[HR][/HR]Many thanks for sharing your story!
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So, you don't believe that the catholic church is associated with the anti-Christ?
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Thanks for informing me about: Revelation 3:14-22 (NIV)
We can never get enough of God, for his power, help, love, understanding, justice, etc.. are unlimited.
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NO, I believe the Catholic Church is certainly among the 7 golden lampstands (types of Churches) that Christ HIMSELF recognizes.
That false teaching of claiming the Catholic Church was associated with the False Religion of the Antichrist, was promoted by those Chick tracts, and some of the "hyper-pentecostals" for lack of a better expression. I know what portion of Scripture they misinterpreted, and their misunderstanding was due to lack of understanding of Biblical Symbolism used in Revelation, Daniel, and other books of the Bible. Kingdoms in various books of the Bible have been symbolized in the Bible by the terms, "crowns", "heads", "horns", and "mountains"; and the book of Revelation has a lot of that type of symbolism. This following verse is the one they TOTALLY misinterpret and end up FALSELY accusing the Catholic Church of being the False Religion started by the Anti-Christ.
Revelation 17:9 (ASV)
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9 [/SUP] Here is the mind that hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth:
If you read the entire context you discover that, YES it is talking about the False Religion that is started and controlled by the Antichrist. Not knowing and understanding Biblical Symbolism, they the read that verse and say "AH HAH! It is talking about the Catholic Church, because ROME is the City on Seven Hills." WRONG! It says seven MOUNTAINS, not seven Hills. Mountains are biblical symbolism for KINGDOMS, and Rome is NOT the governing center of Seven Kingdoms or Countries. Stay with mine line of thought, and I will try not to lose you.
Horns are also Biblical Symbolism for KINGDOMS. Here are some verses about the Antichrist and the KINGDOMS he rules over. By the way, I believe the Antichrist will be Dictator possessed by Satan himself, and he will come VERY CLOSE to ruling the ENTIRE world. His Kingdom will be the final World Empire just prior to Christ's Return as KING of Kings. This Antichrist (Dictator) will rule over a 10 Nation Confederacy, but three of those Nations will be torn up by their roots.
Daniel 7:7-8 (NASB)
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7 [/SUP] "After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold,
a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it,
and it had ten horns.
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8 [/SUP] "While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and
three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great
boasts.
What exactly does it mean for a Country or Kingdom to be TORN UP BY IT'S ROOTS? I have seen it happen my lifetime to one Country. East Germany was torn up by it's roots and it is as if it NEVER EXISTED. They merged with West Germany becoming just Germany again. So it seems VERY logical that three Countries will merge with others to have more Political Votes. So 10 Horns minus 3 Horns leaves us with 7 Kingdoms or Nations, JUST LIKE THE 7 MOUNTAINS of Rev. 17:9. SO BOTH in Daniel and in Revelation, we are talking about Dictator who is ruling over 7 Kingdoms or Countries in it's final form,
NOT ABOUT THE SEVEN HILLS OF ROME.
Now let's look as some other verses in Daniel and see if we can get an idea where those Seven Nations might be. The Bible only mentions in prophetic symbolism, FOUR MAJOR WORLD EMPIRES
You have the EMPIRE known for their GOLD SMITHS,
Followed by the EMPIRE known for their SILVER SMITHS,
Followed by the EMPIRE whose expert metal Smiths worked with BRASS,
Followed by the EMPIRE whose expert metal workers, became famous for their work with IRON.
King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that terrified him and NONE of his wisemen could tell the King what he dreamed and what it meant. BUT DANIEL, by the power of GOD did exactly that. The Story is in Daniel Chapter 2. In that story we find out that the King dreamed about a huge statue, where the Head was made of GOLD, the Breast and Shoulders were made of SILVER, the Waist was made of BRASS, and the Legs were made of IRON while the Feet and Toes were made of IRON mixed with CLAY. And the King saw a stone cut without human hands come down out heaven smashing the toes and the ENTIRE statue came crashing down.
The Babylonian Empire was know for their expert work with GOLD.
The Medo-Persian Empire was famous for their work with SILVDER.
The Greek Empire under Alexander the Great made their shields and swords out of BRASS.
And the ROMAN EMPIRE ushered in the IRON AGE.
But what is the Iron Mixed with Clay.
Daniel 2:40-44 (ASV)
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40 [/SUP] And
the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that crusheth all these, shall it break in pieces and crush.
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41 [/SUP]
And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
[SUP]42 [/SUP] 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.
[SUP]43 [/SUP] And whereas thou sawest the 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 doth not mingle with clay.
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44 [/SUP] And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
NOTICE it does not call the feet and toes made of iron and clay a Fifth Kingdom. It then is a revival of the Fourth Kingdom, but this time it is 10 nation confederacy that will have 3 of the smaller nations eventually merge with other nations, leaving the 7 NATIONS that will eventually be under the Control of a Dictator that we call the Antichrist.
The European Union fits the description of the Revival of the The ROMAN EMPIRE. They have not yet picked a single Ruler to Rule over them yet; but I believe they most certainly will do exactly that some day, perhaps soon. I know they have 28 current members, but when it comes right down to erasing their borders, giving up their sovereignty, and bowing to a Dictator, many will pull out of the European Union fast. Leaving only the 10, of which 3 merge with others. Do I know that for sure? NO, but at this point in time, that seems like the most likely scenario. And where does the European Union meet? NOT IN ROME, they are currently meeting in Brussels, Belgium.
What then is the stone not cut with human hands, coming out of heaven?
Ephesians 2:19-20 (HCSB)
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19 [/SUP] So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household,
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20 [/SUP] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with
Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.
1 Corinthians 10:4 (NKJV)
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4 [/SUP] and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and
that Rock was Christ.
Revelation 19:11-21 (NIV)
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11 [/SUP] I saw heaven standing open and there
before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war.
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12 [/SUP] His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.
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13 [/SUP] He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and
his name is the Word of God.
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14 [/SUP] The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
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15 [/SUP]
Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.
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16 [/SUP]
On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
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17 [/SUP] And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, "Come, gather together for the great supper of God,
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18 [/SUP] so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great."
[SUP]19 [/SUP] Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army.
[SUP]20 [/SUP] But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
[SUP]21 [/SUP] The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
The sharp sword coming out of HIS mouth, I am sure is symbolism for HIS WORD. THUS by the power of HIS WORD, HE destroys the empires and kingdoms of the World, and then proceeds to set up HIS KINGDOM here on Earth ruling from the Throne of David in Jerusalem.
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I have a little add-on info for you. What was Daniel's reward for telling King Nebuchadnezzar's dream and explaining it?
The King rewarded Daniel by putting him is charge of all the wisemen. My guess is Daniel NEVER taught them Astrology, instead Daniel taught the the Prophecies about the Messiah to come, and the wisemen remembered them and passed them on to their descendants, while Israel forgot them. THUS the wisemen came from the East, came to see the newborn King, and brought the traditional homage gifts for a new King:
gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
