NOW YOU SAY the first three Beasts are talking about
(and I quote) "end-time nations". Which is it Dougg?
You cannot have it BOTH ways.
You said
The three beasts, allowed to continue for a season and a time is just talking about the end times nations,
The four beasts coming out of the sea in Daniel 7 are the 4 ancient empires of Babylonian, Medes-Persian, Greeks, Romans.
In the end times, Revelation 13, is the fourth beast (of Daniel 7 having ten kings, represented by the ten horns in Revelation) coming out of the sea in Revelation 13:1. In Revelation 13:2, the fourth beast (of Daniel 7) is described as having a composite body parts of the other 3 ancient empires.
Mouth - lion
feet - bear
body - leopard
What that means is that the fourth empire in the end times, the EU, the kingdom of the beast person with 42 months left will have gained control of the territories that were once part of the three ancient empires. And the reason being the EU following Gog/Magog at the start of the 7 years will have rushed into the middle east, on the premise of being peace keeper, but really to gain control of all the oil. There may be some resistance in some of those nations at first, but the rider on the white horse, does some battles which he wins, it seems to indicate, at the beginning of the 7 years.
That the beast has a mouth of lion, and that mouth speaks great things and blasphemes, it indicates that the head that is mortally wounded and come back alive (having a lion's mouth) is more prominent, i.e. larger, than the other heads.
Since there are no crowns on the seven heads in Revelation 13, unlike in Revelation 12 which the heads have crowns, it indicates that prophecy of the 7 kings is over with 42 moths left, and that king 7 is the one that has been mortally wounded and healed.
King 7 is the forthcoming little horn person coming out of the fourth empire in the end times, i.e. the leader of the EU. And the ten kings are leaders in the EU as well, not necessarily over ten individual nations in the EU. But making up the EU executive branch. Could be in similarity, to the U.S. president's cabinet members. But not known at this time.
So in the end times, after Jesus has returned, it is the end times nations in the territories once held by those three ancient empires that will be allowed to continue into the millennium, but their dominion, i.e. self rule will not be free as they want. Jesus is going to rule the nations with a rod of iron.
The european nations will still continue as separated nations, ruled over by Jesus with a rod of iron, but not as a union of nations - a Roman Empire any more.
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