Phase 2 – Part 2
In the previous section we looked at the identification of the time-frame of the end and the relationship to Daniel. The seven times was seen to recommence in 1914-16 and the eighty- year period ends with the sacred year in 1995/6. The new sacred year commences the period, which sees the destruction of the nations and the destruction of a third of mankind occasioned by the release of the four angels that are bound at the Euphrates to kill a third of mankind (Rev. 9:15). The wars may or may not build up to the Third World War quickly from 1995-7 but the thirty-year sequence of the Wars of the End is commenced. (Look also at The Last Thirty Years: the Final Struggle (No. 219).) The destabilisation of the existing power systems reaches the watershed. The sequence is coupled with natural disasters and consequence of previous errors, which combine to destroy the planet by increasing pollutants.
Revelation 9:13-21 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphra'tes." 15 So the four angels were released, who had been held ready for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of the troops of cavalry was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. 17 And this was how I saw the horses in my vision: the riders wore breastplates the colour of fire and of sapphire and of sulphur, and the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulphur issued from their mouths. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulphur issuing from their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; their tails are like serpents, with heads, and by means of them they wound. 20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot either see or hear or walk; 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their immorality or their thefts. (RSV)
Thus the wars that are commenced by these angels in the last days involve some 200,000,000 armed men and through modern weapons they will kill a third of mankind. The destruction by modern weapons is not only nuclear. The extent of chemical weapons even from World War II, where supposedly they were banned, is starting to cause serious problems now. Japan has been requested to remove vast quantities of chemical materials from Manchuria that it stored there in World War II. The chemicals include mustard gas and cyanide in leaky drums and in vast quantities. What the end result of the contamination is anyone’s guess.
There are significant numbers of nuclear submarines now sunk on the bottom of the world oceans. The abomination that makes desolate has new meaning.
These angels will be judged by their actions here. The prophecies show that they are allowed to utilise the weaknesses of the nations to effect the war. Yet when faced with the result of this process mankind still does not repent. This is the war of the sixth trumpet. After this the remnants are then dealt with by Messiah.
The destruction of the last days is done by an earthly power set up by Satan called the beast. This power kills the saints and the prophets (Rev. 16:6). This was at first done at the behest of the whore. The ecclesiastical power was used to force the civil power also to kill the saints and the prophets (Rev. 17:6). The repetition here uses the number of man to show that man’s power was used in this matter and not God’s power or Spirit. Babylon the Great was tied up and the kingdom was kept for seven times that it might appear and be used in the last days.
The kingdom extended over 2,520 years and five continents. At the return of the Messiah the seven vials of the wrath of God are revealed. The beast is destroyed. The destruction is preceded by that of the whore. Thus the sequence of Revelation 16 and 17 can be misleading.
Revelation 16:1-21 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, "Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God." 2 So the first angel went and poured his bowl on the earth, and foul and evil sores came upon the men who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. 3 The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a dead man, and every living thing died that was in the sea. 4 The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of water say, "Just art thou in these thy judgments, thou who art and wast, O Holy One. 6 For men have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink. It is their due!" 7 And I heard the altar cry, "Yea, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are thy judgments!" 8 The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch men with fire; 9 men were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory. 10 The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was in darkness; men gnawed their tongues in anguish 11 and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores, and did not repent of their deeds. 12 The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great river Euphra'tes, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 13 And I saw, issuing from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet, three foul spirits like frogs; 14 for they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 15 ("Lo, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who is awake, keeping his garments that he may not go naked and be seen exposed!") 16 And they assembled them at the place which is called in Hebrew Armaged'don. 17 The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, "It is done!" 18 And there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as had never been since men were on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered great Babylon, to make her drain the cup of the fury of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found; 21 and great hailstones, heavy as a hundred-weight, dropped on men from heaven, till men cursed God for the plague of the hail, so fearful was that plague. (RSV)
A common misunderstanding is that the religious whore of the Babylonian system and the last days controls the beast for the entire process. That is not true. The whore helped to create the beast seeking to obtain advantage from it by ecclesiastical direction. However, the beast turns on the whore and destroys her.
Revelation 17:1-18 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who is seated upon many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and with the wine of whose fornication the dwellers on earth have become drunk." 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and bedecked with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication; 5 and on her forehead was written a name of mystery: "Babylon the great, mother of harlots and of earth's abominations." 6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her I marvelled greatly. 7 But the angel said to me, "Why marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is to ascend from the bottomless pit and go to perdition; and the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will marvel to behold the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. 9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; 10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain only a little while. 11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to perdition. 12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. 13 These are of one mind and give over their power and authority to the beast; 14 they will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful." 15 And he said to me, "The waters that you saw, where the harlot is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. 16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the harlot; they will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, 17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and giving over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18 And the woman that you saw is the great city which has dominion over the kings of the earth." (RSV)
The build up to the beast power
We now turn to look at the beginning of the end. That begins with the formation of the beast which destroys the whore. The union of the ten horns or ten kings is the union of the last days. The ten kings were the union of the nations, which band together in the last days. The only such union to be supported and developed from the Roman system and become a union of kings was the Holy Roman Empire. The ancient Teutonic system was governed by five sets of twins under the parliament or Thing. The failure to understand the history of Europe and the Teutons has resulted in a serious misunderstanding of what is happening and what is to happen in Europe in the last days.
The sequence of the formation of the beast, which is no longer controlled by the whore commenced in France with contemporary activity in the Americas. The system was repressed in England otherwise the period would have advanced ahead of prophecy and perhaps destroyed the world much sooner. Thus Satan’s allotted times would have been shortened here and lengthened at the end of the Millennium. The consequences may have been far too serious. All of the actions over the last 2,000 years from the French Revolution have been geared to the formation of the end time power systems and the war machines of the nations so that the demons can destroy the nations. Christ used the British Commonwealth to limit and control the rate of expansion and destruction of the nations. Let us examine the sequence.
· 1789 CE. Estates General is convened at Versailles. The third estate names itself the national assembly. The fall of the Bastille marks the beginning of the French revolution. The beast forms.
· George Washington (to 1797) becomes the first President of the USA and the USA declares itself an economic and customs union.
· 1791. Declaration of Pillnitz. Emperor Leopold II and Frederick of Prussia attempt to reintroduce the monarchical system in France.
British Church and King riots in Birmingham saw an era of harsh repression to prevent revolution in England.
· 1792. France declares war on the Austria and Prussia coalition against France. France defeats them in the Battle of Valmy. The National Convention rules France to 1795. The Marseillais saved the revolution and France became a republic.
· 1794. The reign of terror reached its climax in March-April. The French defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Fleurus and conquered Belgium.
The Middle East was also beginning to reorganise.
· Aga Muhammad also founded the Kajar Dynasty in Persia in 1794.
France subjugated Holland thus assisting the consolidation under the British.
· 1795 saw France establish the puppet Batavian Republic in Holland. This enabled Britain to take the Cape of Good Hope and Ceylon from the Dutch. Napoleon was made Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Army in Italy.
Expansion in the USA was assisted by European power changes.
The treaty of San Lorenzo saw the USA and Spain settle the boundaries of Florida and the USA gain rights of navigation on the Mississippi.
· 1796 saw Napoleon invade Italy and destroy the existing state system, defeating the Austrians at Lodi and Arcol.
The French invasion of Ireland failed.
The British capture Guiana.
Agha Muhammad of Persia made Teheran his capital.
· 1797 saw the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. The British navy defeated the Franco-Spanish fleet.
The British then captured Trinidad from Spain.
Napoleon invaded Austria. They occupied Venice and established the Ligurian Republic at Genoa and Austrian Lombardy became the Cisalpine Republic.
These actions resulted in the treaty of Campo Formio where Austria made peace with France.
The activities in Egypt began to involve Europe. Europe began a race to control the world powers and thus direct the course of human activity in the 20th century.
· 1798. The second coalition against France was formed. Napoleon invaded Egypt. The Battle of the Pyramids saw the defeat of the Mamluks (or Mamalukes). The French navy was defeated in Aboukir Bay by Nelson in the Battle of the Nile.
There was a separatist rebellion in Ireland. The French invaded Switzerland and established the Helvetic Republic.
Britain made Ceylon a Crown Colony. While these actions were being dealt with Tipoo Sahib of Mysore renewed the war against the British.
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1799. Napoleon invaded Syria. Britain, Austria, Russia, Portugal, Naples and the Ottoman Empire unite against France. The French were driven from Italy and Napoleon returned to France, overthrew the Directory establishing a Consulate with him as First Consul.
Britain suppressed the trade union movement at home with the Combination Laws (passed also in 1800). The Third Kaffir War saw the London Missionary Society begin work in South Africa. With the defeat and death of Tipoo Sahib of Mysore, British control was extended over most of southern India.
The discovery in Egypt by the French of the Rosetta stone in 1799 made it possible for the deciphering of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. Only from this point could the past be properly understood.
· 1800. Battle of Marengo and Hohenlinden. French defeat the Austrians.
Russia withdrew from the Coalition against France and the Tsar revived the Armed Neutrality of the North against Britain. This was premature and perhaps assisted the march on Russia.
· 1801. The Act of Union formally unites Great Britain and Ireland. Nelson destroyed the League of Armed Neutrality in the Baltic. French army in Egypt surrenders to the British. The Treaty of Luneville was signed between France and Austria. France kept the left bank of the Rhine and most of Italy.
· 1802. The Treaty of Amiens ended the war between Britain and France. Napoleon is made First Consul for life.
The expansion of the USA was directly assisted by the wars between Britain and France.
· 1806. War between Britain and France breaks out again. This was to force the Louisiana Purchase where Napoleon sold the areas to the USA making possible the continental expansion of the USA. Thus Manasseh fed off Ephraim in the first instances as Isaiah prophesied at Isaiah 9:21.
Isaiah 9:21 Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. (KJV)
These actions involved the redistribution of power groups as had occurred prior to the commencement of the prophecy in its pivotal date of 605 BCE. The destruction of the whore by the newly emerging system in Europe enabled the expansion of the English-speaking peoples so that they might inherit the birthright promises. What they will eventually do with the birthright is of significant interest.
Napoleon disbanded the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. All Hapsburg estates became part of the Austrian Empire with German as the official language. This situation remained until 1815 when Napoleon was finally defeated and the empire was reconstituted.
Between 1806 and 1815 the instability of the war enabled a number of nations to achieve independence. France annexed Holland in 1810 and the empire was at its peak. The French were, nevertheless, held in Portugal by Wellesley at Torres Vedras. Buenos Aires, Mexico and New Granada were able to overthrow Spanish rule and Simon Bolivar emerged as a nationalist leader. Britain was also able to annexe Mauritius and the Seychelles.
· In 1811 after George III was declared insane and the Prince of Wales was declared Regent, the French were driven out of Portugal and Wellesley invaded Spain.
Paraguay and then Venezuela were able to declare independence of Spain.
· 1812. Napoleon invaded Russia and retreated after fighting the battle of Borodino and burning Moscow.
1812 also saw the Anglo-American war over British policy towards neutral shipping. This war lasted to 1814 and the Treaty of Ghent.
1812 also saw Muhammad Ali massacre the ruling Mamluks of Egypt.
From 1813 the French were driven from Spain at the battle of Vittoria. This enabled the USA to seize West Florida from Spain.
Prussia then launched the war of liberation against the French. Napoleon defeated the allies at the Battles of Lutzen and Bautzen. The Austrians then joined the alliance against the French. Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig.
These activities in Europe perhaps enabled Bolivar to become dictator of Venezuela and Mexico became independent.
During this time also two British ships broke into Nagasaki Harbour to dislodge a Dutch trader. The attempts at tying Japan into the world system began to take real force.
After the French defeat of 1814, Britain retained the Cape after the Congress of Vienna following on from the first exile of Napoleon to Elba. Pope Pius VII returned to Rome and restored the Inquisition and the Society of Jesus.
Thus the destruction of the whore was not complete. Napoleon escaped and was defeated at Waterloo in 1815. After his final defeat the Holy Roman Empire was restored by the European powers. The restoration of the Holy Roman Empire in 1815 enabled the Inquisition to proceed from 1823 to 1846. The details are contained in the paper General Distribution of the Sabbath-keeping Churches (No. 122). The 1,260 years of the persecution ended in 1850 as detailed in the paper No. 122.
In 1827 the Turks entered Athens and Ibrahim captured the Acropolis. A combined British, French and Russian fleet destroyed the Turkish fleet at the Battle of Navarino.
During the last Inquisition, England was opened up to toleration. In 1828 the repeal of the Test and Corporation Act allowed nonconformists to hold public office. In 1829 the Catholic Emancipation Act allowed Catholics to hold public office in Britain. Suttee was also abolished in India.
One of the final phases in the establishment of the birthright promises of the Israelite people was the establishment of colonies over all of Australia and then New Zealand. In 1829 Fremantle took possession of Western Australia and began colonisation.
The treaty of Adrianople also in 1829 ended the Russo-Turkish war with Russia gaining free navigation of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. There followed revolts in Europe in 1830 and the agitation continued. Parliamentary reform was agitated for in Britain. The Belgians revolted against the Dutch.
In the east Mysore was incorporated into British India. The French conquered Algeria.
In 1832 at the Battle of Koniah the Egyptians under Ibrahim defeated the Turks in Syria. This once again involved the nations of the prophecy including the Edomites.
In 1836 South Australia became a British province and Texas won independence from Mexico at the Battles of the Alamo and San Jacinto. In 1838 the Boers defeated Dingaan and massacred the Zulus at Blood River. Power was thus consolidated.
In 1839 the Turks invaded Syria but were defeated at Nesib. The British occupied Aden.
In 1839 the Boers founded the independent republic of Natal and in 1842 the Orange Free State.
During this time the British were fighting the first Opium war with China (1839-1842). The treaty of Nanjing (1842) ended the war. Britain took Hong Kong and opened the Chinese ports to foreign trade. France also occupied Tahiti in 1842.
Britain annexed Natal in Africa in 1843 and the Sindh in India. In 1844 after the Anglo-Sikh war Britain annexed the Punjab.
The British consolidation of India allowed the establishment of a consolidated power on the sub-continent. The significance of this fact will become evident in the wars of the last days.
In 1840 the Act of Union joined Upper and Lower Canada. In the same year New Zealand became a British Crown Colony with the treaty of Waitangi. The Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842 settled the boundary dispute between Canada and the USA.
1840 also saw the question of Egypt and the rule of Muhammed Ali discussed at the Quadruple Convention of London between Britain, Russia, Prussia and Austria.
France supported Muhammad Ali as ruler. In 1841 this situation was finally formalised in the Convention of Alexandria when the Turks recognised Muhammad Ali as hereditary ruler of Egypt.
In 1845 the USA-Mexico war over boundaries saw Florida and Texas join the USA. In 1846 USA annexed New Mexico. The Oregon Treaty fixed the boundary west of the Great Lakes as the 49th parallel. In 1847 the Americans captured Mexico City.
In 1849-50 the revolutions broke out in Europe and the Holy Roman Empire was destroyed in 1850 with the papacy limited by statute.
In 1845 the manufacture of breech-loading artillery with rifled barrels was commenced in Piedmont. Modern weapons warfare was being made possible. The start of the build up to World War I had begun.
Over the period between 1850 and 1914 there were a series of power struggles between the major players for the division of empires. The USA was faced with a civil war to ensure its power as a single nation. In 1867 the USA purchased Alaska from Russia and the British North America Act established the Confederation of Canada. Israel had inherited its lands.
The scenes were thus set for the modernisation of the world systems into a giant open arena, which would force extended empires and then ultimately one giant system. This had yet to be achieved and it would only be achieved by force of arms.
In 1875 Britain, France and Germany embarked on a military re-armament program. In 1877 Britain annexed the Transvaal and Russia invaded Turkey. In 1878 the Treaty of San Stefano between Russia and Turkey saw Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania become independent. The Russian gains of the Treaty of San Stefano were reversed by the Berlin congress and Britain was given Cyprus. The Anglo-Afghan war of 1878-1880 saw Britain gain control of Afghan affairs.
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