Posted on 04/01/2021 4:19:00 PM PDT by Roman_War_Criminal
Those who are watching prophecy closely will discuss often that we are looking for the arrival of the antichrist and most believe that he is alive today. This is fruitful, but we must remember that before the antichrist comes on the scene, he is preceded by what the Bible labels as ten kings. Therefore, it is reasonable to speculate and to be on the lookout for these ten figures.
I read an article recently by Gary Stearman from his November 2020 monthly magazine where he spent time, not discussing the antichrist figure, but instead asking whether his audience was looking for these ten kings which he called oligarchs. He wrote a paragraph which I think is extremely important to ponder:
Oligarchs are in a constant competition for world domination, and the old political ties of the twentieth century are being steadily altered to fit a “New World Order.” That’s an old term, but now, it is buttressed by high-level digital technology that was only a dream a decade ago. (emphasis mine)
There is quite a diversity of opinion about the role and nature of these ten kings. Here are the main verses that I think are appropriate for this discussion.
Daniel 7:19 “Then I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet, 20 and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up, and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts and which was larger in appearance than its associates.” (NASB)
Daniel 7:24 “As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings.” (NASB)
Revelation 17:12 “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. 13 “These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.” (NASB)
From these Biblical passages we learn several characteristics of these ten kings: • The first is that the Greek word for king (basileus) in Revelation 17:12 can have a wider nuance than just what we understand in the word king. One of the best Greek lexicons (BDAG) has the following as its second entry: one who possesses unusual or transcendent power. This meaning seems consistent with Rev 17:12 where we are told that these 10 figures do not have a kingdom as of yet, but will receive authority to rule as kings for the final “hour” of antichrist’s (beast’s) reign in the seven-year tribulation period. We will call them ten influencers because they do have some valuable level of authority and power that the antichrist would seek to leverage (17:13). In other words, they exhibit “unusual power” or influence as BDAG mentions. • They are not required to be in governmental or ruling positions at the time of their arrangement with the antichrist. • Additionally, when the time comes, they will give this influence or power over to the beast and in return are given the ability to rule with him in his final kingdom (17:13). • Three of these ten influencers are removed (subdued) by the 11th horn (Dan 7:20). The 11th horn is said to be a person with a big mouth and utters great boasts and has greater influence than the others. Interestingly, Daniel writes in the vision that the 11th horn was “larger in appearance than his associates.” The Aramaic word for associates is chav’rah and is the root of the modern Hebrew word for friend (chaver). Some versions translate this as fellows, companions, or associates. This Aramaic word only appears here in the entire Old Testament which is mostly Hebrew. • We can’t read too much into this, but the text implies that the 11th horn (antichrist figure) has similar connections and associations to the other 10 horns. This becomes pertinent when taking into consideration the possible characteristics of the ten influencers and eventually the antichrist. We also can ponder whether this association demonstrates that the antichrist arises out of a similar industry or sphere of influence.
Getting back to Gary’s article, he comments that these ten oligarchs are buttressed by high level technology. I found this to be provocative and want to direct our attention to looking at our current world landscape and to ask ourselves: Which non-governmental figures are gaining authority, power, and influence that could someday be handed over to the coming antichrist in exchange for a share in his autocratic rule of the entire world?
Financial Oligarchs Before discussing technology, it is relevant to note that technological research and development is expensive. We are witnessing in our day the super-rich not often sticking to the one industry which made them wealthy, but instead spreading their wealth into sometimes completely disparate technologies or fields of research. More on this in the technology section.
Further, it’s not rocket science to recognize that these same people, with staggering amounts of money, are capable of influencing on a worldwide scale. This certainly can include shaping the political landscape through outright bribes or through the political lobby system. This level of indirect, but pervasive and massive impact, doesn’t require them to be the ones in actual power or governmental positions. Instead, they wield their influence through proxies who have been purchased through the greed of politicians to stay in power. Take a look at this chart which gives a summary of the increase in net worth just for the year 2020.
You can find the article here. Think of this. These seven companies increased their net worth by $2.433 trillion dollars in one year!
The article goes on to state, “Despite the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google parent Alphabet, Microsoft and Tesla have surged higher as their businesses continue to boom. They have been helped by a shift towards digital services during the pandemic.” Notice that this article says exactly what Gary had mentioned about digital services, but clearly coming from different paradigms.
Technological Oligarchs (technocrats) When discussing the technological influence of these corporate giants, it would be good to give the definition of a technocrat. A technocrat is a proponent of technocracy which is defined as: “a theory and movement, prominent about 1932, advocating control of industrial resources, reform of financial institutions, and reorganization of the social system, based on the findings of technologists and engineers.” Ultimately, these technocrats seek to influence all areas of society and need not be the direct wielders of governmental power.
The World Economic Forum is dedicated to seeing a complete reset of the way life on planet earth functions. They are unashamed in presenting their vision to be accomplished through technological advancement by the year 2030 (known as Agenda 2030 and the Great Reset). Check it out here. Klaus Schwab wrote his book, The Fourth Industrial Revolution in 2015 and he highlights the technological details in the appendix that cover 21 different up and coming technologies. His book can be found online. He writes, “The World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Future of Software and Society conducted a survey of 800 executives to gauge when business leaders anticipate that these game-changing technologies would break into the public domain to a significant degree, and to understand fully the implications of these shifts to individuals, organizations, government and society.” The following are his list of his game changing technologies found in the appendix: 1) Implantable Technologies; 2) Our Digital Presence; 3) Vision as the New Interface; 4) Wearable Internet; 5) Ubiquitous Computing; 6) A Supercomputer in Your Pocket; 7) Storage for All; 8) The Internet of and for Things; 9) The Connected Home; 10) Smart Cities; 11) Big Data for Decisions; 12) Driverless Cars; 13) Artificial Intelligence and Decision-Making; 14) AI and White-Collar Jobs; 15) Robotics and Services; 16) Bitcoin and the Blockchain; 17) The Sharing Economy; 18) Governments and the Blockchain; 19) 3D Printing and Manufacturing; 20) 3D Printing and Human Health; 21) 3D Printing and Consumer Products
We could add some ancillary technologies which are connected with all the above. These include: nanotechnology, quantum computing, biotechnology, the internet of things, the industrial internet of things, decentralized consensus, fifth-generation wireless technologies, satellite internet technology for worldwide distribution.
It is mind boggling to think of the influence that all of these technologies will have on world society. Additionally, it is easy to recognize that most of the big corporate oligarchs listed above are involved in all the research connected with these “game-changing” technologies. They will undoubtedly influence politics and governments around the world. Much more could be said about each of these, but for the sake of brevity here are just a few: • Satellites for broadband, low latency internet service globally 1) Samsung which seeks to have 4,600 satellites in orbit. 2) Amazon (Jeff Bezos) seeks to put up 3200+ by the end of the decade. Called the Kuiper system (or Project Kuiper). 3) OneWeb sought an initial 650 satellites. Furthermore, OneWeb announced plans to accelerate launches in 2021 to have 650 satellites in orbit by 2022 necessary for global coverage. They spent most of 2020 in bankruptcy court, but were bought out by a 50% partnership of the UK government and an Indian company- Bharti Enterprises. They currently have 110 satellites active in low earth orbit. 4) By far the greatest success is Starlink (Elon Musk). Total satellites currently in orbit (February 2021): 1021. On schedule to have 4100 by no later than March, 2027. October, 2019- 30,000 additional Starlink satellites requested to supplement the 12,000 Starlink satellites already approved by the FCC. Elon Musk owns SpaceX which allows him unlimited flexibility in launching his own satellites. 5) Facebook- planning 5G satellite technology. It’s called Project Athena.
• Surveillance Facial recognition, camera technology, data acquisition through social media and internet.
• Artificial Intelligence You will find that almost all the of the top 10 financial and technological oligarchs are involved in the research and advancement of Artificial Intelligence. The top 100 are listed here. I also highly recommend reading Kai Fu Lee’s book, A.I. Superpowers written in 2018 and subtitled, “China, Silicon Valley and the New World Order.” Concerning the wealth which A.I. will bring, Lee writes, “Instead of dispersion of industry profits across different companies and regions, we will begin to see greater and greater concentration of these astronomical sums in the hands of a few” (p.20). This certainly sounds like financial oligarchs who wield incredible power and influence.
• Quantum Computers According to Kai Fu Lee, A.I. algorithms need three things: big data, computing power, and the work of strong A.I. algorithm engineers. Government policies amenable to A.I. being incorporated across all sphere of society are helpful also. To help accomplish the computing power requirement, many of these same technological oligarchs are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in quantum computers which are billions of times faster than modern supercomputers! (read about it here). It’s no surprise that Google, Microsoft, and IBM are some of the leaders in this field. Here is a list of other leaders.
• Biotechnology 1) Elon Musk is heavily involved in connecting the human brain to technology. It is known as Neuralink and can be read about here and here. 2) Vaccine technology. Why is multi-billionaire software developer Bill Gates so interested in vaccine technology? This question is pondered by many, but the truth is that he is very active and it is well known. He is not involved just in vaccine technology, but under the skin microchip implant nano vaccine technology (here and here). Moreover, backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation “MIT researchers have now developed a novel way to record a patient’s vaccination history: storing the data in a pattern of dye, invisible to the naked eye, that is delivered under the skin at the same time as the vaccine” (here). 3) Implantable contraception technology is supported by Gates (here). 4) Genetically Modified Farming- Oligarch Bill Gates has spread his influence farther than any other. He has now become the largest private landowner of farmland in the United States. Robert Kennedy, Jr. writes, “Gates has been using that newfound cash to expand his power over global populations by buying devalued assets at fire-sale prices and maneuvering for monopoly control over public health, privatizing prisons, online education and global communications while promoting digital currencies, high tech surveillance, data harvesting systems and artificial intelligence.” He provides links to all his assertions here.
• Censorship Once again, many of these financial and technological oligarchs are using their social media platforms and data acquisition to surveille, censor, cancel, de-platform, and shame those using its services when they are not deemed “woke enough” or do not follow their own idiosyncratic rules and politically correct narratives. U.S. lawmakers are now accomplices with Big Tech Oligarchs in encouraging them to police (censor) content more aggressively (here and here).
• Innovation Zones Nevada governor Steve Sisolak recently proposed giving large corporations who own significant portions of land in Nevada their own status equivalent to “counties.” They would be able to impose taxes, form school districts, courts of law, and provide other “government services” (here). Tesla (Elon Musk) is one of the largest owners of land in Nevada.
As we look at end time prophetic events coming to pass, it is becoming increasingly obvious that some of the largest movers and shakers, both policy or societal changes, are not found in governments at all. Instead in this world, multi-national financial and technological oligarchs are eager to conform the world to their own technocratic purposes. Could these figures be the Ten Kings (influencers) who give their “authority and power to the beast (antichrist)” and in return “receive authority to rule as kings with the beast for one hour” (Rev 17:12-13)? Time will tell, but I think a compelling case can certainly be made that the ever-increasing technological value these 10 Figures have will be very appealing to the antichrist, making it easier for him to enforce his tyrannical rule over the entire earth.
Intriguing article on the 10 Kings who come onto the scene before the A/C of Revelation.
Also, if you have time I highly suggest you watch Gary Stearman’s video about this very subject on the link below:
Gary Stearman: Who Are the Ten Kings?
The 10 kings is a prophecy we didn’t see coming 20 years ago. How can one be a king and not have a kingdom? But today we see these powerful Oligarchs taking their positions … Big Tech, social media, powerful politicians and men with hundreds of billions of dollars control much of our world and the information superhighway. Cancel culture, censorship of Christians … then there’s the long-rumored digital currency and 30,000 satellites that will soon be monitoring our every move … how can people not see the handwriting on the wall?
I’m as guilty as the next guy of trying to hammer current events into the Biblical framework. But I’d say this is a stretch.
It’s definitely different and I’m not 100% sold, but it’s a good conversation to have considering the massive power these creeps have.
No. I doubt it.
Every reference to kings refers to political rulers, in positions of political power. God is not in the business of calling rulers kings everywhere else, and then changing what He means in only one very important place. He is not the author of confusion.
Agree. Laughable.
An oligarch is one of the select few people who rule or influence leaders in an oligarchy.
The word certainly was not around when John wrote, but certainly he could have written “ten rich men”.
Bwa ha ha ha ha ha!! Speeeeider!
The technology angle is very interesting. However, at least one of the ten is likely to be a George Soros type person who exerts his control by influencing elections.
Ancient Sparta was a military oligarchy.
Big time.
Not enough info to conclude that.
One of the rules of interpretation is to not go beyond the text.
“Every reference to kings refers to political rulers, in positions of political power. “
I disagree, who were the three kings that gave gifts to Joseph and Mary?
Noah, Moses, Abraham could be considered Kings
I doubt very much that anyone in democratic politics could be considered a king in any way. Puppet is the word that comes to mind
Very interesting perspective.
It’s always fascinating how Bible prophecy can be such a mystery, until it is actually being fulfilled, and then you have that Aha! moment when you realize what’s going on.
It’s another view.
I’m not suggesting it’s correct.
At least it gets the conversation going about this very relevant topic of our time.
Bible Prophecy can certainly be cryptic, but when it finally comes to pass - voila! As you say!
The more I study it, I must say I’m more open to differing views.
The devil and his minions got clobbered with it. Even they got duped and it sealed their final fate at the cross - almost 2,000 years ago.
Article says Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google parent Alphabet, Microsoft and Tesla have surged higher as their businesses continue to boom.
wooo - so all the 10 oligarchs are American exclusively?
well, Bezos does hold far more power than the Prime Minister of Australia or the King of Spain or the King of Jordan.
What's the difference between Bezos or Musk or Buffett or Gates and with the kings around the time of Daniel?
Daniel wrote in 540 BC and had the Neo-Babylonian God-king-emperors and then the King-of-kings (Shahenshahs) of the Achaemenid empire. But the more common "kings" of that time were far less powerful than Bezos or Musk are today.
Sparta wasn’t an oligarchy - the Spartans were more or less on par (though they were the “elite” sitting on helot slaves) - it’s classified more as a gerontocracy.
The Bible calls them "the wise men" and doesn't give their number
They weren't "Kings" - but Magi - either Zoroastrian priests (who are termed Magi) or the Hebraic scholars who were remnants of those who were carted off to Babylonia and Assyria by Babylonian and Assyrian invasions.
They were not 3 in number - according to Ethiopian tradition they were 40
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