Replies

“I know, the European Union could be End-Time Babylon.”

That’s a very popular view; I read it first in Hal Lindsay’s best selling “Late Great Planet Earth” MANY many moons ago.

I’ve become fairly convinced that it is a wrong view.

REMEMBER, the “Fourth Beast” — that is, the fourth kingdom that is to come — is UNLIKE ANY OTHER that came before. The EU, however, is not unlike any other kingdom; it is actually quite a bit like other kingdoms that have arisen in the past. So, the EU fails that test very clearly, and thus we must look elsewhere. And not only elsewhere, but we must look for something totally different, and we must more carefully note the many prophetic clues that we have already been given.

One such clue is this:
Of Antichrist, Daniel writes, “...the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary,” (Dan. 9:26).

This verse fragment holds a key to correct identification of Antichrist, because it notes that he will arise out of whatever people destroyed “the city” (Jerusalem) and “the sanctuary” (also “the house”; that portion of the Temple that contained The Holy Place, and The Holiest Place). Decades of commentators have said, “Oh, well, that’s the Romans. Duh!”

Well... Not so fast.

In Acts 10:1, in the story of Cornelius and Peter, there is mentioned a group of Roman soldiers that were called “The Italian Regiment.” That distinction is important because — in a backhanded way — it highlights something crucial about Rome’s force composition in the regions in and around Judea. Lacking hordes of Italians to call up for duty, Rome populated the bulk of its military force with conscripts from defeated peoples. In fact, Rome conscripted so many non-Italians that force components consisting of actual Romans from Italy stood out from the others. It was a precarious practice, as Titus found out in 70AD. When Titus came against Jerusalem, he did so with a force comprised MOSTLY of people from nations surrounding Israel, people with old and brooding hatreds of the Jews: Syria to the north, and Arabian peoples to the south and east. So, most of the troops who actually destroyed Jerusalem were NOT Romans from Italy. Josephus, in his account of the destruction of the sanctuary, records that the Zionists had retreated to the Sanctuary — “The House,” as he calls it, and were making their last stand. On the night prior to the assault on the Sanctuary, Titus’ men had burned through the gate to the Outer Court of the Temple so as to get up to the gates of the Sanctuary. Josephus tells that an unidentified Roman conscript took up a firebrand and threw it through a window into the Sanctuary, which was paneled with cedar floor, ceiling, and walls, and The House caught fire. Titus was sent for, as he was at another place when this happened, and he came at once, but the sight of the fire in the Sanctuary so inflamed the anti-Israeli passions of these conscripts that he could not regain command over them. Titus lost control of these non-Italian Roman troops, and they utterly destroyed the Sanctuary. Josephus relates that Titus had seen the treasury of the Temple, and desired that it and the structure itself be preserved, so this destruction was actually AGAINST the will of the Roman government.

So, when you hear of Antichrist — “the prince that shall come” — don’t look for his people in Rome; look to the East; to the descendants of those who destroyed the city and the sanctuary.