Are you telling me you believe the little horn is not the beast....
The person who becomes the beast of Revelation 13 goes through a series of stages in his career (for lack of a better word) before he reaches the beast stage.
The person eventually becomes the beast of Revelation. But not at the start.
Those stages are in sequence.
1. the little horn leader of the EU, then;
2. the prince who shall come, then;
3. the Antichrist, King of Israel (illegitimate), then;
4. the revealed man of sin; then;
5. the beast of Revelation
.
.....and the little horn will form an army against the beast when the beast and the muslim nations invade Jerusalem in
Ezekiel 38?
The little horn eventually becomes the beast of Revelation 13. So he cannot form an army against the beast.
The muslim nations invading Israel in Ezekiel 38 will take place right before the beginning of the 7 years. No-one is the beast at that point in time. The leader of the muslim nations is called Gog. Gog is not the beast, but a completely different person.
At the time of the Ezekiel 38 muslim nations invasion, the two notable characters are Gog, the leader of the muslim force; and the little horn the leader of the EU force. It is unlikely that there is actually any combat between the two, because it says God supernatually destroys Gog's muslim army.
The little horn and his EU force will arrive in Israel following that sudden destruction of Gog's army. The driving motive for the ten EU leaders supporting their little horn leader will be to gain control of the all the oil in the middle east, once the muslim armies are destroyed.
See now this was what I was talking about. If the little horn comes out of Europe, Ezekiel would of indicated towards the north, and towards the west as in
Daniel 8:9 if he actually meant northwest, but instead he only said north.
Gog comes from the north, to head up the muslim invasion coalition. The little horn is a different person, heading up a different force, the EU force. The little horn comes from north west of Israel.
From
Daniel 8:9, how did you come to the conclusion northwest of Jerusalem is Greece? It doesn't indicate Greece anywhere in
Daniel 8.
Daniel 8:9 says the little horn waxes strong to the south and to the east, toward the pleasant land (he heads toward Israel, as the prince who shall come). That would mean he comes
from a location north and west of Israel, which is Greece and Europe. Greece is just where he masses his army. I don't know what country the little horn comes from, other than somewhere in Europe.
Actually in Daniel 8, it does speak of the greek empire and the four breakup empires that followed Alexander's death. It says the little horn comes out of one those four breakup empires (it is speaking of the territory), which Greece is one of those four break up empires (sometimes called the Macedonian empire).
8 Therefore the he goat [Alexander the great's Greek empire] waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken [Alexander died] ; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.
9 And
out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant
land.
Didn't you just indicated the little horn is not the beast in the first few sentences you wrote? If the little horn is not the beast, how can he later become the antichrist? Can you prove this little horn will be Jewish?
The person who is the little horn does not become the beast until the latter stages of his career. That is, he does not become the beast until there are only 42 months left in the 7 years. It is the same person of course.
The beast is the person for that last 42 months in Revelation 13. He is called the beast because right before the 42 months, the person will be killed and then brought back to life. When he is brought back to life, he becomes possessed by the disembodied spirit of another person, an ancient person called the beast in the bottomless pit. imo, that person is the biblical character Nimrod.
Once the person becomes possessed by Nimrod's spirit (like demonic possession), that earns the person the title of the "beast". He is no longer the Antichrist, btw, when he becomes the beast. I will explain....
Regarding the term and concept of the Antichrist, you are going to get confused if you don't understand that term. And to understand the term Antichrist, a person must understand the term "the Christ".
The Christ in Jewish belief framework means the great hoped for King of Israel, descended from David, that God would send to lead Israel and the world into the messianic age of peace and harmony. The key is that he has to be the King of Israel.
This is well established, and what the disciples were expecting in Jesus. Even the thief, the unrepentant one, who was on the cross next to Jesus was aware of this, as he mocked Jesus.
32 Let
Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him.
So since Christ means the King of Israel, the Antichrist means someone who becomes the King of Israel, instead of Jesus the rightful King. The Jews (Judaism) call that person the mashaich, which we would say messiah. And many of the Jews expect the mashaich to arrive following Gog/Magog. Which they will mistakeningly think the little horn person is their mashiaich.
To become the King of Israel, descendant of David, the person has to be a Jew.
After the Jews embrace the little horn as their messiah, and he is anointed the King of Israel.
That's when the person officially become the Antichrist.
Everything seems to go along smoothly for 3 years, 4 months, there abouts. So much so, there will be a great falling away in Christianity from believing that Jesus is the messiah during that time (2thessalonians2, the great falling away).
Then comes the big shakeup. The Jew's King of Israel (Antichrist) believes in his heart that he has achieved God-hood. He goes in the temple, sits, claiming to be God. The Jews will be mortified over it, and will reject him from continuing as their King of Israel.
That ends his time as the Antichrist. And is why you don't see the term Antichrist in Revelation - because Revelation is after his Antichrist stage and is into his beast stage.
God has the person killed for his audacious claim of being God, Ezekiel 28:1-10. Then in total disdain for the person in Isaiah 14:18-20 brings him back alive.... to shortly 42 months later to be cast alive into the lake of fire, the second death.
During that 42 months, the person is the beast, empowered by Satan, and possessed by the unclean spirit of Nimrod (it may be someone else, but Nimrod is my opinion). But technically it is wrong to call the person the Antichrist at his beast stage.
I don't think this scenario will work out. The tribulation is around the corner and there's not enough time for a Jewish little horn to come into power and be leader of the EU and transform Europe into 10 governments to save Israel from an invasion by the beast in
Ezekiel 38 before the start of the tribulation. Plus you would also need to prove
Ezekiel 38 happens before the tribulation.
Well, I am 67 and have studied this particular subject for the past 44 years, nearly everyday.... so I feel quiet certain of that scenario. Of course, I can't explain everything in the course of a few posts.
The are not 10 governments, but leaders (kings, the bible term) of one kingdom (the Eu), the fourth empire, the Roman empire end times. We just haven't got to that stage yet. The EU started out with the treaty of Rome, as the European Economic Community, then became the European Community, then became the European Union... which is where we are now. But problems with financial crisis will necessitate a more federalized form government for the EU, which will be that ten leader form, with one person over them - the little horn. This could happen quiet quickly.
Ezekiel 38, Gog/Magog takes place before the seven years. This can be shown in Ezekiel 39.
In Ezekiel 39:4 is the feast on the dead bodies of Gog's army by the birds and wild beasts. Then there is the clean-up which is detailed through 39:16. Including 7 years following, which the war implements are burned in Israel.
Ezekiel 39:16 ends the clean up and no further mention of Gog's army for the rest of the chapter. Following Ezekiel 39:16 there is a jump in time, the 7 years (the same 7 years of Daniel 9:27), and at the end of those 7 years in Ezekiel 39:17-20 is the Armageddon feast on the dead bodies which Jesus's judges those armies gathered to fight him (Revelation 19:19-21).
So we can tell by the two feasts (the Gog's army feast in Ezekiel 39:4) and then 7 years later, the Armageddon feast in Ezekiel 39:17-20.
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