Tag: Roman

Posted on

world powers 4. Curing one of the heads of the beast

NKJV (Revelation 13: 3) 3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.

Where heads of state or people are fully seized  by building an empire of power, there is no room for charity. Such was the case with the ‘Roman’ head of the wild beast.

However, in the fifth century the imperialist Western Roman Empire fell apart as a result of acquired wealth, decadence and bad governance. Vandals, Huns, Ostrogoth’s, Visigoths, Arabs and Egyptians attacked the empire from all sides and it ceased to exist. The ‘Roman’ head was therewith  mortally wounded.

Curing the head (Rev. 13: 3) can thus be interpreted, as imperialism (the extension of power) was  continued after many centuries by the Western countries.

From 1415 Portuguese and from 1492 Spaniards traveled by sea to the shores of West Africa, islands in the Atlantic, America, and from 1498 they reached by sea the areas in Asia. Until 1870, the European influence in Asia and Africa was still relatively low. Europeans limited themselves to the founding of trading colonies in coastal areas. In the period after 1870 this changed dramatically. This territorial expansion (imperialism) by European powers was made possible by large-scale industrialization and a dramatic increase in technical, military and economic knowledge. By 1900 Britain had the largest colonial possession in the world and one quarter of total world population was British citizen. (source Wikipedia partially)

Read more at: 5. The great fiery-colored dragon

Posted on

world powers 2. The sixth king, the Roman Republic

Democracy:

The oldest known democracy was that of Cleisthenes in Athens in ancient Greece, although it did not strongly resemble of that what we now propose by the word democracy. So were women, slaves, metoiken (strangers, “inmates”) and poor in Athens not decision-making. Source: Wikipedia

Organization of the Roman Republic:

The Roman Republic was originated in 509 BC according to tradition, when the last king of Rome was expelled. To make sure that from that moment a person could never have a long period the power of Rome, the Senate was chosen. The Senate consisted of patricians (aristocracy), the original families from the city-state Rome.

At the time of the Roman Republic, from the Latin “res publica” what something means like the public realm (nation), the Senate was at the height of his power and was the only administrative and governing body. Besides the Senate there was also a People’s Assembly needed, the Comitium. Laws had to be made by the Senate and approved by the Comitium. Since then, every measure and law came with the abbreviation SPQR: Senatus Populus Que Romanus: The Senate and People of Rome (decided ….).
It was decided to choose annually two consuls. These consuls were no longer than one year in power. The consuls were a kind of uncrowned kings for one year. Over time difficulties arose: The farmers and the common people (the plebs or the plebeians) were tired of their fights for Rome, while their farm work was neglected.

It was decided that the interests of the people were defended in the Senate. There came a number of tribunes, tribuni Plebis in the Senate who had to speak for the people. They had the right of veto. During the “civil wars” in the first century BC, the Senate lost much of its power and status to the warring generals, and especially when they, more or less forced, named Julius Caesar as “dictator for life” . (Partly from source Wikipedia)

Classification of the Roman Empire:

In the Roman Empire was already a cultural divide between the western, Latin part and the by Greek dominated Eastern part. This was partly the cause of the split of the Roman Empire in 395 in the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire, where after  these areas would grow further apart culturally. In the spread of Christianity in Europe outside the (former) Roman empire, areas that became Christianize from Rome – namely Western Europe, most of Central Europe and Scandinavia –  were counted to ‘the West’  and countries that were converted from Constantinople  – such as Russia and Bulgaria – were counted to ‘the East’ . The Western Roman Empire stopped to exist  in 476. (Source Wikipedia)

The imitation of the Roman Republic:

Following the (classical) Roman republic with a representative of the people, this political form of government would be mirrored around the world. In the 18th and 19th centuries the ancient Roman republic served as a model for setting up a republic and is still to be found among others in the United States, where the president is not directly elected by the people but by the electors. These electors are a sort of equivalent of the Roman assembly, and of course, there is the  Senate in the United States. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, this democratic government is also introduced in several countries in Central and Eastern European countries. (Source Wikipedia)

Read more at: 3. The seventh king, the American Empire

Posted on

world powers 1. Images

World powers-Total.pdf

In the Scriptures, a number of world powers are described and represented as beasts and there is spoken of a new 8th world power, which will come  in the last days. This article provides an unraveling, step by step, to the 8th world power, so we can recognize the 8th world power. In Scriptures, we are warned for this 8th world power, because during this period a great tribulation will occur.

In this article, the Scriptures are considered that describe this as well as the Scriptures that support or are treated with this in harmony. Many passages in the book of Revelation are symbolic, so a certain amount of assumptions is not ruled out..

The giant statue in the Book of Daniel:  

In this first section Daniel explains the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. The dream is about a huge statue and Daniel explains the dream and then describes a number of successive kingdoms.

NKJV (Daniel 2:31,35-44) 31 You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome…35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. 36 “This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. 37 You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; 38 and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all–you are this head of gold. 39 But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. 40 And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. 41 Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. 43 As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

The wild beasts (powers) in the Book of Daniel:

Nebuchadnezzar represented the Babylonian Empire (head of gold). It is followed by the Medo-Persian Empire, followed by the Greek empire. The Greek empire is followed by the Roman Empire, an empire that is composed in two parts (East and West) . In Daniel 2:35 is spoken of a stone that will crush  the statue – the composition of all these kingdoms – and this stone will become a big mountain, which will fill the whole earth. Daniel 2:44 shows that this will be a powerful kingdom that will never be destroyed, God’s kingdom.

NKJV (Daniel 8:19-24) 19 And he said, “Look, I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation; for at the appointed time the end shall be. 20 The ram which you saw, having the two horns–they are the kings of Media and Persia. 21 And the male goat is the kingdom of Greece. The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king. 22 As for the broken horn and the four that stood up in its place, four kingdoms shall arise out of that nation, but not with its power. 23 “And in the latter time of their kingdom, When the transgressors have reached their fullness, A king shall arise, Having fierce features, Who understands sinister schemes. 24 His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; He shall destroy fearfully, And shall prosper and thrive; He shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people.

NKJV (Daniel 7:3-7) 3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. 4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. 5 And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: ‘Arise, devour much flesh!’ 6 After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.

In Daniel, the 4 world powers described God’s people into the promised land was suppressed by. The lion (the Babylonians), the bear ( the Medo-Persians), the leopard (the Greeks) and the fourth beast (the Romans). Daniel 7:3-7 allows a comparison of wild beasts with their properties for these kingdoms, while Daniel 8 describes the composition and the ratio of the power of the kingdoms.

The wild beasts (powers) in the book of Revelation:

NKJV (Revelation 13:1-2) 1 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. 2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.

The wild beast with 7 heads and 10 horns, the joint characteristics of the beasts described  in Daniel 7:3-7,  the leopard, the bear and the lion. Rev. 13:1,2 depicts the wild beast  – as well as in Daniel 7 – as the world powers.

The difference between the description of world powers in Daniel and Revelation:

In Revelation, another count of the kingdoms is held as in Daniel. In Daniel, the world powers are described that suppressed God’s people, during that time the Jewish people, to begin with the times of Daniel. The saints, spoken of, were at first only Jews who had joined the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ. Sanctification began in Pentecost (AD 33), 10 days after Jesus had ascended to heaven.

NKJV (Daniel 7:17-18) 17 ‘Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth. 18 But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.’

There have been more than 7 world powers in history, but the seven heads of the beast symbolize the seven major world powers, which have oppressed God’s people. There are six world powers in the entire history to biblical times John played a role, namely Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. In the prophecy: “Five of them died, one is now” (Op.17: 10) and in that time of John it was the Roman Empire.

NKJV (Revelation 17:9-11) 9 Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. 10 There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.

The 4th king of Daniel – the Roman Empire – is the 6th king in Revelation. In the subsequent section, we will continue keeping the order of the world powers as described in Revelation.

Read more at:  2. The sixth king, the Roman Republic