Turkey's chances of surviving the future as well as gaining
new strength would only be through adopting principles from
the European countries, which at that time had outdistanced
Turkey in all fields. Imposing regulations that hindered the
use of central elements in the Oriental clothing style,
introduction of Latin alphabet, reduction of the centrality
of Islam in Turkish public life, equality of all citizens
regardless of religion, emancipation of women, and regular
education of the masses. Ataturk introduced a political
system that had many elements from Western systems, but he
never allowed political pluralism, allowing only his own
Republican People's party."

"The price of Ataturk's modernisation was principally felt
by his political rivals, which he had removed from power by
1926, when Kemal had them accused of assassination
conspiracy. Ataturk's Turkey was never established as a
democracy, but it relied heavily on the allegiance from the
bureaucracy, and the rich of the country."

"The other victim of Ataturk was the traditional way of
governing Islam. Islam ceased to be the state religion, and
the Caliphate was abolished, an institution of great
symbolic importance for many Muslims inside and outside the
former Ottoman empire."

----- End Of Quote -----

At this point, you may be wondering what all of this has to
do with the 'kings of the East'. The answer is really quite
simple, and may be shocking, or at least a bit disconcerting
for some of you. When I first began looking into this topic,
I was assuming that when John wrote about the Euphrates
River and the 'kings of the East', he was probably looking
eastward towards Jordan, Iraq and Iran. Thus, it was only
natural to conclude that these would be the 'kings of the
East'. I am not saying that they are not; however, I am
saying that they may not be the only possibility; and they
may not even be who John and the angel were referring to.
Stop and think for a moment. Where was John when he received
the Book of Revelation? As I have explained before, he was
exiled on the small island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea. In
the beginning chapters of the Book of Revelation, we find
him writing to the Seven Churches which were in Asia, that
is, Asia Minor, which was located to the EAST of him! Today
that very same land mass is known as Turkey.

At this point you are probably wondering to yourself, 'So
what is the point? That doesn't prove anything!' Oh, but you
see, it most certainly does! If you use a Greek lexicon and
open up to a verse in the New Testament which contains the
word 'east', as in the phrase 'kings of the East', you will
discover that every single time, it is derived from the same
Greek word 'anatole', pronounced an-at-ol-ay', which means
'a rising (of the sun and stars), the east (the direction of
the sun's rising)'. When John wrote that verse about the
'kings of the East', if he was looking eastward at the time,
he would not see Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, etc.; he
would see Asia Minor, now known as Turkey! You see, unless
you have a good knowledge of East European history, you may
not know that before Mustafa Kemal Ataturk established the
modern republic of Turkey, it was known as 'Anatolia' by the
Greeks! The following information is taken from 'Discover
Turkey'. I think you will find it quite interesting:

----- Begin Quote -----

"Anatolia is one of the oldest continually inhabited regions
in the world, and it has repeatedly served as a battleground
for foreign powers. The earliest major empire in the area
was that of the Hittites, from the 18th through the 13th
century BC. Subsequently, the Phrygians, an Indo-European
people, achieved ascendancy until their kingdom was
destroyed by the Cimmerians in the 7th century BC. The most
powerful of Phrygia's successor states was Lydia. Coastal
Anatolia (Ionia) meanwhile was settled by Greeks. The entire
area was overrun by the Persians during the 6th and 5th
centuries and fell to Alexander the Great in 334 BC.
Anatolia was subsequently divided into a number of small
Hellenistic kingdoms (including Bithynia, Cappadocia,
Peramum, and Pontus), all of which had succumbed to Rome by
the mid-1st century BC. In AD 324 the Roman emperor
Constantine I chose Constantinople, now Istanbul, as the
capital of the Roman Empire. It subsequently became the
capital of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire."

"In 1055 a group of Central Asiatic Turks, the Seljuks,
conquered Baghdad and established a Middle Eastern and
Anatolian empire. When this empire was broken up by the
Mongol invasion, one of the remaining local powers became
known as the Ottoman dynasty, after its leader OSMAN I. The
OTTOMAN EMPIRE spread from northwestern Anatolia and
captured Constantinople in 1453. At the peak of their power
the Ottomans controlled much of the eastern Mediterranean.
The Ottomans had a sophisticated system of internal
administration and also organized the first standing army in
Europe."

"As the Ottoman Empire began to collapse under its own
weight in the 18th and 19th centuries, it became a
battleground for rival European powers, wedged as it was
between the Russian and Austrian empires. By the outbreak of
World War I the Ottoman Empire had essentially been divided
into spheres of influence by the great European powers, but
a reform movement was active within the Ottoman Empire
itself. The Young Turks brought about a revolution in 1908
and were successful in introducing civil and social reforms
of far-reaching consequence."

"In 1922, however, the Turks, led by Mustafa Kemal (later
known as Kemal Ataturk) and Ismet Inonu, defeated the armies
occupying Anatolia. Inonu then won what has been called 'the
greatest diplomatic victory in history' when the Treaty of
Lausanne recognized the Republic of Turkey. The republic was
declared on Oct. 29, 1923, and Ataturk was elected its first
president. Turkey remained neutral in World War II until it
joined the Allies in February 1945. Turkey joined the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1952."

----- End Of Quote -----

Thus we see that Asia Minor is Anatolia, and Anatolia is
Turkey. If you accept this evidence, then instead of
translating the phrase as the 'kings of the East', might it
not be correct to translate it as the 'kings of Anatolia'
since 'anatole' means 'east'? Could it be that John was
referring to a tremendous army, led by the Beast, and
originating in Turkey, swooping down through Syria into
Israel? If you recall everything I have said throughout this
series, Turkey could easily fit the description of being the
'king of the north' just as much as Syria, Iraq, or Iran,
because in the Bible, they ALL invaded from the north
through Syria. Furthermore, If you recall our study of the
Daniel prophecies, Turkey was indeed part of one of the four
land masses into which the Grecian Empire was divided
following the death of Alexander the Great; and it is from
one of those four land masses that the Beast will arise!

In case you are still wondering about the Euphrates River
question, that is a very easy one to answer. Earlier in this
article, I pointed out how Turkey is controlling the
Euphrates water flow into both Syria and Iraq by building
various dams. If you take another look at your map of the
Middle East, you will see that this great river flows
through a great portion of northeastern Syria, from west to
east. If Turkey were to completely dam up or divert the
river, a mighty army, the 'kings of the East', the 'kings of
Anatolia', could indeed cross the Euphrates and work their
way down through Syria and invade Israel through the Golan
Heights! To add further support to this possibility,
consider this updated information taken from my article 'The
Kings Of The North And The South, Part Two':

----- Begin Quote -----

"At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the
south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter.
For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore
he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation
against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even
return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the
holy covenant." (Daniel 11:29-30)

"In the above verses, it is believed that Chittim is
actually referring to the island of Cyprus. As maps of the
ancient world will reveal, 'Chittim', or 'Kittim', is the
former name of Cyprus. It appears then that sometime in the
near future when all of these events begin to occur, a naval
strike may be launched from Cyprus just as the Syrian forces
are about to make another attack on the south, that is,
against Israel and Egypt. Given the current range of missile
delivery systems, as well as other factors like American
naval carriers which are various acres in size and which can
hold many warplanes, it will be an easy matter to deter the
Beast; at least for the time being."

"The very fact that Cyprus is involved in these affairs, and
is able to temporarily stop the Beast is another indication
that Syria may be the country of origin of the Beast. If it
was Russia, it doesn't seem likely to me that a small island
like Cyprus would be able to stop her. Of course, if it
involves a nuclear threat launched from Cyprus, or combined
naval forces in the vicinity of Cyprus, that is indeed a
possibility. The fact that the United States of America,
Israel and Turkey are currently forging stronger military
ties is indeed an interesting development. At this point, my
feelings are that if Syria is not the home of the Beast,
then it will at least be used as the gateway to invade
Israel from the north through the Golan Heights."

----- End Of Quote -----

Now perhaps you are thinking to yourself, 'Wait a minute!
You just said that Turkey is forging stronger ties with
Israel! Are you changing your mind already?' Most certainly
not. As I already said, when it comes to the news media and
world developments, it is not wise to believe everything you
see with your eyes or hear with your ears. The political
climate of the Middle East is changing all the time. While
it currently appears that Turkey is forming a stronger
military union with the United States of America and Israel,
that does not mean it will last. Right now it is to Ankara's
advantage to do so in more ways than one. For one thing, it
helps to neutralize Syria, a common enemy of both Israel and
Turkey. Additionally, it may give some Arab states second
thoughts about attacking Israel. Finally, it means more
money and technological assistance passing back and forth
between Israel and Turkey.

One thing we need to remember is that Islam is on the rise
throughout the world. While Turkey is currently under the
control of a secular pro-Western government, its people are
still for the most part Muslims; and there are strong forces
at work within the country trying to bring about an Islamic
revolution such as occurred in Iran in 1979. These same
forces are at work in other countries as well where they are
trying to topple the secular governments. Egypt is a prime
example of this. The 1997 massacre committed by Islamic
fundamentalists in Luxor is a clear sign of this.
Personally, it seems a bit strange to me that an Islamic
nation like Turkey would conduct such military maneuvers
with Israel, an avowed enemy of the Muslim states. I have
wondered if perhaps there might not be a bit of deceit going
on here such as I mentioned in part four of this series. If
Turkey is the home of the Beast, and not Syria, Iraq or
Iran, then this quote from part four applies to her:

----- Begin Quote -----

"And both these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and
they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not
prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed."
(Daniel 11:27)

"Another set of very interesting verses found in the Book of
Psalms which sound just like the slick promises of the Beast
is the following. Remember, the previous verses in Daniel
tell us that the Beast will come to power through peaceable
means and through FLATTERIES:"

"He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace
with him: he hath broken his covenant. The words of his
mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart:
his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords."
(Psalms 55:20-21)

----- End Of Quote -----

So again, I advise you the reader to not believe everything
you hear or see in the news media. It may be a case of
subtle deceit. Have you considered the possibility that
Turkey is simply seeking to discover some of the weaknesses
of Israel's military machine through these current economic
and military agreements? On the other hand, this 'cozy'
situation with Israel and the West may indeed be genuine.
Just as Israel is the outsider in a Muslim-controlled Middle
East, Turkey is the outsider in the European Community. In
fact, she was just recently rejected as a potential member
of the European Union. Just remember, the current situation
may not last. If Muslim fundamentalists are able to topple
the secular military government, attitudes could change very
fast; and it won't be in Israel's favor! Turkey might still
be the home of the Beast!

As paradoxical as it may seem then, Turkey could thus
represent both the 'king of the north', (because Daniel was
down in Babylon, which means he would look northwestward to
see the Beast descend on Israel) as well as the 'kings of
the East', (because John would be looking eastward from
Patmos to see the Beast and his armies cross a dried up
Euphrates River to enter into Syria, and then down into
Israel). As I said before, no matter how we look at these
prophecies, we still keep coming up with that same land area
which was commonly controlled by all of the former empires,
from the Egyptian Empire to the Roman Empire. That common
hub is centered in Syria and Turkey, the northwestern edge
of ancient Mesopotamia. Whether the Beast will originate in
Syria, or Iraq, or Iran, or Turkey, is hopefully a question
which will be answered soon.

This brings us to our final question for this series: How
are the 'kings of the East' related to the Ten Horns of the
Endtime? If we follow a strict interpretation of the
Scriptures which state that the 'kings of the East' must
cross the Euphrates River, and only the Euphrates River,
then as I have shown, they would have to be the actual
forces of the Beast rising out of either Iraq or Turkey. If
this is not the case, then as I stated earlier, I believe
that they are probably a part of the Ten Horns, that is, the
other nations, which the Beast and the False Prophet will
lead into Israel. In other words, the Ten Horns, (or Toes),
and the 'kings of the East' are synonymous terms.

This brings us back to some of the information I provided in
part two of this series. As you may recall, I gave a
historical view of the foreign domination of the land of
Israel from Rome to our current day. The purpose of that
discourse was to help us to try to identify the seventh
head, or empire, which would rule over Israel for 'a short
space'. You will notice that I did not suggest that the
almost twelve hundred years of Muslim rule was the seventh
head. My reasons for declining to state that are the
following:

1. I personally do not consider one thousand one hundred and
eighty-four years to be 'a short space'.

2. If time is as short as some of us believe it is, then it
is my belief that this period of Muslim rule must be related
in some way to the eighth king, and NOT to the empire of the
seventh.

3. I think it is significant that the triangle of Muslim
power which existed then, that is, Baghdad, Damascus and
Cairo, is still in existence today.

4. I believe that the Ten Toes of Daniel and the Ten Horns
of Revelation may be speaking of the same thing.

5. Daniel and John both tell us that the Ten Horns, or Ten
Toes, exist concurrently with the 'little horn', or Beast or
Revelation. Consider these verses:

"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." (Daniel 7:8)

"And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which
have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings
one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give
their power and strength unto the beast."
(Revelation 17:12-13)

Notice that Daniel does not say that the 'little horn' came
up AFTER them; he says that it came up AMONG them. That
clearly identifies it as existing concurrently with the
other ten. Only in this way will it be able to subdue three
of them. So what does all of this mean? Several times now, I
have presented the argument that Biblical history and
prophecy is one continuous developing story. There are no
large time gaps between the first six empires which
controlled the Middle East. As such, why should there be a
gap between the coming of the seventh empire, and then the
final eighth empire? This would be totally contradictory to
everything we have seen in this series, which is solidly
based on actual history, as well as on the Holy Scriptures.
If the seventh empire which was only to continue for 'a
short space' followed the Roman Empire, then surely it has
already come and gone. As to the identity of that empire, as
I said in part two, I honestly do not know with any degree
of certainty. That is why I merely offered the evidence I
had found along with a short list of potential candidates.

So exactly what does that mean? In my view, it can only mean
one thing; and that is that the almost twelve hundred years
of Muslim rule up until our modern day coincides with the
time period of the eighth empire, which itself is a
resurrection of one of the first five. This immediately
excludes Rome and a European Union as some would like to
believe. In my view, all indications point to a Muslim
Empire based in either Syria, Iraq, or Iran. If Turkey makes
a radical move towards Islamic fundamentalism, then it
should also be included in this list. To emphasize what I am
saying, the Scriptures clearly state that the Ten Horns and
the Beast exist simultaneously. Since the mid 600's when
Islam was born, we have seen the Ten Toes and the Beast
develop into modern Islamic nations. They are here NOW! It
is NOT some future event! The eighth empire of the Beast is
here NOW and the Ten Horns of the Endtime are already a part
of it!

Now, undoubtedly, some of you reading this will scoff and
say 'So where is it?' The reason you have this attitude is
because you don't recognize the Beast and the Ten Horns yet.
Because you personally can't point out the eighth empire,
you want to place it somewhere in the future as something
which hasn't happened yet. I have done the very same thing
for many years. Well, the future is here NOW! Just because
we don't precisely know and recognize who they are doesn't
mean they aren't here. That is ridiculous! We must account
for those almost twelve hundred years of Muslim domination
of Jerusalem. The only way to do that is to accept that
empire number seven has passed already, and that we have
been living with empire number eight for quite a while. It's
been under our noses all of this time. You might say that up
until now, it has been an 'invisible' empire.

You need to remember that the Ten Horns only reign for one
hour with the Beast. Exactly how long that is on the
Biblical timescale is very difficult to determine. All I can
say is that it must be a very short time. Is it a literal
hour? I don't think so, but I could be wrong. Another point
to consider is that this doesn't necessarily mean that these
nations are not already in existence; it simply means that
they have not turned over their political and military power
to the Beast yet. In other words, all of the components of
the eighth empire, the Ten Horns, and the Beast are in
existence. They are already in place, and have been in place
for a long time; we just don't know with absolute certainty
who they are yet. That is why I referred to it as an
'invisible' empire, because it is still invisible to our
understanding.

If my understanding of the Scriptures is correct, we may not
know who the Ten Horns are until close to the end of the
Great Tribulation when they assist the Beast in utterly
burning Babylon with fire:

"And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these
shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked,
and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God
hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree,
and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of
God shall be fulfilled." (Revelation 17:16-17)

Many may not realize that we are already living during the
time of the eighth empire until after the fact. If you are
of the crowd which says 'No man knoweth the day nor the
hour', then Jesus may indeed come as a 'thief in the night'
for you, and you will be looking back at past events saying,
'So that is who the Beast was! So that is who the Ten Horns
were! Wow! I never even saw it!' Concerning the Ten Toes,
allow me to share a few ideas with you. The Prophet Daniel
wrote the following:

"And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters'
clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but
there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch
as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the
toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the
kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And
whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall
mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not
cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay."
(Daniel 2:41-43)

I believe the above description describes the many smaller
kingdoms and states which resulted from the demise of the
Roman Empire. The iron and the clay may be indicative of two
different types of governments. At this point, we are
confronted with a myriad of interpretations. It seems there
are as many interpretations as there are preachers. So as
not to confuse you, I am only going to briefly explain one
of the most popular interpretations, and then share my own
thoughts on this subject.

As I pointed out in my article 'Revelation's Babylon The
Great Whore', it has been proposed by some that Rome and the
Roman Catholic Church represent Endtime false religion, and
thus Babylon the Great Whore who has committed spiritual
fornication with the kings and nations of the Earth. That
word 'fornication' is very interesting. In the broadest
sense of the word, it means having sex with someone you
really aren't married to. In a spiritual context, as the
Children of God, we are supposed to be married to Jesus
Christ. By faith, we already are, for as the Apostle Paul
wrote:

"Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law
by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another,
even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should
bring forth fruit unto God." (Romans 7:4)

However, our actual marriage to the Lamb of God is not due
to occur until some time in the future according to the Book
of Revelation. Thus, you might say that right now we are
simply betrothed to Him:

"And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and
as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty
thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent
reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to
him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath
made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should
be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine
linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me,
Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage
supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true
sayings of God." (Revelation 19:6-9)

Tragically, some, while claiming to believe in God, and
while claiming to be the true religion of God, in fact, the
very voice of God Himself on Earth, have forsaken their
husband-to-be in order to fornicate with the world. This is
precisely what the Roman Catholic Church has done. It is
nothing more than a worldwide commercial enterprise which
feigns religiosity. The Roman Catholic Church, which I
personally believe is totally infiltrated by International
Jews, owns and runs the world! Of course, most of this power
is behind the scenes, so many people don't see and recognize
it. It is a well-known fact that Rome is situated upon seven
hills. Those who support this view of Roman Catholicism
being Babylon believe that the pope is the Antichrist, the
False Prophet or the Beast depending upon what your personal
interpretation is of these terms.

These people also believe that the Ten Horns may be ten
countries of the European Union. According to them, the iron
and the clay represent democracies and dictatorships.
Following this line of reasoning, democracies would be
represented by the clay, since a democratic society is
supposed to be one ruled by the people; and people are made
from clay, or the dust of the ground. On the other hand,
iron would be a more tough-fisted form of government since,
while it is likewise taken from the ground, it is a much
harder and more durable substance. The fact that the iron
and clay don't mingle could be a reference to the fact that
democracies and dictatorships don't mix very well; although
in this day and age, for economic and military reasons, some
modern democratic societies like the United States of
America, are known to secretly support such strongmen.

As I have stated before, the above interpretation does have
a lot of merit. I have personally examined and written about
some of the evidence which is used to support these views in
my series 'Satan: King Of Tyrus, King Of Empires'. In some
regards, the evidence is quite convincing, but it simply is
not enough to fully persuade me to accept this particular
interpretation of the Scriptures. As some of my other
articles will reveal, I personally have found a lot of
things within the Roman Catholic Church with which I do not
agree. While there are many sincere Christians and
God-fearing people within the Catholic religion, as I whole,
I believe the system itself, the hierarchy which controls
it, is corrupt to the bone. I have likened them in other
articles to the church of Laodicea which was also fat,
wealthy, lazy and self-satisfied.

One of my primary problems with the above interpretation,
(besides the fact that Rome was not one of the first five
empires), is that it fails to maintain Israel and the
surrounding territory as its main focal point. If you the
reader take the time to slowly, carefully and prayerfully
read the Books of Daniel and Revelation, as well as the
things that Jesus had to say about the Endtime, you will see
that the primary focus is on Israel and the surrounding
Muslim countries. If you take the time to read all of the
other prophetic books, as well as ancient Jewish history,
you will also see that they focus on this same area.
Finally, if you read everything I have written regarding the
Endtime, you will see that my writings follow this same
pattern. Therefore, when we talk about the demise of the
Roman Empire, I believe we are supposed to concentrate on
the countries, or horns, which sprung up in the area
immediately surrounding Israel, and NOT up in Europe.

If the above is correct, how can we acommodate the Ten Toes
consisting of iron and clay in the arena of the Middle East?
A quick glance at the area offers a simple answer in my
view. On one hand we have pro-Western nations such as
Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Saudia Arabia, and the other
five countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council: Kuwait,
Bahrain, Oman, United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Oddly enough,
that is a total of ten nations which openly side with the
United States of America. On the other hand, we have the
Russian supported nations of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran.
Additionally, we also have Afghanistan, Pakistan and the
republics of the former Soviet Union which need to be taken
into consideration. Is it possible that we have ten nations
here which are also staunch supporters of the Russian
Federation?

Thus we can easily see that the description of iron not
mixing with clay is indeed met, just as with the other
interpretation regarding democracies and dictatorships. The
primary difference is that my interpretation brings us
closer to Israel. The next question then is this: Who are
the Ten Horns of the Endtime? As I said earlier, until
Babylon is actually burned with fire, we may never know with
any degree of certainty. I am not a political analyst or a
Prophet. As such, just like other Bible students, I can only
loosely speculate. One requirement I do feel is necessary
for these nations to qualify as one of the Endtime Ten Horns
which form a part of the eighth empire of the Beast, is that
they are militarily strong. I also believe that they must be
relatively large nations by Middle Eastern standards. In my
view, this immediately rules out the five smaller Gulf
Cooperation Council nations.

Having the same general political views also seems like an
important factor. Some of the nations I have identified
above certainly have a common hatred of Israel, an interest
in Muslim unity, and they have demonstrated support for a
Palestinian state. You may recall that in part two of this
series, I mentioned that when U.N Resolution 181 was passed
in 1947 to create two separate Jewish and Palestinian states
with Jerusalem as an international city under United Nations
jurisdiction, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia,
Syria, Turkey, and Yemen all opposed the idea, which quickly
resulted in the 'War of Independence'. Religious unity might
also be a deciding factor in this alliance with the Beast.
Again, since 1979, we have seen a tremendous wave of Islamic
fundamentalism invading the world from the United States of
America to Russia; and it all started in Iran, the home of
one fanatical religious leader known as the Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini.

While some have envisioned Russia as the actual Beast who
will lead the Ten Horns due to her atheistic nature, plus
her geographical position above the Middle East, that is, to
the north, I feel that if she is involved, she may just
remain quietly behind the scenes pulling the strings of the
real Beast and his ten Endtime puppet nations.

If we eliminate all of the pro-West pro-Israel states, that
leaves us with Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran. The rest is
purely guesswork. I am tempted to add Libya for obvious
reasons. While it is possible that the remaining six will be
some of the former Russian republics I mentioned earlier, as
I already said, I have some reservations regarding this due
to the fact that they would have to cross both the Tigris
and the Euphrates Rivers. Remember, we must have eleven in
all because one of them will be the Beast who leads the
other ten to utterly burn Babylon The Whore with fire. Don't
forget too that we need three horns which are subdued by the
Beast as per the prophecies of Daniel.

While discussing the possibility of Iran being the home of
the Beast and the False Prophet, I suggested that these
three nations might be Iraq, Saudia Arabia and Jordan. Being
'plucked up' might not necessarily mean that they are
destroyed, but simply that they are either pressured or
seduced in some way into going along with the Beast and the
other seven horns. After all, if they were destroyed, then
there would not be Ten Horns to utterly burn Babylon the
Great with fire. Allow me to suggest a slightly different
possibility as to who these three 'horns' might be. That I
am aware of, there are only three nations which have fought
against Israel in the past, yet who are now pro-West and
pro-Israel; at least on the surface. These are Egypt, Jordan
and Saudi Arabia.

Might something happen in the near future to cause some of
them to do an 'about face' and adopt the stance of their
Muslim brothers? Might the Beast convince at least one of
them that it is useless to keep waiting for Israel to give
the Palestinians a homeland, a real state of their own?
Daniel seems to indicate that such might be the case with
Jordan, a current ally of Syria:

"He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many
countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of
his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children
of Ammon." (Daniel 11:41)

Why would Jordan escape the wrath of the Beast unless
sometime in the near future she is going to decide to go
along with him? On the other hand, it appears that Egypt
will remain adamant about maintaining peace with Israel. As
I have stated before, Daniel clearly tells us that Egypt is
going to feel the brunt of the force of the Beast coming in
from the north:

"He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries:
and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have
power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all
the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the
Ethiopians shall be at his steps." (Daniel 11:42-43)

Notice though that it does not say that Libya and Ethiopia
are invaded or destroyed; it simply says that they are at
his steps. In the article 'The Kings Of The North And The
South', I suggested that this might mean that he stops his
invasion at their borders. Could this be because they are
simpathetic to his cause? In the case of Libya, this is
definitely the case. Moammar Ghadaffi hates Israel with a
passion!

As I have now shown, trying to decide who the Ten Horns are
is a difficult issue. In fact, it is next to impossible.
There are simply too many variables to consider. However, as
I have already stated, just because you personally cannot
identify them or the Beast does not mean that this eighth
empire is not already in existence. This would be similar to
denying that a certain person is in a group of people simply
because you don't know who he is. All of your friends have
told you that this certain person is definitely there, but
you continue to deny it because you haven't been able to
pick him out in the crowd. You may have looked at this
person right in the face without even realizing it. All I
can tell you is that the Lord promised us through the words
of the angel to the Prophet Daniel, that He would open up
the Scriptures to us in the Endtime:

"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book,
even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and
knowledge shall be increased." (Daniel 12:4)

However, that doesn't mean He will do it all at once.
Perhaps the Lord works on a need-to-know basis. He reveals a
little to us at a time. When it is time for us to know the
whole story, He will reveal the final keys to the puzzle. If
we are as far along as I believe we may be, then we may not
have long to wait! But as Jesus said, we must watch and
pray! Regardless of what happens or when it happens, the
main thing we as Christians need to remember, is that God
loves us, and He is in control of things. He will not allow
anything to happen to us unless it is for our own good, even
if we may not understand it at the time:

"And we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to his
purpose." (Romans 8:28)

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your
ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my
thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9)

In this series we have now travelled far down the prophetic
road of the Endtime. As you can see, there are a lot of
sidestreets we have explored which feed into the main
artery. It is my hope and prayer that through this series,
if nothing else, I have at least helped you to become a
little more familiar with The Map of the Endtime. I don't
claim to understand The Map fully either, and I don't wish
to leave you with the impression that I do. I have offered
quite a few different interpretations on a wide variety of
topics related to the Endtime. Exactly which ones are on the
mark and which ones are not, I am not sure. It is now up to
you to carefully and prayerfully ponder these things in your
own heart to see if they might be true.

All I can promise you is that as I personally learn more,
and as I come to a greater understanding of the knowledge of
The Truth, I will continue to update my current articles, as
well as continue to write new ones, as long as the Lord
permits me to have this wonderful ministry. If you have
encountered any difficulty in understanding anything I have
written in this series, then I apologize for not making my
views clearer. At the same time, I encourage you to claim
the following promise, and to explore the Scriptures for
yourself to see if these things are so:

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth
to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be
given him." (James 1:5)

May God richly bless you with nothing but The Truth as you
continue to delve into the Wonders of His Word.

With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you have found it informative, enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

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