The book of Revelation is about the climax of earth's history. From chapter 6 to chapter 19, we focus on the last seven years of this world's history. We work through the details of some of the catastrophic judgments that God brings upon the world. We confront some of the major persons, particularly the political world ruler, that will dominate the last portion of that seven-year period, all building to the dramatic climax of the destruction of this world system at the return of Jesus Christ to earth. And chapter 19 of Revelation presents that dramatic return in great glory, visible to all the world, of Jesus Christ as Lord of Lord and King of Kings, to take possession of the world, to destroy all empires and establish a kingdom that will endure forever. As we move to the conclusion of this seven-year period and the return of Christ in chapter 19 of Revelation, we have Revelation chapters 17 and 18 to bring to a point the events regarding the destruction of the satanic system that has dominated this world down through its history. God is sovereign as God and rules over all. But because of the fall of Satan, because of the fall of mankind, God in His plan has permitted this world to function under the authority of Satan. In our previous study, we talked about the role of Satan as the god of this world, the prince of the power of the air. In Revelation chapter 17 is unfolded an entity known as a mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth in Revelation chapter 17 and verse 5. There you have the satanic system that Satan has permeated the world with as He has attempted to supplant the plan of God in ruling God's creation. It's all building toward destruction. Chapters 17 and 18 record that destruction. The finality of it will come with the return of Christ and the events of Armageddon in chapter 19. In chapter 17, we have seen a picture unfolding of the earth's empires coming to a conclusion in one final form of earthly empire. As an angel explains to John the vision that he has seen in verse 7 of Revelation 17, the angel says, I shall tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her. John saw a beast having seven heads and ten horns being ridden by a woman. What does this all mean? The angel says, I'll explain it. And the focus of the explanation is on the beast. But the woman will come into play as well. The beast is the one who was and is not, will come out of the abyss and go to destruction. We'll talk more about him in a moment. Then he'll go on to identify for those who have spiritual wisdom and insight the details. Verse 9 said, Here is the mind which has wisdom. Here is the spiritual explanation and understanding for those who have the mind of God to understand the revelation of God. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings. Five have fallen. One is. The other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must remain a little while. And really, we are going to have, in a very concise manner, in verses 9 to 13, a condensation of earth's history, climaxing and emphasizing the final form of world government. I want you to go back to the book of Daniel with me. Daniel chapter 2. The material in Revelation has its background in the book of Daniel. The events being explained by the angel have their background in the prophecies of Daniel. And I want to review these prophecies with you. Be sure we're all together in our understanding. Daniel chapter 2 records a vision that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had one night, a dream. He saw a great image of a man. No one can give him an explanation of the vision, either to tell him what he saw or explain what he saw. But Daniel is brought to the fore. God enables Daniel to explain the vision. In verse 31 of Daniel chapter 2, Daniel begins addressing Nebuchadnezzar. You, O king, were looking, and behold, there was a single great statue. That statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you. Its appearance was awesome. And you know, we're going to see in Daniel chapter 2, as Nebuchadnezzar sees the empires of the world, he sees them as splendid. of extraordinary splendor with awesome appearance, as man looks at the empires of the world. In chapter 7, we'll see them as God presents them, as ravenous wild beasts destroying one another. The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breasts and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and clay. You continued looking until a stone was cut without hands. It struck the statue on its feet. of iron and clay and crushed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time. It became like the chaff from the summer threshing floor. The wind carried them away so not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. That's the dream. Here is the interpretation. Verse 37, You, O King, are the King of kings. You are the head of gold, as the end of verse 38 says. Now, you know that all this God is sovereign because you are the King of kings to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory. Satan is the God of this world, small g, but the sovereign God is in ultimate control and determines who will rule when and where. So, Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, they are the head of gold. The king and the kingdom become interchangeable. Secondly, verse 39, after you will arise another kingdom inferior to you. That's the chest of silver. Silver is inferior to gold. That's the Medo-Persian empire. That replaced the Babylonian empire. Then at the end of verse 39, another third kingdom of bronze will rule over the earth. That's the Greek empire. Empire of Greece. Then, verse 40, there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so that like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break those in pieces. Now note, the full explanation is focused on the fourth kingdom and its final destruction. The fourth kingdom, iron, the Roman Empire, by far the strongest and mightiest, most durable empire. that ever ruled the world. And verse 41, in that you saw the feet and toes, part of potter's clay, part of iron, it will be a divided kingdom, but will have in it the toughness of iron inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with the common clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. You note here, we've come down through the iron, the fourth kingdom. Now we come to a divided kingdom that is a continuation of the fourth kingdom, the Roman Empire, into the feet, particularly the toes. As verse 42 says, it's the toes of the feet that are partly of iron, partly of pottery, clay, pottery. It will have the strength of iron and the brittleness of pottery. It will be a strong kingdom, but it will be a brittle kingdom. Keep that in mind in the analogy. As we come back and tie things together, I think that picture is being very clearly portrayed in what is coming together even in our day. Verse 43 says, "...and that you saw the iron mixed with the clay. They will combine with one another in the seed of men, but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not adhere to pottery." So, there will be a union of ten toes, ten kingdoms, ten nations. but they won't really be bound together as one. They'll form one empire, but they still maintain their own individual distinct identity. Verse 44, "...and in the days of those kings..." And you ought to underline that. "...in the days of those kings..." Very important time identification. Those kings refers to the ten toves. And that will be even further clarified when we get to chapter 7. clearly portrayed in Scripture. In the days of those ten kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed. That kingdom will not be left for another people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true. Its interpretation is trustworthy. This is a message from God. You can bet your life on it. It will happen as it has been presented. Now, you'll note, in the days of these ten kings, who are bound together in a strong yet a weak federation to make a kingdom, God will establish His kingdom on the earth. And that kingdom will come and dramatically crush and destroy all other kingdoms. Now, that seems to me to be a clear indication that those ten kings are not historical entities that have come and gone. Those who hold to a non-literal interpretation of prophecy say, well, this happened at the first coming of Christ, when He destroyed the devil and established His kingdom in the hearts of men. Was that the kind of kingdom we were talking about with Babylon, a kingdom in the hearts of men? Medo-Persian, Greece, Rome. No, they were all physical, earthly empires. And there's a dramatic portrayal of that in chapter 3 of Daniel, if you doubt it. Because Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would not bow down before the statue that Nebuchadnezzar made, and they go into the fiery furnace. Heart condition is not an issue. We're talking about physical kingdoms. Well, where then, all of a sudden, do we get the right to say, oh yes, we're talking about earthly physical kingdoms, and those earthly physical kingdoms will be replaced by the kingdom of God? But of course, that's not an earthly physical kingdom. That's just a kingdom in the hearts of man that will go on while the other earthly kingdoms are in existence. These earthly kingdoms, when God sets up His kingdoms, will be ground to powder, totally smashed, crushed, and blown away. When God's kingdom is established on earth, there won't be any competing kingdoms. But His kingdom will become a great mountain. You note verse 45, it is cut without hands. Jesus said in His confrontation before Pilate, before His crucifixion, My kingdom is not of this world, for then would My servants fight. This is a divine kingdom. It's not brought about by earthly activity. The people of God working on it over time. This is dramatic, direct intervention by God. And that stone was cut without hands. Comes a mountain that rules the earth. Note, this happens in the days of the Ten Toes. Since the kingdom of the world has not become yet the kingdom of our God, I take it the Ten Toes are yet future. But we'll see. Look over in Daniel chapter 7. Daniel sees the same information with different symbols or pictures. Instead of it being an image of a man, it's wild beasts. And each of the wild beasts represents a different empire. See, the same material with more details added regarding the closing empire. So, we start out with a lion in verse 4. The lion represents Babylon even as the head of gold did in chapter 2. The second is a bear raised up on one side denoting that the Medo-Persian empire was dominated by first the Medes and then the Persians. Same thing as the chest of silver in the image in chapter 2. The leopard portraying Greece which was the belly of bronze in chapter 2 and then The legs of iron from chapter two are seen as a dreadful beast in verse seven. After this, I kept looking in the night visions and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong. It had large iron teeth. It devoured, crushed, trampled down the remainder with his feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it. And it had ten horns. You see, we come to the same point. You got down to the feet and particularly the toes in chapter two, ten toes. Here you come to this fourth beast and it has ten horns. So the same thing being pictured, just using different symbols to convey this truth. Now, we are going to add a dimension here. Verse 8 gives additional information not given in chapter 2. While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled up by the roots. And behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth uttering great boasts. Verses 9 to 14 carry us to the establishing of the kingdom of God on the earth. What you have, verse 8, first talks about the ten horns, and what happens is among the ten horns, and those ten horns are kings or kingdoms. Over in verse 24, the angel tells us, as for the ten horns out of this kingdom, the fourth kingdom, that wild, terrible beast, ten kings will arise. You say, how do you know the horns are kings or kingdoms? Because the angel tells us. Now, back in verse 8, a little horn comes up among the ten horn. It displaces three of them and ultimately becomes the dominant figure. A horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a mouth uttering great boasts. Then we look and we see the Ancient of Days, God the Father, enthroned in glory, attended by the myriads of myriads in the throne room of glory. In that scene, verse 11 says, I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain, its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire. See, it's in that context of focusing attention on God's glory and His coming kingdom, the destruction of the beast takes place. Because verse 13 says, I kept looking in the night visions. Behold, with the clouds of heaven, one like the Son of Man coming. He comes to the Ancient of Days. To Him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom that all the peoples, nations, men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away. His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. If you would come to the same point, the stone cut without hands. That kingdom that God will establish on the earth. Here we have it. We come to the ten horns. And in their days you have a kingdom established on the earth. But we have additional insight. In the days of those ten horns, a little horn will rise up and become prominent from among the ten. We'll see this in Revelation as well. Revelation 17 even more clearly. The ten horns will not cease to exist. But for the last half of the 70th week of Daniel, they will willingly subject themselves to the power and authority of the beast or the little horn whom they fully support as their ruler. While you're in verse 11 and 12, look at verse 12 of Daniel 7. As for the rest of the beast, their dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period of time. The contrast is between verse 11 and 12. The kingdom of the beast in verse 11 is destroyed and completely done away with. That's different than the way the other empires ceased to exist. When Babylon was conquered by the Medes and Persians, it didn't just stop existing one day. The Medes and Persians set up a throne at Babylon. Elements of the Babylonian empire continued on and were absorbed into the Medo-Persian empire. And when the Medes and the Persians were destroyed by the Greeks, it didn't stop in one day. The empire and the characteristics of that empire continued on and was absorbed into the Greek empire. Same with the Roman Empire. It continued on down through the centuries till it collapsed from within. But this final empire will be brought to an end with an abruptness and a finality that is different from all preceding empires. Because when Jesus Christ intervenes, it will be done and over and all remnants and characteristics of earthly empires will be done away with. And He will establish His kingdom in righteousness. over all the earth. So that's the contrast being drawn. You come down for the interpretation. Verse 15, as for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within me. The visions in my mind kept alarming me. Realize that we are reading this and understanding things about it that Daniel did not understand. And so he approaches one of the angels and wants to know the interpretation of these things. So the angel tells him. Verse 17, these great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth. So how do you know the beast represent a king or a kingdom? Well, we're told. But the saints of the highest one will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever for all ages to come. So that's a summary of the vision. We're talking about earthly empires that will finally be replaced by the kingdom of God in which the people of God will reign forever. Then I desire to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast. That's the one that puzzles Daniel. Verse 20, "...and the meaning of the ten horns that were on his head." And then what about that little horn? And I saw that little horn, verse 21, "...kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them, until the Ancient of Days come, and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One. And the time came for them to take possession of the kingdom." You see what's happening here? The Antichrist, the little horn, persecuting the people of God until Christ intervenes and establishes His kingdom. Verse 23, the angel said, the fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom, different from all other kingdoms. Verse 24, as for the ten horns out of this kingdom. That's why we talk about the ten horns of the ten nations of being a revival of the Roman Empire. It's the iron of the legs. And feet carried into the toes in Daniel, chapter two, it's the ten horns that come out of the fourth kingdom, Rome. Another will arise after them. Now, this is directly related to where we are in Revelation 17. Same information. Another will arise after them. He will be different from the previous ones. He will subdue three kings. So, in His solidifying of power, He replaces three of the kings and becomes dominant over three of the nations or kingdoms comprising this ten-nation confederacy. He will speak out against the Most High. Where down the saints of the highest ones? And they will be given into his time, the end of verse 25, for a time, times, and a half time. A time, two times, and a half time. Three and a half times. We know from the book of Revelation, and we'll see that again today, that we're talking about three and a half years. So you see that the beast will rule supremely and sovereignly for three and a half years, the last half of the tribulation. Would indicate then that the ten nation confederacy is dominant during the first three and a half years. And the time framework will be given at the end of Daniel chapter 9, the 70th week of Daniel, which is divided in the middle. And it's there that the beast, the Antichrist, the prince that shall come, will assume world domination. He'll rule for a time, times and a half time. Then, verse 26 of Daniel 7, the court will sit for judgment, his dominion will be taken away, annihilated, destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, the dominion, the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the highest one. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom and all the dominions will serve and obey him. I don't think that's happened yet. I don't think that it takes a genius to look around and say all the kingdoms of the earth have not become subjected. To the saints of God. We really have trouble if this is the kingdom we're studying in Bible prophecy. That's the background for Revelation. Let's come over to the book of Revelation, chapter 17, verse 9. Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains. And, verse 10, and are seven kings. And that's the connection we saw last time. The seven heads are seven mountains are seven kings. The heads, the mountains and the kings are all representing the same thing. Seven. Now we're told, five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come. And in the context we're talking about earthly kingdoms or empires. The same thing we saw in Daniel chapter 2, the same thing we saw in Daniel chapter 7. These heads are mountains, are kings. I didn't know the head is a king. It says they are kings. I didn't know the mountain is a king or a kingdom. It says they are kings. And he tells us, furthermore, five have fallen and then one is. Well, we start with the one is. What empire was ruling, as John wrote? The Roman Empire. No problem. The one that is, as John writes, is that fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, the Roman Empire. Well, before that, five empires had fallen. Wait a minute, we've lost count here. Daniel only saw four. And we already have six. Five have fallen and one is. The one is, is Rome. That was the fourth one in Daniel's vision. It's the sixth one in John. Well, remember, Daniel began where he was, with Babylon, and went forward into history. What we have in Revelation 17 is John going back to the beginning of earthly empires. So before Babylon, you had Assyria. Before Assyria, you had Egypt. You say, well, how do you know they're the two empires? Read your Bible. Where do you pick up the nation Israel as a nation? They went down into what country as a family? Egypt. And came out of what country as a great nation? Egypt. What is the first nation in the Bible that we have to deal with as an earthly empire? that is persecuting the people of God and plays a significant role in the biblical account of the people of God, the nation Egypt. And where do we fit Assyria? Well, if you're with us in our studies of 2 Kings, we're coming to the nation Assyria. It is the nation that in 722 will conquer the northern kingdom. The ten tribes carry them away into captivity so that they are never restored as the northern kingdom again. So, you have Assyria. as the dominant nation, followed by Babylon. Now we've got the flow. So, five have fallen. The five that have fallen are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece. That's five. One is. That's Rome. The other has not yet come, and when he comes, he must remain a little while. Well, that sounds like what we read in the book of Daniel, chapter 7. The other has not yet come. When He comes, He must remain a little while. These ten horns in verse 12, 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. So, these ten horns are ten kings and they're going to have a kingdom. The ten of them together are going to comprise a kingdom. So, I take it, five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come. Well, according to Daniel chapter 2 and Daniel chapter 7 and now Revelation chapter 17, the form of earthly empire yet to come is the ten toes, the ten horns. These ten kings or kingdoms that will be joined together to form a revived or continuing form of the Roman Empire, a confederacy that will be as strong as iron, that will partake of the character of the fourth beast, and yet it will be brittle as clay. It won't be mixed together. That's the seventh empire. The one that was yet future from John's perspective. Okay, look at verse 11. The beast which was and is not is himself also an eighth, is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. We say, well, wait a minute here. We had seven empires and seven heads, seven mountains, seven kings. Now you tell me there's an eighth. Why didn't he have eight heads with eight mountains with eight kings? Well, God is very, very specific in His unfolding of what is going to take place. The eighth kingdom is the beast himself, verse 11 says. But he's not truly an eighth in a separate way, because he's one of the seven. Because remember, he was one of the horns, a little horn coming up among them. He established sovereignty over three of the kings or kingdoms. But he was one of the seven in that he belonged to the seventh empire, the ten-nation confederacy. But because he assumes world power, And a uniqueness all his own for the last three and a half years, he really qualifies as an 8th. But he's really of the 7th, because he comes out of the 7th empire directly. So you see how precise and clear biblical prophecy is. Really talking about 7 major empires, because the 10 horns will be in power over the entire 70th week of Daniel. But for the last half of that 70th week, the last three and a half years, according to verse 13, they have one purpose. They give their power and authority to the beast. They willingly subject themselves to him and give him full power and authority to reign. That doesn't mean they go away, but they will now function under his sovereignty and control. I think that what marks the transition here is what we studied back in chapter 13. Turn back there. And let me remind you of chapter 12, verse 3, while you're going back. Revelation chapter 12, verse 3. Another sign appeared in heaven. Behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns. Same picture, but now the seven heads and ten horns are on the dragon, who is interpreted as Satan down in verse 9 of chapter 12. And we noted that's because these earthly empires, are ultimately controlled and empowered by Satan himself. And that includes the ten horns, which are the final form of these empires. Then you come to chapter 13, verse 1, I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads. This is the beast that was and is not, is about to come out of the beast and go to destruction, according to Revelation 17, 8. He comes out of the abyss. He is directly. and more completely than anyone else, empowered by Satan. Satan cannot become incarnate as God did in Jesus Christ when Christ was born into the human race. But the beast, the Antichrist, will be the closest that Satan has ever come to that. He will be the man most fully and completely empowered and enabled by Satan. And in Revelation 13, To the end of verse 2 we're told, the dragon gave him his power and his throne and his great authority. Note in verse 2 as well, this final form of earthly government is a composite of all previous empires. They come to a climax in him. So you see the animals from Daniel chapter 7 included here. He's like a leopard, like a bear, like a lion. He's empowered by the dragon. I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain. His fatal wound was healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast. They worshipped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast. They worshipped the beast, saying he was like the beast who was able to make war against him. There was given him a mouth speaking arrogant words. Blasphemy's authority to act for forty-two months was given him." We saw in Daniel 7 what? He reigns for a time, times and a half time. Forty-two months, three and a half years. The context here, it seems, the transition point, is he functions as a powerful influence among the ten horns, as one of them. But in the middle of the seventieth week of Daniel, evidently, he suffers a mortal wound. Perhaps it's part of his replacing three, taking sovereignty over three of the nations or kingdoms. But then he is miraculously restored to life. Again, Satan following the counterfeit. of mimicking the resurrection of Christ. This event is so overwhelming and awesome that the world is convinced that this indeed is God in the flesh. And the nations in that ten-nation confederacy are all in agreement that it's our privilege and honor to give Him the authority to rule over us, to bow in His presence. Is that not our great privilege as the people of Jesus Christ to bow before Him to acknowledge His authority over all and all aspects of our lives. So, here the worshippers of the dragon bow before the Antichrist that He has provided. And by this dramatic event, evidently, He is placed into a position to take world power. So, the one who was one of the seven, because he was part of that first three and a half years as a horn, becomes the eighth. But he's really one of the previous seven empires. And verse 7 of Revelation 13, it was given to him to make war with the saints, to overcome them. And that's the same thing we read in Daniel chapter 7. He makes war with the saints. Then down to the events of verses 11 and following, where you see the false prophet who works to direct the worship of the world, in verse 12, to this beast who had the fatal wound and was made alive. False prophets' ministry imitates and counterfeits the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said concerning the Holy Spirit, when I send him from heaven and he comes, he shall direct your attention to me. He shall glorify me. And the false prophet serves that purpose on earth in directing the worship of the world to the Antichrist and thus to Satan. His deity, his proclaimed deity, is validated by signs, wonders and miracles. And I think that's the background and the framework, evidently, as we come over to chapter 17. When you read in verse 13, these have one purpose, these ten horns, these ten kings with their kingdoms have one purpose, they give their power and authority to the beast. Now, verse 12 said these ten horns, which you saw are ten kings, they have not yet received a kingdom. As John wrote, they hadn't received a kingdom. They will. They receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. One hour indicates their reign will be a short duration. In fact, of all the major empires we're talking about, beginning with Egypt, coming down through Rome, none of them only lasted seven years. And this will be divided into two three-and-a-half-year segments. So, indeed, it is a short period. They receive their authority as kings with the beast for one hour. So, that fits. During the first three-and-a-half years, they receive their kingship, their authority. And that's in the context of the time that the beast gets his as well. Because remember, Daniel 7, he comes up from among these horns, part of them. So, it's during that 70th week of Daniel that we're talking about, that they get their power. To say, well, I don't get that idea of a break in Daniel chapter 2. You know, I don't find that the image that Daniel saw is cut off at the ankles, and there's a great gap of time. Or in Daniel chapter 7, here is this beast, and now the horns. are cut off and there's a great gap. No, but that fits biblical prophecy. As it unfolds throughout Old Testament consistently, the church is not in view. God's plan and program for the nation Israel as a nation is unfolded. So we can skip from Acts chapter 1 down to Revelation chapter 6 in the chronological flow of events. And God just saw fit not to put it in there. Just like in numerous passages, he puts the first and second coming of Christ sandwiched together in the Old Testament. And Peter writes and says the Old Testament prophets couldn't figure out how the Messiah could come, suffer, and die, and also rule, reign, and glory. It didn't make any sense. Is He going to come, suffer, and die, or is He going to rule, reign, and glory? And it says this is going to happen when He comes. Well, the fact of the matter is He's coming twice. And it came the first time, and there's a gap of 2,000 years. But if you read Old Testament prophecy, prophets couldn't figure that out. So it's consistent with Old Testament prophecy, so we're not reading something into it here. And the fact that the Old Testament promises a literal earthly kingdom in which the lion and the lamb will lie down together, the ox will eat straw like an ox, and the little child will play on the hole of a poisonous snake. The little child shall lead them. All of those things, obviously, it's not happening. We don't live in the environment that Isaiah prophesied about, where we don't need to teach every man his neighbor, because the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. If you think that's the case today, I think you're dead. I mean, it's just not the case. We live in a world characterized and described in the Bible as darkness, needing redemption. So I say the kingdom is not established, and the kingdom will be established in the days of those kings. And the reign of the last of these, the beast, the little horn, will be dramatically brought to an end by the return of Christ. We're at the exact place that Daniel 2 took us, that Daniel 7 took us, because we go from the events of Revelation 17 and 18 to Revelation 19. It's the return of Christ that brings to an end the reign of the beast. And we'll see that at the end of chapter 19, because Christ returns to earth, takes hold of the beast and the false prophet, and casts them in for the lake of fire. So, Daniel 2, Daniel 7, Revelation 17, 19, all picturing the same event, an event that is yet future. So, as we look toward coming events, we see different things that will be taking place, and we've talked about a variety of these as we move through the book of Revelation. One of the most significant events will be as the Roman Empire is revived, and brought together as a power again, we will see ten nations federated together from the old Roman Empire to restore its power. I take it that is a yet future event, but I think that we may be seeing the formulation of that prophesied event taking place in our own day. Now, I want to say it that way. We may be seeing. I cannot tell you this is guaranteed. What is going to lead to this event? But I think when we see a number of the things that the Bible says will take place in the 70th week of Daniel beginning to unfold, there is good reason to at least think that we may well be nearing the return of the Lord. I think one of the most interesting and fascinating things taking place in the world today is the ten nation confederacy. being formulated in Europe. Now, it's not a 10-nation confederacy, and they envision it perhaps larger. Right now, it's a 12-nation confederacy called the European Community or the European Union. I was fascinated as I did some more reading on this whole area to see that what they are moving toward by their own statement and declared purpose is a United States of Europe. That will be a federation of states joined together as a strong empire but maintaining the individual sovereignty and uniqueness of each member nation." I said, boy, that sounds an awful lot like the iron and clay of Daniel chapter 2. I picked up a book in a bookstore, a secular bookstore, not a Christian bookstore. The writer is not a Christian. It's entitled, After 1992, The United States of Europe. It's written by Ernest Wistrick. The back of the book says, in this provocative acclaimed study, Ernest Wisterich presents a powerful vision of a united and unified Europe. Ernest Wisterich is Vice President of the International European Movement, was until 1986 Director of the European Movement in Britain. Ernest Wisterich argues that the changes of 1992 will precipitate the transformation of the European community into a full political and economic union, organized according to federal principles. Federal principles being you have a central government, Handling all the affairs of overseeing its member states or nations That they cannot better do for themselves The forward to the book he was for 17 years the director of the British section of the European movement He has been the key organizer of support over the most crucial years for Britain's integration into Western Europe He says unfettered national sovereignty is obsolete The idea that France can go on as an independent national entity without being aligned with other nations or Britain or whatever, he says, is obsolete. Economic and political independence is giving way to growing interdependence between nation states. The major task for the world today is to devise policies to deal with global problems, create appropriate political structures to ensure that the policies are put into effect. I mean, we hear this all, don't we, in our own country. The question is, how should the world be organized? Later, he talks about, after talking about the essence of federalism in the decentralization of power and the federal government exercising responsibilities that are more effectively done by the federal government rather than the individual states. The European community was founded to deal with the changing political and economic world and has advanced quite far along the federal road towards a European Union. This is its explicit objective, a federal road ending in European unity. Its legal status stems from a constitution setting up the community. The constitution and community laws are binding on member states. The European community is governed by an independent executive in the form of the European Commission. This is answerable directly to the elected European Parliament. It has powers to dismiss the community. The Parliament does. Community laws take precedent over national legislation. For all practical purposes, by the end of 1992, national frontiers between the 12 member states will disappear. The objective is to create a single European economy that is more dynamic, faster growing, creating millions of jobs, able to compete on equal terms with the USA and Japan. The Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community in 1958. I think even the title of that establishing treaty is significant. It was the Treaty of Rome in a later part of the book. Europe's role in the world. In 1987, the European community had a population of 320 million. That compares to the population of the United States, 234 million. Almost 90 million more people. Japan had 200 million. 120 less million. The community share of world trade was about the same, one percentage more than the United States' percentage of world trade, and double that of Japan's percentage. As these figures demonstrate, the European community is an economic giant, potentially equal to other economic superpowers. Keep that in mind when we study Chapter 18 and the economic impact of the destruction of Babylon. However, before all these things can happen, before Europe gets all the benefits of being united together. The European community will have to transform itself into what Winston Churchill, in his speech in Zurich in 1946, described as, quote, a kind of United States of Europe. But will this happen? Is there sufficient political will to make it happen? Well, Jacques Delors, the president of the European Commission, gave a speech to the European Parliament in 1988 and said within 10 years, 80% of economic legislation, maybe even fiscal and social legislation will come from the community, not from individual states. German Chancellor Kohl spoke in 1988 and said European Union is no longer a distant vision. This is the claim also of the Belgian premier and Italian rulers. He concludes this discussion. On this key issue of Britain's future destiny, Mrs. Thatcher was forced to resign her premiership. His point there is, somebody tried to oppose this union, this is a sample of their destiny. Because his point is, let Britain go their own way. For 15 years they tried that and they became an economic basket case. So in other words, you can't function if you're not going to become part of this union. He gives you something of the history of union in Europe. You know where he starts? European history recounts several attempts to unite the continent under single rule. In the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, the Roman Empire included among all its territories, Europe. Then you have Charlemagne in 800. In the 16th century, you had Charles V. In the early 1800s, you had Napoleon. Finally, Hitler by 1942. conquered parts of Europe in his pursuit of his goal of a greater Germany that would last, how long? A thousand years. Interesting. When Satan wants to try to undertake mimicking God's program, he's read Revelation 20. He even believes it, contrary to some students of Revelation 20. Then he concludes this paragraph on history. Yet apart from the Roman Empire, none of the others endured for long. Most of them did not survive their architects. You know what he says? You have to go back to the Roman Empire, 1st and 2nd century, to find any real union of Europe. However, even that was imposed upon the people by military power. Serious considerations to unite Europe apart from military force didn't start until this century. So you think, oh, you're making up things that are occurring. Well, here's his observation. A seminal book published in 1908 addressed this view, and he quotes from the 1930s revision of this book. Just listen to this one statement. This person is lamenting the fact, remember he wrote in 1908, quoting from the revised edition of 33, considering what would have happened if Europe had come together as a United States of Europe, like America came together as the United States of America. If by some happy accident of European history, some form of federal bond had been left as a legacy, say, of the Roman Empire, so that we had today a United States of Europe, you know what he says? 1908. If we had had a legacy of the Roman Empire, that would have left us to be a United States of Europe. And say, what we need is a revival of the Roman Empire, so we could be federated together. We talk about the iron continues on. The horns are on the last beast. They say, do you have to make this up because you're a Christian? No, you can go to the bookstore and buy an advocate of European Union who is not writing from a Christian perspective. We talk about the Babylonian system that pervades earthly empires and are amalgamated together in this final empire. Interesting, and we haven't had time, the economic, social, political, military and all of that that pervades this is obviously the subject of the book. But you know, the Babylonian system that is written on all the empires of the world and is key now in this final form of earthly empire is infiltrating the world religiously, politically and commercially. in opposing the purposes of God. I was interested under the social policy of the European community. Let me just read you what it says here. Another major concern of the social policy that's of the European community is the assurance of equal opportunities for women. Women are disadvantaged as against men, both in employment, where equality of working conditions is still a long way from being achieved, female unemployment, The Treaty of Rome expressly laid down equal pay for equal work. Since then, new legislation has been added to guarantee equal treatment. Furthermore, all discrimination in social security legislation is now forbidden. Positive measures are encouraged to change attitudes, attract women into occupations formerly held by men. About 10 pages later, as he's talking about rights and freedoms, Protection for women against discrimination on the grounds of their sex has been enshrined in community law. That's his words, enshrined in community law. And he goes on giving examples. Then he says, the European Court of Justice, which is like the Supreme Court for the European Community, the European Court of Justice has made many judgments in these areas. And he gives examples of their judgment. I find this significant because this also pervades the Babylonian system that characterizes earthly empires. And we'll characterize this final form of the Roman Empire. They say, oh, no discrimination. We say, well, that sounds right. You know, we shouldn't have discrimination. Equal work, equal pay, you know, pervades all. There should be no discrimination. But you know what happens? No discrimination becomes no differentiation. You are not allowed to differentiate. between a man and a woman. And as soon as you do, you are guilty of discriminating in all part of the Babylonian system that opposes what? God's plan from the creation that He made a man as a man and a woman as a woman, and they complement one another, but they are distinct from one another and function differently than one another. I think you and I as believers ought to be aware, and I thought it was interesting that he wants to make a point of that, that this is part of the policy of this revived Roman Empire. And what it really is, is removing any recognition of distinctions between men and women. But it's all done under the guise of no discrimination. But it really becomes a policy of no differentiation. And we see this being worked out, of course, in our own day, in our own country. Everything that might make a distinction is viewed as being guilty of discriminating. And we need to keep our feet on the ground biblically in this area. Otherwise, we can say, oh yeah, we're against discrimination as well. Discrimination, as it would be used in a wrong sense, we would say, of course. But the policy that's being implemented in our world is a policy of no differentiation, which puts us in direct opposition to the Word of God, beginning in Genesis chapter 2, where he made man from the dust of the earth and he made woman from the side part of the man. Well, that's my digression. Two more quotes, I'm done. Almost the European community has many federal features already. Listen to all it has already. Its constitution consists of the treaties which set it up, the many institutional reforms introduced during its existence. The latest among them is the Single European Act. They didn't read you about the Single European Act and what it did, but the very name describes it, doesn't it? Single European Act, the latest amongst them. The Singaporean Act, the guarantor and interpreter of the Constitution is the European Court of Justice, whose judgments are binding on all member states as well as on its citizens. The Communities Council of Ministers has the power to pass laws that override national legislation and are binding on all. It has a directly elected parliament with supervisory powers over the European Commission, the governing organ of the community. It has final say over the community's budget. and increasingly participates in the legislative process. Talks about the commission that functions under the Parliament. And it's interesting, one final quote. From time to time, proposals have been put forward by European statesmen for the election of a President of the European Union to enhance its public image and the democratic legitimacy of its government. More recently, the European Parliament has proposed that the President of the Commission should be elected by the Parliament. Now, I don't know the man's name, but I could tell you someday there is going to be a president of the European Union. We could describe him as the little horn. And he is going to come to the point that all the members of this commission and the parliament are going to agree. He alone ought to rule over us. And we will function under his power, and it's our honor to do so. I've quoted many times, and I meant to go back and see if I could dig it out of my file, an article in Time Magazine, I believe it was, in 1973, where the then-existent members of the European community, as it then existed, said, if we could find a man who could pull us together and lead us, we would follow him if he were the devil himself. Now, they're going to get that wish more literally than they anticipated. What does all this mean? Well, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans in Romans 13, verse 11 and verse 12, almost 2,000 years ago and said, listen, knowing the time that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep, for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone and the day is at hand. Let us, therefore, lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. The Apostle Paul said to the Romans, The night is far spent. The day is at hand. And you and I can sit and look at what, for as much as we can tell in a multiplicity of areas, are events unfolding that are going to come to full fruition in the seventieth week of Daniel after the rapture of the church. How much more imperative is it for us to awaken from sleep, to be alert and aware Realizing that the night is almost gone, the day is at hand, that we ought to be a people. We must be a people living with urgency. Diligently going about the work of the Lord. Because I truly believe in light of biblical scripture that Jesus Christ is going to come in the air to take the church to be with himself before these events all come together in their final form. And the 70th week of Daniel is underway. What days to be living. What a tragedy that some people who profess to be believers are walking around all absorbed in the cares and concerns of this life. We may be living in the very, literally the very last days of the church age. What an opportunity. That leaves one question. What about you? Are you ready for the coming of the Lord? Have you come to recognize that you are a sinner and Jesus Christ came at his first coming to provide redemption by his death on the cross so that you might believe and be spared the wrath to come? If not, today is the day of salvation. It's the day of opportunity for you, by the grace of God, to repent of your sin and believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and be prepared not for wrath to come. but for the blessed hope in even the appearing of the glory of the great God who is our Savior, Jesus Christ. Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the unfolding of future events. Lord, we don't study these simply to satisfy idle curiosity. But, Lord, as we study the unfolding of future events, we're reminded that our God is sovereign and rules over all. That with the mess and the muck and the mire of the sin of the world, with the growing openness of its rebellion against you, of its hatred of you as God, of its defiance of righteousness. Lord, all is taking place according to your purposes. Nothing is out of control. We are moving toward the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Lord, I pray that we as a church might be living in light of the fact that the night is far spent and the day is at hand. For the people living on the brink of the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. May there be an urgency about our service, a diligence. May we take every day as a day to be redeemed in light of the coming of our Lord. Lord, by your grace, I pray for those who do not know you, who are unprepared, who are destined for wrath, By your grace, may they experience the salvation that is found by faith in Christ even today. We pray in his name. Amen.