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Two lesser known participants of the end-times are referred to as daughters. One is well known and understood while the other is more obscure. The well-known daughter is the daughter of Zion. She is the city and center of Judaism, Jerusalem. Her counterpart is the daughter of Babylon. She, too, is a city and religious center but the question is, where and what religion?

“Daughter of Babylon” is an Old Testament term used by the writers of Psalm 137, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Zechariah. The New Testament refers to her as the great city Babylon. The Psalmist, Isaiah, and Jeremiah had the capital city of the Babylonian nation in mind and their prophecies concerning the city of Babylon have been fulfilled. Zechariah wrote after Babylon had been subjugated by Cyrus who would eventually move the capital to Shusha in Persia. It is in Zechariah’s third vision, the vision of the surveyor (Zechariah 2), that the term daughter of Babylon is used in an eschatological sense. The second chapter of Zechariah refers to the end-times as expressed in verses 9-12 and the daughter of Babylon referred to is a city during that time. As always, there lies the conflict. Any association of a city with the daughter of Babylon in an eschatological sense will likely be incorrect unless the end-time is near.

One city associated with the daughter of Babylon became popular in the seventies. The Apostle Peter used the term Babylon as code to refer to Rome in his first Epistle (1Peter 5:13). Many commentators of Christian eschatology ascribe Babylon to Rome and the Roman Catholic Church. The idea gained credence in the mid to late twentieth century as the formation of the European Union was also seen as the ten nation confederate lead by the antichrist. The idea of the European Union as the nations that control the world under the leadership of the antichrist and Catholicism as its religion lead by the Pope seem to fit. Today the influence of the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope are declining and they were never associated with the European Union in the same sense as Judaism, Jerusalem, and Israel. To be clear, the European Union is not the ten nation confederacy of the Tribulation period and the Pope is not the false prophet. Not because I think so but because the associations required in Christian eschatology do not fit with all the scriptures that discuss the confederacy and its center, the daughter of Babylon.

Another city has recently surfaced in commentary as the daughter of Babylon and since its candidacy is closer to the Tribulation it deserves consideration. Much of the documentation supporting this notion is outside Christian theology and is found in Islamic eschatology. According to the notion, not Islamic teaching, the antichrist and false prophet are adherents to Islam. This would make Mecca, which is the center of the Islamic hajj, the end-times daughter of Babylon. As tempting as it might sound to associate Saudi Arabia with the beast of the Tribulation, Christian eschatology depicts the beast as a coalition of diverse nations (Revelation 13:1-4). While Mecca is synonymous with Islam, Saudi Arabia is not considered the focal point of Muslims. Mecca is not a good candidate to be the daughter of Babylon at this time.

The iconic city to be known as the daughter of Babylon must represent the Babylon of the Tribulation. That Babylon consists of the nations that comprise the rest of the statue of Daniel chapter two, shown as rising at the same time in Daniel chapter seven, and bound as a coalition in Revelation chapter thirteen. Nebuchadnezzar was the head of gold and the city of Babylon his capital. In the Tribulation a city will become the icon of the end-times Babylon which is depicted by silver, bronze, iron, and iron and clay portions of the statue of Daniel chapter two. If China, Russia, Iran, and an Islamic Union are the Tribulation Babylon, what city would be iconic of their rule? (See post Times – They Are A-Changin April 10, 2017 for the nations that rise during the Tribulation.) Perhaps they come to dominate the United Nations which would make New York City the daughter of Babylon of the Tribulation. The problem with a city like New York fulfilling the role as the daughter of Babylon is its lack of any religious significance. The same is true of Brussels and its association with the European Union.

A fascinating possibility, not found in popular commentary, is Istanbul. It has a rich Asian, Western, and Muslim history. As Constantinople it was the eastern capital of the Roman empire. It remained the capital of the Ottoman Turkish empire until the establishment of Turkey’s secular government in the early twentieth century. Like Rome, Istanbul was originally built on seven hills. It was a destination on the Silk Road trade route for China. Today, Turkey is drifting away from secular governance and there is a national desire to make Turkey the focal point of Islamic hegemony as it was during the Ottoman empire. (See post Where In The World – The Ram and Goat? April 17, 2017 for the rise of Turkey in the Tribulation.) It is worth keeping an eye on current events. Will Turkey return to a system of governance reminiscent of the Ottoman empire and move its capital back to Istanbul? What role will Turkey play in China’s new Silk Road initiative? We will have to wait and see.

The iconic city to be known as the daughter of Babylon may not have risen to such status as yet, but when it does, it will require a historical context to fulfill the same associations as does Judaism, Jerusalem, and Israel as the daughter of Zion.

May God bless you in your study of His word.

I was thinking recently about a discussion many years ago with a dear Christian minister and Berean Bible teacher. The subject was the identity of the rider on the white horse of the first seal in the Book of Revelation. This wonderful preacher of God’s word was born at the turn of the Twentieth Century and was unbiased by the Rapture theology that became popular in the seventies. He thought that the rider of the first seal (Revelation 6:1-2) should be identified with the conquering Jesus at the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 19:11-16). Without question there is similarity between the two passages. My opinion was based on what seemed to be more logical, that the rider of the first seal was the antichrist and the breaking of the first seal begins the Tribulation. Christ return at the battle of Armageddon is the end. Today I believe both of us were mistaken about the identity of the rider. The significance of the discussion is that neither of us sought to harmonize all the scripture on the end-times and the second advent of Jesus Christ.

If the rider isn’t Jesus or the antichrist, who else could it be? That is an intriguing thought since most commentaries on the Tribulation denote three characters; Jesus Christ, Satan/antichrist, and the false prophet. Of the three the antichrist is the most logical choice. But there is an Old Testament book that tells of other characters who have a role in the Tribulation. In addition to the Messiah and the antichrist there are the kings of the North and South, four Persian kings, and a great warrior king. The great warrior king precedes the antichrist and it is from the chaos that results from the warrior king’s conquering that allows the antichrist to rise.

The book of Daniel contains five eschatological prophecies. Each ends with the destruction of Satan/antichrist and establishment of God’s kingdom on earth. Daniel’s first details concerning the great warrior king comes in chapter eight as the goat that conquers Persia. His kingdom is shattered allowing the antichrist to rise. The same events begin the last vision of Daniel where the great warrior king comes against the fourth king of Persia (Daniel 11:1-4). The majority of the last vision focuses on the chaos between the kings of the North and South and the eventual rise of the antichrist.

The last three visions of Daniel, chapter eight Ram and Goat, chapter nine 70 weeks, and chapters ten through twelve kings of the North and South, all give the same timeframe. Chapter eight give 2300 days that the vision will last (Daniel 8:13-14). The vision begins with the rise of Persia and its being conquered by a king from the west and finishes when the antichrist meets his end. There will be seven years from the conflict between a great warrior king from the west conquering Persia to the return of Jesus Christ to reign on the earth.

The Apostle Paul told the Thessalonians that the antichrist was being restrained and could not rise until the restrainer was removed (2Thessalonians 2:5-12). The breaking of the seals in Revelation chapter 6 fulfills removal of the restrainer with the first seal releasing a great warrior king. The next three seals tell of great chaos that lead to the martyred saints of the fifth seal and the judgment of the earth for rejecting God in the sixth seal.

Identifying the rider on the white horse in Revelation 6:1-2 with the great warrior king of Daniel eight and eleven is not only logical, it also brings the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation into harmony. Christendom may well be caught unaware that events in the Middle East between Iran and Turkey signal the breaking of the first seal of Revelation. (See blog post “Where In The World – The Ram and Goat? April 17, 2017” for details on Iran and Turkey) It seems Christianity is expecting some great event like the Rapture to herald in the Tribulation.
With the world being desensitized to war in the Middle East, Christians will consider clashes between Iran and Turkey as normal world affairs rather than the possibility it is the beginning of the end-times.

Who is the rider on the white horse? Only God knows for sure, but I don’t want us to be caught unaware that the Tribulation may be closer than most of Christendom thinks.

May God bless you in your study of His word.

An interesting article was on the BBC website discussing factors that lead to a break down in liberal caring societies such as those in modern day western civilization. The studies and conclusions fall into two categories; “ecological strain and economic stratification”. Western societies being in jeopardy from one or the other is not new but their influence on how a society’s interactions with both allies and adversaries is increasing at a faster pace than expected. The article proclaims there is still hope to avoid the decline of western societies if the West can find the global will to lessen the divide of “economic stratification” and mitigate “ecological strain”.

Another article, also on the BBC website, along the same line of hope reports that computer models of an asteroid hitting somewhere in the earth’s oceans show it would not produce a Hollywood-like disaster. Instead of colossal tsunamis wiping away coastal cities, most of the water would be thrown into the atmosphere. There was no prediction of how that might effect “ecological strain” and the consequences to “economic stratification”.

It seems the world is trying to cover over Dante’s sign at the gates of hell, “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!”. I’ve read the definitive book on the collapse of civilization and it contains all the scenarios above. It tells of a push for greater “economic stratification” as “ecological strain” on limited natural resources increases and the crumbling of civilization as the result of a large asteroid hitting the ocean. The timing of these events may be speculative but that they will happen is certain.

The book is the Revelation of Jesus Christ written by John two thousand years ago. John wrote about seven seals being opened. The third seal suggests sever “economic stratification” and the fourth tells of terrible “ecological strain”. Fast forward to the seven trumpets of chapter eight where the second trumpet heralds a great asteroid falling into the ocean. The result is not as benign as the BBC article suggests. The problem is not believing these things will happen, the problem is believing they will happen in our lifetime.

The purpose of Revelation is not to scare Christians into becoming preppers. There is no preparation possible to avoid the consequences of the seals and trumpets that follow. The central theme of the messages to the churches in Revelation chapters two and three is to get our hearts prepared; shed our attachments to earthly things and learn to rely on the Father in order to persevere until the return of Christ (Matthew 6:25-34). That doesn’t mean we should sell all we have and live in poverty but rather that we should not compromise our faith to acquire earthly possessions or have regret when they are lost. Our standard of living may be less than those around us because of it but our standard of faith and reward will be with those who persevere as in the message to the churches.

Think about the parable of the sower in the Gospels (Mathew 13:1-23; Luke 8:4-15). It is too superficial to think of the Church as being comprised of just good ground. Indeed, the seed of the Gospel message is received among the rocks and thorns with joy but there was no commitment to follow Christ regardless of the consequences. The rocks and thorns were sincere but it takes commitment to be good ground and the difference between sincerity and commitment is sacrifice. A good way to start towards gaining the attitude of a sojourner is by sacrificing some time for reading the scriptures and prayer (1Peter 2:11-17).

If there is one theme that runs through the Gospels and Epistles right to the message to the church in Ephesus in the second chapter of Revelation, it is love for one another; a love that requires sacrifice. As the world becomes more selfish and self-centered due to “ecological strain” and the resulting “economic stratification” of nationalism, the saints will be God’s city on a hill (Matthew 5:14) that contrasts humanism. If compelled to walk a mile, walk two. Give your coat also when required to give your shirt. If struck on the cheek turn and expose the other (Matthew 5:38-14). Be the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). As the Apostle Paul wrote, love endures all things (1Corinthians 13). Jesus said if we give only to those who love us how does that make us different from sinners (Matthew 5:43-48).

Some reading this may think doesn’t this poor fellow know that the Church will be raptured away and miss all the disasters of Revelation? My appeal to those who think the Church is not subject to tribulation prior to the coming of Christ is to understand that there is to be a great falling away from His commands (2Thesslonians 2:3); the separating of the sincere from the committed. It is Christ’s command to be merciful, through sharing, to even those who show no appreciation for the gifts that relieve their misery (Luke 6:35-36). The more we keep for ourselves the more we lose (Luke 12:16-21). To paraphrase Jesus and His brother James, it takes more than faith alone to build our house on solid ground, it requires living your faith (Matthew 7:24-27; James 2:26) . If the writer of Hebrews was here he would say, what are you waiting for; start today (Hebrews 13:12-15).

It is likely, in the near future, that nationalism will be the focus of civilizations brought about by ever increasing “ecological strain and economic stratification”. Remember, the messages in Revelation chapters two and three point the only way to persevere through the trials. That is where our focus must be.

May God bless you in your study of His word.

A dear friend remarked that they were concerned that Israel’s intransigents over the solution to peace with the Palestinians would spark another world war. My friend and I don’t share the same eschatological perspective which required a response in secular terms. I suggested they look to Turkey and Iran as the spark for the next world conflict. Not what they wanted to hear since they hope there will be no world conflict at all. But the vision of the ram and the goat in Daniel chapter eight and the great warrior king of Daniel chapter eleven tells a different story, one of a serious world conflict.

The question is, should we apply the vision of the ram and the goat to our present day? That is the pitfall that lies within any prophetical interpretation, that we apply the scripture to a time for which it is not intended. So let me preface the rest of this article with the supposition that if we are on the cusp of the breaking of the seals in the Book of Revelation then what follows is relevant to current events. If we are not, then what follows will not bear out in world events. The good part about that is, time and world events will let you be the judge.

On the surface it appears there is no question concerning the identities of the ram and the goat of Daniel eight. The identities are given in Daniel 8:20-21; the ram is the kings of Media and Persia and the goat is the king of Greece. Based on these identities, the king of Greece is commonly applied to Alexander the Great who defeated the Medio Persian empire. To further support Alexander the Great as the goat, history tells us that his empire split into four kingdoms following his unexpected death at a young age. So where is the problem with understanding that the prophecy of Daniel eight was fulfilled by Greece and Alexander before the birth of Christ?

The problem with applying the vision to the Greece of Alexander is that Daniel 8:17-19 make it clear that the vision applies to the end times which has not occurred. Indeed if we look at the breakup of the Greek empire following Alexander’s death we find that it split into five kingdoms, then four, and eventually three. While there are similarities between Alexander and Greece with Daniel eight, it is necessary to ignore the end times constraint and also ignore the full history of the breakup of his kingdom to support an interpretation that the prophecy has already been historically fulfilled. Still it does say Greece right there in verse twenty one, or does it?

The Septuagint version of the Old Testament, the version translated into Greek from the Hebrew and the version used for Protestant Bible Old Testament, interprets the Hebrew word Javan as Greece. The kings of Daniel eight in the Hebrew are named Persia, Maday and Javan. The question is did Daniel see Greece as the land of Javan as did the Septuagint translators? Probably not. The Jews did not associate Javan with Greece until after the restoration of the second Temple and the rise of Greece as a world power. Daniel’s understanding of Javan in his prophecies written between 605 and 530 BC differs from that of the Septuagint translation written around 130 BC. Where then is the land of Daniel’s Javan in modern times?

The land of Javan today is centered in modern Turkey while Iran is associated with the land of Persia. If you follow current events in the Middle East you know that Turkey is supporting anti-Assad Syrian rebels and using its own military in Syria against the pro-Iranian Assad government. Turkey does not want Iran to establish a long term presence in Syria and it does not want the Kurds to establish an autonomous state there either. Israel too, has been petitioning the Russians to prevent the Iranians from filling the void left by the defeat of ISIS in Syria. What the news labels as a Syrian civil war in reality is a war between two entranced religious ideologies fought by Turkish and Iranian surrogates. A major consequence of the establishment of a caliphate by ISIS and the response to destroy it, is that tolerance between Sunni and Shia has also been destroyed. Previously diverse Sunni and Shia neighborhoods in Iraq and Syria are a fraction of what they once were and that lack of tolerance is extending to Yemen.

Let me restate the premise I started with, if we are on the cusp of the end times then we can look for current states to fulfill the rolls of the ram and the goat. If that premise is true then, according to Daniel eight, Shia hegemony will rise in the Middle East, led by Iran, until Sunni tolerance is exhausted and establishes a Sunni hegemony led by a great warrior king coming from Turkey. Is that too far-fetched? Consider that Turkey has the largest army in the Middle East and in fact has the largest military forces committed to NATO. Turkey, embolden by its defense treaty with NATO, was not deterred in shooting down a Russian fighter jet after Russia continually ignored Turkey’s warnings not to violate Turkish airspace. When the conflagration between the ram and the goat occurs the boundaries that define nation states in the Middle East will dissolve or existed only on paper as it does with Syria today.

Is such a conflict imminent? Not as the world exists at the moment but the Turkish government is evolving to assume such a role with the April 16, 2017 referendum. With new constitutional powers behind the Turkish president the world will witness a more aggressive Turkey. The president of Turkey will hold complete control with no governmental checks and balances subject to presidential dictates. The United States, Europe, and NATO will align with Turkey while Russia stays aligned with Syria, Iran, and Iran’s satellite states.

As Turkey is being prepared for its role, Iran must also go through an evolution that brings about the impasse that results in the great conflict of Daniel chapter eleven and eventually leads to the rise of the antichrist. The prophecies of Daniel speak of four successive Persian kings in the ramp up to the great conflagration. Daniel 7:6 shows the leopard beast having four heads and Daniel 11:2-3 explicitly states there will be four kings. The great warrior king comes from the land of Javan when the fourth king of Persia brings the conflict to a boil.

Iran is under the rule of its second supreme leader whose edicts cannot be overridden. Assuming that the four kings of Persia are being fulfilled by the supreme leaders of Iran, when the fourth supreme leader rises to power expect a great conflagration between Sunni and Shia that will eventually result in the rise of the antichrist; the message of Daniel eleven and twelve. There will always be issues between Israel and the Palestinians but they pale in comparison to what is coming.

Many in Christendom may think, so what? The Church will be Raptured away before all this happens. Not likely. These chapters speak about the ramp up to the Tribulation prior to the rising of the antichrist. Perhaps the messages to the churches in Revelation chapters two and three are intended to encourage the saints to focus on Christ’s return as these prophecies of Daniel unfold. After all, the seven churches of Revelation were located in modern day Turkey.

May God bless you in your study of His word.