Who is the Beast of Revelation 13 & 17? (Part 3)

A fourth parallel, looking to the Revelation account, is that the harlot is "drunk" with two forms of intoxicants. First, "the wine of her fornication" (17:2), and second, "the blood of the saints" (17:6). There is no need to document that throughout the history of Europe, every uniting power that has established hegemony since Rome has been drunk with the wine of fornication, and has usually been looked on by the world as the “mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations” (17:6).

When the Roman Empire was strong, the first 14 Roman emperors were known homosexuals, and had an entire harem of slaves designated to satisfy their every whim. Nero even had a youth named Sporus, castrated, and reserved for the purpose of satisfying his own abominable lusts.

Then, during the age when Catholicism was strong, one of the catalysts behind Martin Luther's drive for reform was the debauchery and decadence practiced by the clergy. Julius II, and Pope Leo X were known to have numerous mistresses, the knowledge of which turned Luther's stomach. Today's Europe speaks for itself.

Europe is also "drunk with the blood of the saints." This cannot refer exclusively to the Roman Catholic massacre of Christians, as many interpreters of Revelation believe. Certainly, Catholocism has played a large role in the history of Europe. An estimated 68 million were killed during the 1,200 years of Inquisition and most of them were dissenting Christians. However, the Catholic church's power and influence today is barely a blip on the radar screen for most Europeans. Yet, the drunken stupor that is left has by no means diminished. Just look at the current policy of government sanctioned infanticide seen in the cruel aborting of countless unwanted lives, and now, in many cases, euthenasia. Also, consider the rabid-rhetoric against Christianity that has characterized the curriculum in most university campuses since post-Enlightenment Europe. Even in seminaries, charged with the responsibility of educating clergy, the Bible has been completely disparaged as nothing more than a book written by men. It is clear that the universities which have shaped the current face of Europe have made it their raison d’ etre to stamp out any influence Christianity may have.

Indubitably, Europe has a well documented history of being drunk with the blood of the saints. Furthermore, this addiction to the blood of the saints is particularly intoxicating because it frees them from all restraints to be drunk with the wine of their fornications. The thought of being able to endulge your every whim with no Bible-thumping preachers left to tell you you’re going to Hell is hugely intoxicating.

Richard Dawkins, who teaches at Oxford, even admits this in his recent, New York Times bestseller, The God Delusion. In this emotional attack on Christianity, he not only calls anyone who believes in God, "deluded," but wishes to write a set of moral laws for binding for all Atheists; the first one is basically, "let everyone endulge their own sexual preference in their own privacy, regardless of how outlandish these preferences may be. It is nobody else's business."

Dawkin's idea that religion is nothing more than the supression of man's fulfillment is a growing sentiment among readers. In the past three months, there have been three books topping the New York Times bestseller list, heralding Atheism: Dawkin's, The God Delusion; Christopher Hitchens, God is Not Great; and Sam Harris', Breaking the Spell.

The odd thing about Dawkin's emotionally charged satire against Christianity is that Christianity has declined so rapidly that it is a byword in England. How cowardly is it to beat up on an elderly, almost extinct opponant? The influence of the church is only a tiny wimper when you consider that Atheists are now filling its pulpits. That's right! Men like Don Cupitt are Atheists, and ordained ministers in the Church of England, if you can swallow that!

But compare this to the fiery picketing of Muslims on the streets of London, who, in a recent episode, chanted, "bomb, bomb, UK", while burning effigies of the Queen in public. Compare it to the recent survey that showed all thirty mosques in London now filled beyond capacity every Friday during prayer. To make London more representative of the new Muslim populous, blueprints have already been drawn up to build the Markaz, a mosque that would accommodate 70,000 Muslims; a project being spearheaded by a group known as Tablighi Jamaat, which has had known ties to terrorists. When one tunes in to the 2012 Olympics in London, they will find that Islam will have become more distinctively "English" than the Queen herself being driven up to the front steps in her motorcade. Conveniently enough, the Markaz is being built right next door to the stadium.

It is ironic that all three of these books on Atheism made numerous references to the God of Christianity, even citing the term Yahweh as the butt of their sarcastic tone. Yet, in at least one of these books I have looked at, no references can be found in these books which single out the word, Allah. Maybe they are too drunk on their fantastic voyage away from reason to realize the true identity of the beast.

To give them some credit, they are right in conspicuously leaving out Allah from their rants. After all, the beast (Islam), to whom Europe will one day give their total allegience once Muslims have amassed a population formidible enough to have their way, will be anything but the enemy. To the contrary, Islam will be their banner in war against their true enemy. That's right! According to the prophecy in Revelation 17:14, the beast makes war with the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. The very same enemy that Richard Dawkins and many other emboldened Atheists have already declared war upon in their writings.

Look at Revelation 17 carefully and notice that the refined harlot & mother of fornications (Europe in my hypothesis), is said to unite with the savage, scarlet beast (Islam in my hypothesis) when she mounts him to ride, and then the seven mountains upon which she sits combine their power with his (17:11). Then, as one united front, they make war with the Lamb (17:14). Is it not interesting that today, Atheism and Islam, while appearing wildly different, share the same enemy, Jesus Christ, and are both fighting the same enemy in 2007; one with the pen, and the other with the sword.

Yes, Islam may be conspicuously absent from the rants against religion because Islam is nothing more than a pawn in the hand of their true enemy which is Yahweh; the God of the Bible. Hence, the time is coming when Europe will be united in empowering the beast, but the beast cannot overpower the lamb, "For He is Lord of lords, and King of kings" (17:14). Just read the end of Revelation 17. Christ wins!

Don't misunderstand me. Islam is Europe's enemy if they care anything about preserving their civilization, but it is certainly not their most formidable enemy. Their most formidable enemy is God. In fact, all of us, before coming to Christ in the spirit of brokenness and repentance are at war with God. Therefore, making peace with God is why I am in ministry. I must plead with all men to "kiss the son, lest he be angry; when his wrath is kindled but a little, blessed are all they that put their trust in him" (Psalm 2:12).

Some of you reading this are no doubt repulsed by what I have just said, having the audacity to place “God” and “enemy” in the same sentence. But this is the message of Romans 5:10-11, which says that “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” What bold language. This language reminds us of how serious sin is to God. We cannot continue to embrace our sin and be so presumptuous as to call ourselves the friend of God. This text says that we all start out on the same front of resistance against God whether Muslim, Pagan, Vegan, Baptist, European, or American. We are the “enemy” of God until reconciled with God.

How liberating is it to know that although we are enemies of God because of our sin, we can be reconciled and made at peace with God by receiving Christ. When the cup of God’s wrath should have been poured out on each one of us because of our sin, it was instead poured out on Christ when he died on the Cross. (Psalm 2, 5:4-5, 7:9-13, 11:5-6, Acts 4:26-27, Romans 3:18-27, 5:9-11, II Corinthians 5:20, Colossians 1:21-22, I Peter 2:24).

We can either accept that Christ already paid the penalty for our sins and be saved, or we can pay that penalty ourselves through an eternity in Hell (Romans 6:23, Revelation 20:10-15). This is the gospel and it needs to be preached with the greatest urgency ever. This is the gospel Paul preached when he pleaded, “We pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (II Corinthians 5:20).

How can you be reconciled to someone you have no beef with? The word itself denotes two variant parties making peace, and ending strife. If you have never acknowledged that your sin is a big deal and are willing to turn away from your sin, pray right now and ask God to forgive you. He is merciful and promises that ““everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).

Some may be thinking, “I’ve never even heard this idea. I've never heard that I'm an enemy of God.” It is a message that has certainly been neglected by most preachers more interested in their own praises than the praise of God, and for fear that they might offend. But as you have already found if you have done your homework, and looked at all the texts mentioned above, it is impossible to avoid. This idea is at the core of the gospel. Therefore, if it is not preached with heart-felt tears, there is no hope that healing will ever come to our world.

It is not certain whether we are already seeing the tipsy harlot described in Revelation 17:3 mounting the scarlet beast. But if it is, I can promis you this: she will be requited with far more than a DUI.

Nor is it certain that the harlot represents Europe/Western Civilization. It isn’t even certain that the beast must point to the inevitable rise of Islam we are seeing in Europe. As I have shown, these ideas seem to have good support, but need to be held with some skepticism in light of the symbolic language it rests upon.

Remember that the genre of Revelation is apocalyptic, which uses symbolic language, but points to a literal truth. Hence, because it is easy to read one’s own ideas into symbols, it can be easily misinterpreted, as it often has.

Nevertheless, what is especially certain is that the glorious gospel that proclaims we can be reconciled with God is the only hope for our age, and if you are not yet reconciled to Him, don’t wait another minute.

Who is the Beast of Revelation 13 & 17? (Part 2)

We are continuing to draw parallels between the current relationship of Europe with its rising Islamic influence, Europa & Zeus, and the harlot and beast of Relelation 17.

The second parallel is that according to mythology, Zeus was incognito. He had to disguise himself as something he was not in order to seduce Europa out of the garden and ride her away to the Island of Crete where he morphed back into Zeus, and raped her; forcing her into submission and making her yet another of his lovers.

Similarly, for decades now, Muslims have openly proclaimed a message of peace and tolerance within Europe, while privately, in their Mosques, proclaiming the superiority of jihad. Already, as they are becoming more and more populous, some are proclaiming more openly what the Qur'an clearly sets forth as a one-world, unified Callifate, where Western Civilization has no place, and Islam rules in every place. One can remember that immediately after 911, in the old mill town of Bradley, England, hundreds of Muslim youths, which already outnumber English youth of that town, took to the streets en mass, beating on the bonnets (what the English like to refer to as the hood of their cars). They beat on the bonnets, demanding that their shocked victims chant with them, "bin Laden is a great man." Say it, "bin Laden is a great man." Those Bradley burghers walked back to their homes demoralized; their tails between their legs. And those Muslim youths were emblazoned with pride, knowing their wills had won the day. Of course, this scenario may not have played out so well in the Southern U.S., where Britain's stringent gun control laws have no sway.

Islam historically, and more and more, presently, believes that all humanity fits into one of two categories: Dar al Islam (the house of submission), or Dar al Harb (the house of war). If you are not under submission to the law of Allah, you are at war with Allah and the people of Allah. Many leftists in Europe are more and more shocked when a tatooed & pierced pot-head cries out, "Let's make love, not war . . . I love everybody," and the increasing Muslim population is not satisfied. No, they will only be satisfied when you are either part of the house of submission, or . . . I'll try not to sound too messy . . . posthumous!

This is what they are already practicing, and have always practiced within every nation in the world where there is not a sufficiently strong government to keep them in check. According to Voice of the Martyrs, more than 900 churches have been burned to the ground in Indonesia within the past fifty years by mainstream Muslims. On September 28, more than 500 Christians were displaced, and 10 killed in the city of Tudun Wada, Northern Nigeria, by none other than the neighborhood Muslims living next door.

Indonesia is a country, where until recent decades, had no Muslim majority. Indonesia and Sri Lanka are both examples of how the practice of population replacement has been successful, but has taken them centuries to achieve. However, in Europe it isn't taking them nearly as long thanks to abortion on demand (1/3 of all pregnecies in Ireland are now terminated), and low birth-rates on the part of the ones they want to displace. Europe is truly drunk when imams can openly proclaim population replacement in Europe as their agenda, and Europeans continue a policy of appeasement.

Just listen to what Muslim leaders are saying: "We're the ones who will change you." That is what the Norwegian imam Mullah Krekar told the Oslo newspaper Dagbladet in 2006. "Just look at the development within Europe, where the number of Muslims is expanding like mosquitoes. Every Western woman in the EU is producing an average of 1.4 children. Every Muslim woman In the same countries is producing 3.5 children." As he summed it up: “Our way of thinking will prove more powerful than yours."

What Europe doesn't know, or is too inebriated with the "now" to care anything about right now is that while the average Italian family is now reproducing at less than 1.0 children per couple, the average Muslim household in that country is reproducing at 5.0; this is the case in the city of Turin, Italy, according to a recent article in Der Spiegel Magazine. Within a little more than a generation, simply by birthrate alone, Islam will go from being a small minority to being a sizable force to be reckoned with. More than 1/3 of the Italian population is over the age of retirement, and less than 15% are under the age of 18. This 15% represents the overall population, not just indigenous Italians.

What makes the situation especially hopeless is the politically correct language that ties everyone’s hands, preventing them from recognizing this threat. If someone even raises these statistics as a concern, they’re immediately branded “racist.” But is it racism? The truth is that it doesn’t matter what the color of your skin is. Nor does it matter if more than 50% of the population is of any particular color or ethnicity. What matters is ideology! ideas have consequences. When a majority of the population no longer believes in freedom, you have a problem, and more and more of those who will be growing into adulthood subscribe to an ideology which is hostile towards the idea of freedom.

Yes, Europe is drunk when mullahs like the one above can be openly honest about their agenda of population replacement, and yet the EU demands that every family have no more than one child for fear of using up the earth’s resources. Mark Steyn is right when he says that long before any of the earth’s precious resources are used up, our most valuable resource of all will likely be gone . . . us.

A third parallel is that the beast of Revelation 17 is described as being “full of names of blasphemy” (17:3b). The greatest form of blasphemy according to the New Testament is to demean the glory of Christ by denying that He is the Son of God: “Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also” (I John 2:22-23).

Islam clearly denies that Jesus is the Son of God, and has decried His divine status boldly. Everyone has seen pictures of the luminous, Dome of the Rock Mosque in Jerusalem, which is where the Jewish Temple once stood. The wall of that mosque which happens to face the Church of the Holy Sepulchre has the following words inscribed, “Allah had no son.” The Islamic doctrine of shirk is the heresy of putting anything on the same par with Allah, and this doctrine is cited most often to rebuke anyone who claims that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, or Divine. Further, while many Muslims play the "we believe in Jesus" card, it is important to remember that while the Qur'an is ambiguous on the death of Christ, the orthodox position among Muslim scholars is to deny that Jesus ever died on the Cross.

(Read Sura 4:157-158; surprisingly, the Quran teaches in other places that Christ did in fact die: Sura 3:33,55; 5:117, 19:33. But while it is curious that this blatant contradiction doesn't seem to pose a problem for most Muslims who do not want to lose their life, the teaching that Christ never died is, nevertheless, the orthodox position). To any Christian who understands that the death and resurrection of Christ are two pillars upon which our faith stands or falls, this is a blasphemous ideology.

Okay, so you may be saying to yourself, I see the correlation between the story of Zeus & Europa and Islam & Europe. But what is the link to the prophecy of Revelation 17? First, what we see in this prophecy is that the seven mountains on which the whore sits, becomes one force with the beast (17:9-11). She has clearly given her power over to the beast by riding him in the first place, and according to these verses, her power is merged with that of the beast's. Second, once she has given her allegience to the beast, the ten horns upon the beast turn against the harlot in hatred, making her desolate (17:16). The imagery of nakedness indicates rape as in the case of Zeus and Europa. But the passage goes on to say that they shall "eat her flesh, and burn her with fire" (17:16b) indicating destruction and conquest. It should also be noted that the whore, which represents in this hypothesis, Europe, and Western Civilization, is ultimately being judged by God because we are told it was God who "put it in their hearts to fulfill his will" (17:17). The beast and ten horns, in destroying the whore, although they are obviously unaware of it, are in fact fulfilling God's design.

We are reminded that ultimately, whatever "nation that forgets God shall be turned into hell" (Proverbs 14:34). Therefore, regardless of what kingdom God uses to judge "every nation that forgets God," that kingdom or people is still only a scourge in the hand a sovereign God. They are ultimately fulfilling His purpose and will according to Revelation 17:17.

Tomorrow I will disclose the last, and most recognizable parallel I have made.

Who is the Beast of Revelation 13 & 17? (Part 1)

Does the Harlot seen riding the beast in Revelation 17 signify the silent battle currently taking place between Europe and Islam?

The image you see imprinted on the Euro is meant to evoke memories of an ancient Greek myth: the story of Zeus and Europa. Here is my short version: Europa was a beautiful Phoenician princess. Zeus was the chief of the gods. One day Zeus disguised himself as a beautiful, chest-nut colored bull, and caught Europa’s eye as she gathered flowers by the seashore. He seduced her with his meekness until eventually, she mounted him to ride. Zeus then whisked her to the Island of Crete where he raped her, and subjugated her to the status of being just another of his wives.

You’ve probably heard this story before. But now, some Christian thinkers who understand the current situation in Europe are linking it to a similar account described in Revelation 17. Below are some of my thoughts on why I think there is validity to this apparent link. The imagery of Rev. 17, where John sees a harlot is riding upon a scarlet beast is strikingly similar to the mythological account of the goddess Europa riding Zeus, disguised as a beast in order to seduce her.

Who is the Harlot? There is much biblical corroboration for the notion that this harlot of Rev. 17 points to continental Europe and to Western Civilization. The harlot is seated upon “seven mountains” (17:9), which anyone would have recognized as the topography of Rome, and would point to the Roman Empire. Rome historically stretched throughout continental Europe, and today, many European leaders see the European Union as the revived Roman Empire (read, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/09/14/weu14.xml, http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-taheri010603.asp). In fact, it was the Treaty of Rome in 1957 that launched the European Union as we know it today.

Also, the language of Revelation 17 suggests that the harlot symbolizes the largest progenitor of the world’s economy and wealth (18:11-15). It is also designated as the largest exporter of immorality (17:1-6, 18:9). The 18th. Century Enlightenment, as well the Scientific and Industrial revolutions which followed, made it possible to achieve all the advances we have seen in technology, comfort and wealth. These movements originated in Europe, and while they saw their greatest zenith in the United States, they have certainly been exported for the benefit of entire world.

If the harlot is understood as Europe and Western Civilization, there are four intriguing parallels that are seen in relationship between Europe, with its rising Islamic population, Europa & Zeus, and the biblical account of the harlot riding upon the beast.

The first is the seduction. Some accounts show Zeus unsuccessfully attempting to seduce Europa the first time around. Ironically, Islam attempted to conquer Western Europe the first time and was unsuccessful as well. The most definitive battle between Europe and the Islamic imperialists was fought in 732 A.D. at Tours, when Charles Martel (Martel meaning, hammer) successfully drove the Islamic forces out of France, and thereby the rest of the continent. If it wasn't for the Battle of Tours, most historians are confident we would all have been submissive Muslims today. Islam found Europe to be a force to be reckoned with because they had the Christian underpinnings necessary to acknowledge absolute truth, and with it, the ability to define right and wrong. This fueled them with the adrenaline and willpower necessary to fight because they not only believed they could know the difference between right and wrong, but could recognize an enemy when they saw one.

Unfortunately, with any Christian understanding of truth marginalized, and the politically correct idea that says all ideas are really the same, this consensus on the absolute is absolutely gone. A good example of this disorienting loss was seen during the London Tube bombings (7/7/05), where, in a shocking BBC poll, most believed it was not the Muslims fault that they blew themselves up, killing many innocent lives. For many, Blair was responsible because of his involvement in the Iraq war. Everyone interviewed believed them to have acted out in such a desperate way because they were driven to it, and it became apparent that most British citizens could not muster the will to so much as acknowledge that what these terrorists did was wrong. You can rest assure that if Europe continues to suffer from this myopic inability to distinguish between good and evil, and continues to laugh at the very notion of the terms “good” and “evil”, it will not be long before this beast called Islam will have his way with her.

One can see the same gelding of Europe take place when recounting the Madrid train bombings in Spain (3/11/04). Before the bombings, their bold president, Jose Maria Aznar was a strong ally against terror, and commanded the highest poll numbers in the face of upcoming elections. One would think that after the Islamic terrorists who executed the bombings went public as they are usually proud of doing, a hawk such as Aznar would have the strongest support ever. Not so! As you'll remember, the bombings curiously took place days before the elections, and gave the media plenty of fodder for its propoganda campaign. The terrorists, who didn't exactly view Aznar as their choice pick, voted with the bomb instead of the ballot, and won.

There are three more parallels I've drawn. But this blog is getting a little out of control. I'll post the rest tomorrow.