Issued 7/14/26

 “When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is that they shall be destroyed forever”

Psalms 92:7

PLEASE NOTE:  Because Bible versions sometimes differ from each other in crucial ways, the version quoted here will be the one that best clarifies the point being made.  For a quick comparison between versions, please go to: www.biblehub.com.

   All bracketed material may be authorial comments, attempts at proper syntax, or minimal rewordings of Scripture for the sake of clarity and continuity.  These emendations will not be italicized.

   The “/” will be used to signify “and/or.”  The symbol “↔” is used to connect verses corroborating each other and so establishing doctrinal truths [e.g., Matthew 18:16↔2Corinthians 13:1].  Parenthesis will be used to signify direct sources; while [↔ indicates Scriptures sharing a common concept.

   In differentiating between Yahweh Son [Jesus] and Yahweh Father [the Most High God], lower case letters have been used when discussing the former; upper case letters are reserved for the Only Sovereign Deity.  Since Jesus was at pains to differentiate himself from Father, we have followed his lead here.

   The term neo-Christians will be used to differentiate between false Christians and Jesus’ true followers.

The Last Sign Before the Wrath Begins

   Of the three specific signs Jesus told us to watch out for (Luke 21:31),¹ the downfall of the Jewish nation will mark the beginning of end times [↔Matthew 24:14-15; Luke 21:20-23,28].  Following it, there will be a Great Tribulation never to be repeated again in human history [Matthew 24:21↔Revelation 16:18], consisting of world-shaking events² compounded—as seems increasingly evident—by natural upheavals [↔Leviticus 18:24-28?].  Yet this Great Tribulation will not be the end of the world per se [↔Luke 21:9], since it will be followed by Jesus’ return (Matthew 24:29-30; Luke 21:25-27); two resurrections [↔Daniel 12:2; John 5:29; Acts 24:15]; the Last Judgment [↔Daniel 7:9-10; Amos 9:2-3; Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 20:11-13] andits aftermath;³ the Millennium of Rest in Heaven (Revelation 20:4); and finally Armageddon.

   Despite fears sown by warmongers to justify military aggressions, Armageddon does not involve nuclear war in the Middle East or elsewhere:  By the time it takes place, world geography as we know it will have changed [↔Psalms 18:7,13,15; Zechariah 14:4-7; Revelation 16:18-20]; so strictly speaking there will no longer be Western or Eastern nations.  In this respect Scripture is very specific, not only in the layout of the battlefield where Armageddon will be waged [↔Joel 3:2,12,14; Zechariah 14:4], but heavenly events preceding it [↔Amos 5:18-20, 8:9; Joel 3:15; Zechariah 14:6-7] and casualties amongst the forces of evil [↔Isaiah 63:2-3; Jeremiah 7:32-33, 8:2; Joel 3:13; Haggai 2:21; Zechariah 14:12-13]—all of which are confirmed in Matthew 24:29, Luke 21:25-26, Revelation 6:13-17, 14:18-20, 19:17-19,21.

   Bottom line:  At Armageddon all the forces of evil—Satan, his angels, and every resurrected unrighteous person from Cain including those living at Jesus’ return—will be incinerated by divine fire in sight of Heavenly Jerusalem (Revelation 20:7-10).⁴  

The ensuing meltdown is the end of the world known to men, from which the Kingdom of God ruled by Jesus will emerge in a new order of things [↔Isaiah 65:17, 66:22; John 18:36; Revelation 21:1].⁵

Wrath against Jews…

   By singling out Judea [the name for a section of modern-day Israel then under Roman rule], as he does in Matthew and Luke, Jesus was commenting on the state of faith amongst Jews and Christians at end times [Luke 18:8↔Acts 20:29-30; 2Timothy 4:3-4; 2Peter 213-15; 1John 2:19].  From Jeremiah on, Scripture focused on Judah and Jerusalem as emblematic of Judeo-Christians in general, the reason why ten of the original tribes [symbolizing  Jews] disappear from the Biblical record.⁶  Judah, Jesus’ tribe (Hebrews 7:14), comprised most of Jerusalem’s and the region’s inhabitants; thus making Judah emblematic of Christendom, earthly Jerusalem emblematic of Christ’s unfaithful wife [as opposed to the Heavenly one↔Jeremiah 3:7-10; Galatians 4:26], and the Jerusalem Temple emblematic of Christ’s body, the conceptual Church, the Divinity’s dwelling place [↔Mark 2:19; Galatians 4:25-27; Ephesians 5:23,29-32; Colossians 2:9-10; Revelation 21:2-3].⁷ 

   Consequently, Judea in Matthew and Luke applies to Roman Judea as well as modern Israel, though not the Judeo-ChristianIsrael to be saved at end times [Joel 2:32↔Romans 10:11, 11:25-27; 1Peter 2:9-10; Revelation 5:9-10, 7:9,14-17] wherein ‘Jewishness’ is not defined by lineage, ancestral traditions, or compliance with Mosaic Law but faith [↔Acts 10:34-35; Romans 2:28-29, 4:9-13, 10:12; Galatians 3:28-29].  Nowhere is this more evident than in Jeremiah 4:4 and Romans 2:29, where Mosaic foreskincircumcision [shadow] symbolized—again in terms of “men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem”—Christian circumcision of the heart [substance];⁸ thus imposing under the Covenant of Faith the same demands on female as on male  converts.

   Father will hold Israel accountable for its egregious acts against Arab peoples; but the ongoing brutality is not the only reason for the wrath that will seal Jews’ undoing.  Consider also their lack of understanding that the Old Testament God Yahweh Son⁹ became incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth [↔Ezekiel 34:11; John 8:57-58, 17:5]; and that no longer able to remit sins [↔Hebrews 9:11-23, 12:24-27] through animal sacrifices at the Jerusalem Temple no longer in existence [↔Deuteronomy 12:13-14], they remain in a state of un-grace until such time as Father gathers in Jesus a chosen Judeo-Christian remnant sharing the same God, the same religion, the same faith [Romans 11:22-23,25,30-31; Ephesians 1:10, 4:4-6↔Ezekiel 37:19-23; 1Peter 2:9-10; Revelation 5:9-10].

   Add to that political spins exploiting Scripture to justify imperialistic agendas totally opposed to Father’s designs for humanity [↔Isaiah 2:4, 5:8: Jeremiah 29:11].  We are dealing here with a Deity Who brooks no disobedience, no disrespect, no discredit heaped on Him; especially when it comes to Jews and Christians who knowing better thwart His will while enabling Satan’s [↔John 8:44, 15:2; Ephesians 2:2; 2Timohty 2:6; 1John 3:8,10,12].  Hence the “wrath” implicit in Jeremiah 46:28:  “Fear not, Jacob [↔Romans 11:26-27]…I will not completely destroy you. Yet I will discipline you justly, and will by no means leave you unpunished.”  If according to Lamentations, Father allowed what took place in Jerusalem is anything to go by [↔Lamentations 2:17, 3:37-38, 4:4-18], what awaits modern Israel is too terrible to contemplate.

   No wonder Jesus bemoaned the fate of Judean mothers and their children (Matthew 24:19; Luke 21:23), just as vulnerable as their Palestinian and Lebanese counterparts now beset by Israeli forces.  Though Christianity advocates for a higher standard of justice, moral conduct and basic humanity [Matthew 5:38-39; Romans 12:19-21], Judaism to this day implements the letter of the Law [Exodus 21:23-25, Leviticus 24:19-20; Deuteronomy 19:21↔Matthew 23:23; 2Corinthians 3:6,14-16] rather than the Christian spirit underpinning Mosaic Law.  While it is true Jews are loved on account of the Patriarchs, they are Christians’ enemies regarding the Gospel (Romans 11:28); for anyone rejecting Jesus rejects the Father (Luke 10:16) and aligns himself or herself with Satan [↔2Corinthians 6:14-15].¹⁰  Without human minions,¹¹ Satan would be powerless:  He can only act through them [↔John 8:44; Ephesians 2:2-3; Revelation 12:17, 13:2,4,7,11, 20:7-10].¹²

…against Christians…

   What of Christian nations complicit in Israel’s inhumanities?  Scripture speaks of divine protection for people siding with Father—e.g., Ezekiel 9:4 and Revelation 7:2-4, 14:4-5, showing that some Jews of old were spared and 144,000 ‘first fruits’ at end times will be spared the suffering about them.  But divine punishments are always meted out collectively, against whole populations rather than targeted evildoers; which is important to remember when hearing about ‘raptures’ as in the Left Behind bill of goods that Scripture contradicts, for as Ezekiel and Revelation prove, what need would there be for branding people exempting them from divine wrath before disaster struck?  This is also implicit in Paul’s argument “that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16), possibly on the basis of Matthew 24:22 and Luke 21:36.

   Still Father’s chosen people are always in the minority¹³ while trapped in whatever evildoers inflict upon the world; hence divine appeals to reason [↔Psalms 81:13-14; Ezekiel 18:30-32] and condemnation against [↔2Chronicles 36:15-16; Isaiah 63:10; Micah 3:4] everyone not heeding them.  Precisely because Jews and Christians have done likewise [↔Romans 3:10-12], Father’s judgments begin with them: Jews first [↔Ezekiel 9:6] and Christians second [↔1Peter 4:17]; in both cases given over to Satan, Father’s homicidal sword-wielder [↔Isaiah 14:4; Ezekiel 21:3-26; Revelation 6:8].  Following Satan’s fall from Heaven [↔Luke 10:18; 1Peter 5:8; Revelation 12:3-4,7-10], he was given dominion over the world [↔Luke 4:5-6; 1John 5:19] though subordinate¹⁴ to Son [↔Matthew 28:18; Revelation 1:18, 3:7↔Isaiah 22:22].

  This in turn served to establish a link between Isaiah’s king of Babylon—i.e., Satan [↔Isaiah 14:4-20], and his global domain of death at end times [↔Hebrews 2:14].¹⁵  Hence references to Babylon the Great as the city/church from which Satan rules (Revelation 2:13, 18:2); the link between Isaiah 48:20 [shadow] and Revelation 18:4 [substance] in terms of the danger this church poses to her followers [↔Revelation 13:8, 18:8.20-21]; and the link between Jeremiah 51:44 and Revelation 16:13 regarding how Father will deal with Satan/Bel¹⁶ in end times Babylon.

…and against all Nations on Earth.

   So what lies ahead for humankind at large?  The answer, such as it is, lies in Revelation 13:11-17; presented in a highly symbolic form meant to be understood only by people of faith for specific reasons.¹⁷  We have discussed these in previous essays and there is no time here to review them.  Suffice it to say that the destruction of all nations was implicit in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Daniel 2:31-45), a statue essentially mapping a succession of empires from Babylon until European nations [toes and feet part iron, part clay] emerged from the collapse of the Roman Empire [“legs of iron”].  The Kingdom of God, symbolized by the “rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands,” smashed the statue’s ten toes, becoming a great mountain filling the whole earth (Daniel 2:34-35).¹⁸  Daniel 7:13-14 intercalates other end times events: Jesus’ second coming, Judgment Day, and finally the Kingdom of Heaven on earth post-Armageddon—“an everlasting dominion that will not pass away [and]will never be destroyed.”

   It is a matter of historical record that these “toes” colonized and evangelized many parts of the world; thus spreading a bastardized version of Christianity with Roman influences like idolatrous cults, laws and mores.  The United States was one of those colonies, which in accordance with Paul’s argument in Hebrews 7:9-10 was potentially present ¹⁹ in those “toes,” as in fact were most Western Hemisphere nations whose indigenous populations were Europeanized or outright annihilated.

The End Times Two-Horned Beast

   This brings us to the two beasts in Revelation 13.  Daniel’s “fourth beast” (Daniel 7:7-8) and Revelation’s seven-headed beast (Revelation 13:1-7, 17:12-14) are the same entity:  An alliance of European tribal groups [“heads”] with horns [“rulers”] coalescing into nations beholden to Papal Rome and implementing her wicked agendas [↔Daniel 7:21, 8:24-25; Revelation 13:5,7].²⁰  Historically, this alliance has been called the Holy Roman Empire (HRE),²¹ which was essentially a continuation of the Roman Empire with European rulers proclaimed emperors by the papacy.  There was nothing holy about it, not only because it violated Jesus’ instructions to his followers (Matthew 20:25-28), but because Revelation 13:2 made it clear Satan/”dragon” [↔Ezekiel 29:3;Revelation 20:2] empowered it—as per Father’s objectives [↔Revelation 13:7, 17:16-17]. 

   The HRE came to an end during the Napoleonic Wars; the ‘papal’ head was “mortally wounded,” healed, and later “worshipped” by people whose names were not written in the Book of Life [↔Revelation 13:3,8].²²  Revelation 13:11-18 then introduces a second beast different from the first ²³ which is capable of making “the earth and those living on it [mankind?] worship the first beast whose mortal wound was healed” (Revelation 13:14); suggesting that the HRE synergy between state and church will reemerge at end times when once again obedience to papacy will be enforced by two nation states [two horns not part of the ten-horned beast] through intimidation [“fire from heaven”] and repression [monetary restrictions] [↔Revelation 13:13,16-17].  Needless to say, Satan/”dragon” empowers the two-horned beast [↔Revelation 13:11] to maximize the loss of souls [↔Revelation 13:8, 18:4] by reinstating worship to the Abomination of Desolation [Matthew 24:15; 2Thessalonians 2:2-4,9-12↔Ezekiel 28:2-9] whose “number” is 666.²⁴

   The only Scriptural equivalent to this two-horned “lamb” is Daniel 8:6’s two-horned “ram,” whose horns represented  the Median and the Persian Empires respectively (Daniel 8:20); though not identifying, as in Alexander the Great’s case (Daniel 8:21), the actual name of any specific ruler.  History tells us that the Medes were absorbed by the Persians, the reason for the discrepancy in height between the horns (Daniel 8:3):  Obviously, Persia was the highest of the horns, which grew higher when it absorbed Media until broken by the Greeks coming from the west (Daniel 8:5-7).  This distinction is not made regarding the second beast’s horns; and since Media and Persia were superpowers in their time, all we can assume is that the two horns likely represent two current superpowers matched in military might.

   Obvious choices: The United States, Russia and China, but we can discard China for equally obvious reasons:  The New Testament focuses on the Western Hemisphere; the Eastern Hemisphere is never the focus of Scripture.  Since Christianity is the only religion on earth which leads to Father and Jesus His only mediator with men (John 14:6; 1Timorthy 2:5), there was no Scriptural need to focus on the worldwide Babel²⁵ of religions Satan has deployed to undermine the Gospel; consequently the early Apostles were forbidden to evangelize Asia²⁶ but steered towards European enclaves [↔Acts 13:2-5, 16:6-12].  Paul himself expressed a desire to evangelize Spain (Romans 15:24).  In this way Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, directed evangelists towards those nations which in time would export Christianity throughout the world in his goal to build a universal, conceptual Church made up of “human stones” [↔Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 2:20-22; Hebrews 3:6; 1Peter 2:5]:  In short a Temple not made by human hands that Father could indwell [↔Acts 7:48-49, 17:24].  Thus the United States and Russia, none of which played a role in the HRE, are probably the superpowers in question given their respective—and oftentimes overlapping/analogous—policies, actions and agendas.

Possible Sequence of Events to Unfold prior to Jesus’ Return

   Israel’s downfall ushers in the Great Tribulation, but between one event and the other we must consider Paul’s argument that while men “are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape” (1Thessalonians 5:3) .  Obviously this cannot happen during the Great Tribulation but in the interim following Israel’s downfall:  Something has to give way or someone getting rid of before powers that be can boast of optimistic futures.  Read the news, apply a bit of historical perspective [↔Ecclesiastes 1:9-10, 4:15-16; 9:3] and make educated guesses.  The Holy Spirit will give you certainty as to whether you are right or not [↔John 16:13; Philippians 3:15; 1John 2:27, 3:24]. 

   The Great Tribulation itself is proof of the failure of powers that be to deliver on their promises.  It is increasingly obvious that nature will play a decisive role in undermining their agendas; whether due to climate change/solar activity [↔Revelation16:8-9] and its consequences:  rising seas, heat waves, burning forests, crop failures, scarcity of water resources, invasive species, proliferation of pathogens, disruptions to long distance communications/electric grids on earth; natural upheavals like catastrophic earthquakes [↔Revelation 16:18-20], volcanic eruptions; or man-made environmental pollution destroying habitat and biota [↔Revelation 11:18]—all of them staples of daily news. 

   Needless to say human beings are never at their best in desperate or hopeless situations.  If Ezekiel 7:10-27 gives us a preview of what is to come, expect violence and social collapse to become widespread.  How will powers that be try to contain them?  Using technology to enforce/restore control and for added measure manipulate religion to give the masses a modicum of hope [↔Revelation 13: 15-17].  Divinities since time immemorial until today have been conscripted to justify human agendas:  We hardly need remark on how Father and Jesus to this day have been exploited to commit barbarities in name of Christianity; or how Israel justifies their Zionist designs on the basis of an Old Testament territorial divisions no longer binding [↔Genesis 15:18; Exodus 23:31; Deuteronomy 1:7-8; Joshua 1:4]. ²⁷

   Back to modernity and technologies touted as game changers for humanity as well as powers that be who champion and implement them to enslave it.  We do not need to identify culprits or discuss their schemes:  Others more qualified than us have named them and exposed their schemes in media platforms; besides Scripture gives us pointers to recognize them by their behaviors.²⁸ These technologies and schemes are capable of doing what Revelation 13:13,16-17 warn about, whether in terms of weaponry or access to personal funds that can be frozen or erased at the proverbial touch of the button if people do not do as commanded.  In terms of a religious leader to instill hope amidst upheavals, why not a pope who commands worldwide respect and gravitas despite the bloody history of the church he leads [↔Revelation 13:7, 17:6, 18:24]  and which Father is bent on destroying? [↔Revelation 18:5-6,20-21].  It helps that a spurious lineage back to Peter has been concocted to hoodwink the unenlightened, even though Scripture teaches us the fallacy of such claims.²⁹  The fact that all these components are now in place is proof that end times is upon us [↔Luke 21:28].

   This is as far as we can go given the limited information available to us.  Daniel was told to seal prophecies concerning end times events (Daniel 12:4), while  Peter explained that their meanings were to be understood by future generations of Christians through the Holy Spirit and never ever with need of men [1Peter 1:10-12↔Deuteronomy 29:29; 1Corinthians 2:7-10; 1John 2:27]—meaning us.  We are not here, nor should any interpreter of Scripture try, to convince anyone.  Every follower of Jesus has to do his/her own research and base his/her conclusions in light of Scripture (Isaiah 8:20).  Father through His Holy Spirit (John 16:13; 1John 3:24) will provide guidance; at it is written,

“They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever… Many will be purified, made spotless, and refined, but the wicked will continue to act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand.”

Daniel 12:3,10↔1Corinthians 2:11-14

 ¹ The other two being the completion of world-evangelization (Matthew 24:14) and Judeo-Christian apostasy [Matthew 24:11,15,24↔2Thessalonians 2:3-4] requiring Jesus’ expedited return lest no living righteous could be saved [Matthew 24:12,22↔Psalms 125:3}.

² Job 38:22-23; Isaiah 2:21, 13:10, 34:4; Hosea 10:8; Joel 2:10-11,31; Haggai 2:6-7; Luke 21:25-26; Revelation 6:12-17, 8:12-13, 9:1-21, 13:11-17, 16:3-21.

³ The righteous are taken to Heaven with Jesus; the unrighteous fall dead for 1,000 years, their decomposing bodies prey to animal scavengers and their maggots crawling over an enchained Satan [↔Isaiah 14:11,16-19; Jeremiah 25:32-33; Ezekiel 39:17; Revelation 19:17, 20:2,7]. 

⁴ Jesus and the redeemed do not engage in battle with the forces of evil, but watch their destruction from the ramparts of the Holy City [↔2Chronicles 20:2,12,17,23-24; Psalms 68:2-3; Joel 3:2,12-15; Zechariah 12:3-5, 14:4,6-7,12-13; Luke 16:23-26; Hebrews 10:27; Revelation 16:13-14,16, 20:8].

   Since the Holy City only descends upon earth in a new creation (Revelation 21:1-3,10), it follows that when seen by the forces of evil at Armageddon, the City will be hovering above them, thus safe from the contamination and holocaust below.

⁵ Psalms 97:5; Isaiah 65:17, 66:22-23;Micah 1:4; Zephaniah 1:2-3; Matthew 24:35; 2Peter 3:10-13; Revelation 21:1.

⁶ Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Manasseh, and Ephraim under the Assyrian captivity.  The tribes of Judah, Benjamin and part of Levi, which did not have land tenure, fell to Babylon—the Scriptural equivalent of end times Babylon. 

⁷ Please note that there will be no Temple in the Heavenly City (Revelation 21:22), for Father will inhabit the hearts of all the redeemed making up the body of Christ [↔Ephesians 1:10,22, 2:20-22, 4:6; Hebrews 3:6; 1Peter 2:5].

⁸ Scripture’s putative site for good and evil [↔Genesis 6:5; Ecclesiastes 9:3; Matthew 15:18-19; Luke 6:45].

⁹ Not Yahweh Father, the Supreme Divinity Whose name Yahweh Son shares [↔Exodus 3:14-15, 23:21; Isaiah 44:6; Hosea 7:13-16, 11:7; John 18:5-6; 1Corinthians 15:24-28; Hebrews 1:2-3; Revelation 3:12].

¹⁰ Like Jesus rejecting any fellowship with Satan, Paul makes the same point by calling him Belial, another form of Ba’al.  See Footnote 13,

¹¹ “Beasts of the field” [↔Deuteronomy 7:2; Psalms 79:2-3; Isaiah 56:9; Jeremiah 5:6; Ezekiel 34:8].  The “field,” of course, is the world (Matthew 13:38).

¹² Satan is the “dragon” (Revelation 20:2).  Other monster-like characterizations:  Psalms 104:25-26; Job 40:15-42, 41:1-34; Isaiah 14:29, 30:6; Ezekiel 29:3.

¹³ Exodus 12:37-38↔Numbers 14:29-30; Matthew 22:14; Romans 11:2-5; 1Peter 3:20.

¹⁴ As has always been the case [Exodus 12:23; 2Samuel 24:16; 1Kings 22:22; Job 1:12, 2:6]—except during his earthy ministry [Luke 22:31-32].

¹⁵ Other titles in terms of sovereignty: King of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:12-19); Pharaoh King of Egypt (Ezekiel 29:3); prince of this world (John 14:30); god of this world (2Corinthians 4:4).

¹⁶ Form of Ba’al meaning ‘Lord,’ referring to Satan as in Beel-Zebub or Ba’al-Zabub: Lord of the Flies.

¹⁷ [↔Deuteronomy 29:29; Isaiah 6:10, 28:13; Mark 4:11-12; 1Corinthians 1:18-24] through the Holy Spirit sent by Jesus [John 15:26, 16:13; 1Corinthians 2:7,10,14; 1John 2:27].

¹⁸ The mountain, of course, is Father’s Holy Mountain upon which the Heavenly Jerusalem will descend in a new creation [Psalm 48:1; Isaiah 11:9,10↔Revelation 22:16 / Isaiah 11:15↔Joshua 3:14-17, Revelation 16:12 / Micah 4:1 / Isaiah 11:9-16, 19:23-25, 35:8-10↔Revelation 21:1-3,10,24-27].  This is corroborated in Daniel 2:44 [Jesus’ Kingdom not of this world↔Ezekiel 37:24; John 18:36] and in Revelation 21:1, wherein the sea no longer exists.

¹⁹ The notion that descendants are potentially present in their progenitors; not invented by Paul but extrapolated from other Scriptural teachings—e.g., through Adam all men were damned (Genesis 3:17), through last Adam [i.e., Jesus] all men were redeemed (1Corinthians 15:22-23); in Eve mankind was potentially present (Genesis 3:20); in Abraham all the faithful were justified (Galatians 3:7-9); Jesus, not Isaac, was Abraham’s seed in whom all nations would be blessed (Galatians 3:16); and Jesus, not Solomon, would be the son of David [not genetically but through Joseph’s lineage] who would build Father’s Temple, the conceptual Church not built by human hands [↔1Kings 8:19,27,19; Luke 3:23,32; Matthew 16:18; Acts 7:47-48; Revelation 22:16].

²⁰ Daniel 7:7,19 provide links to Satan/Leviathan [Job 41:14↔iron teeth] and his destructive minions [Ezekiel 34:18↔feet with bonze claws].

²¹ The longevity of the head whose would was healed identifies the “horn” [i.e., institution] on it “speaking with great arrogance” [Daniel 7:8,20-21,24-25↔Revelation 13:7, 16::6, 17:6].

   Do the math:  Forty two months in the Hebrew calendar, the standard in use at the time Revelation was written, equals 1,260 days [42 x 30]; a value that needs to be interpreted in its prophetic context by using Ezekiel’s ‘conversion factor’ of 1 day = 1 year (Ezekiel 4:5-6↔Numbers 14:34), yielding 1,260 days = 1,260 years.  Thus we are talking about a human institution that endured that long and continues to endure.

   See Footnote 22.

²² Exodus 32:32; Daniel 7:10; Revelation 3:5, 20:15.

²³ Coming out of the earth (Revelation 13:11) rather than the sea (Revelation 13:1), suggesting specific nation states in terms of territory [for example, the United States] rather than groups of nation states sharing a common territory [for example, Europe].  Revelation 17:15 answers the symbolism present in the previous quotes, where “waters” represent “peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.”  Since rivers emblematic of their nations [i.e., Mississippi, Thames, Nile, Amazon, etc.] drain into the sea, it is not difficult to view the “sea” from where the first beast emerges as either symbolic of mixtures of people or of humanity at large, given that the same “sea” is the worldwide domain of Leviathan/Satan [Psalm 104:25-26↔Luke 4:5-6; 1John 5:19].

²⁴ All popes in general.  Though the title Vicarius Dei Filii as applied to popes historically appears in a medieval document called Donation of Constantine presumed to be a forgery, it nevertheless encapsulates papal claims like those in Ezekiel 28:2-9, which provides the basis for the epithet “abomination of desolation” used by Jesus (Matthew 24:15-22,29-30↔Luke 21:20-23,25-27) and Paul (2Thessalonians 2:3-4) in reference to end times immediately prior to Jesus’ second coming.

   Whether the title is forged or not is not the issue, but that it appears in Scripture centuries before men came up with it; neither should readers take for granted that Biblical scholars necessarily know what they are talking about:  Father has blinded them to His truths [Isaiah 28:13↔Mark 4:11-12 / Isaiah 29:10-14↔1Corinthians 1:19-20 / Matthew 15:7-8,14].  Consider also that as v.18 indicates, the title is in Latin, not only the official language of the Roman Church but a language that used letters as numbers; so that adding the numerical value of each letter in Vicarius Dei Filii, we have:

V=5 + I=1 + C=100 + A=0 + R=0 + I=1 + U=V=5 + S=0  = 112

D=500 + E=0 + I=1                                                            = 501

F=0 + I=1 + L=50 = I=1 + I=1                                            =   53

                                                                                             666

²⁵ Another reason for equating modern times with the Babel of yore, where languages were confounded so that men could not understand one another’s speech and frustrate their designs to challenge divine sovereignty (Genesis 11:6-8).  Replace “languages” with different religious creeds violating Father’s norms and you get the implicit meaning of Scripture.

²⁶ Not because those nations were undeserving of salvation, but perhaps because—and this is strictly conjectural—Asia was reserved for Islam to take root and spread according to the promise made to Agar and Ishmael (Genesis 21:17-18).

²⁷ Like many in the Bible, these Scriptures had literal and symbolic meanings. In the literal sense Canaan was the promised land given to the Israelites, not the one given in perpetuity since it was taken from them for disobeying Yahweh; let alone that lands now being occupied by Israel are slated to be destroyed in Armageddon’s aftermath.  In the symbolic sense, the land promised Abraham and his descendants in terms of faith, not ethnicity, is the Kingdom of God, the true everlasting Promised Land in a new earth and under new heavens [Isaiah 66:22-23; Daniel 2:44, 7:14; Matthew 24:35; John 18:36; 2Peter 3:10-13; Revelation 21:1].

²⁸ Psalms 10:4-6, 14:1↔Zephaniah 1:2; Proverbs 6:14-19, 10:4-6,23, 11:29, 17:19-20,23, 29:12; Ecclesiastes 10:12-15; Isaiah 29:15↔John 3:20; Micah 2:1; Matthew 7:15-20; Luke 6:45; Romans 16-17; Titus 1:16, 3:10-11; James 5:1-6; 1John 4:5: Jude 1:9.

²⁹ Roman Catholic dogma argues that Peter was the first pope.  Matthew 16:18-20 notwithstanding, Jesus forbade hierarchies or chains of command amongst his followers (Matthew 20:26-27); and it was Paul, not Peter, who Jesus tasked with preaching the Gospel to non-Jews (Acts 9:15; Ephesians 3:8) while Peter was tasked with ministering to the Jews (Galatians 2:7).  If there were a pope to consider, Paul would be him.

   It is not that Jesus singled out Peter as gatekeeper to Heaven, but that Peter was the first Christian on record to channel the Holy Spirit (Matthew 16:17); and so after Jesus himself (1Peter 2:5-7), Peter became the second “living stone” [hence his name change from Simon↔John 1:42] making up Jesus’ body, the conceptual Church.