I've never heard of Herod defiling the temple and banning Jewish religious worship, so no.
Take the question out of the context of Jewish beliefs about the OT and put it into the context of the Messiah has come.
Herod the Great "defiling the temple" = He tried to kill Christ.
He tried to "ban the worship" of the Messiah.
If Herod and the religious leaders had done what they should have done. They would have declared the birth of the Messiah and stopped the animal sacrifices because "that which is perfect" had come.
They didn't do that though. They conducted their own agenda:
1. To maintain political power.
2. And to play the cards Satan had given them in Satan's attempt to thwart the redemption plan.
In the end though; they ended up fulfilling it; just as Scripture declared they would.
but I'm not convinced of that or any other view, so I find what you say about the Herods very interesting. I've often wondered if they may be Judean instead of Gentile kings.
And YES! And consider Revelation. "Babylon the mother of harlots" are the people who killed their own prophets.
Keep in mind the Jewish leaders; (who KNEW Jesus was the Messiah. We know this because of what Nicodemus said to Jesus. "We know you come from God....".) brought the one they knew was their Messiah to a gentile leader to be executed.
Interestingly, think about this from a psychological standpoint of "We are God's chosen people." (who kill the Messiah that You sent us). But it wasn't really us that did it. It was the Romans! (Don't look over here; look over there! = this still goes on today.)
Obviously too though there were a lot of Jews who were converted; so this wasn't the entire nation. Yet the rejection of Jesus Christ (even today) is still the "official (required) stand" of adherence to that religious system.
The kings being Judean, jives with the rest of Scripture.
Which you got me thinking of something here. Is there a prophecy that the Messiah's own nation would kill him. I'm not sure there's a prophecy specific to that? There might be that I'm not aware of.
I am convinced that Antiochus IV fulfilled the wars with the king of the South etc in Daniel 8 and 11, and that his self-exaltation and activities with regard to his attempts to stamp out the worship of the biblical God and all Jewish forms of worship, and his placing an idol of Zeus in the sanctuary, makes him the key Old Testament type of the man of sin.
Yes, this is the narrative a lot of us have been taught. I encountered something very interesting though when I went looking for information about the Maccabean era from the Greek perspective.
The secular blurb in the official records of the Seleucid empire simply states there were riots in Jerusalem and this is why Antiochus IV stepped in. Now other records closer to the geographical area say that Antiochus IV had found a Greek merchant held captive in the temple; that had been abducted from another area of the empire and had been told by a servant who was providing him with food that he was to be used in a human ritual sacrifice that the Jews had vowed to "hate the Greeks forever". And according to that record; that was the reason Antiochus shut down the animal sacrifices.
Now if you know anything about the history of these accusations that have followed Jews throughout millennia. You get the "context" of where this came from.
The official records from the Seleucid empire didn't say anything about human sacrifices; just that there were riots. So as we see similar to today; there's two competing narratives for who's version of history gets to be broadcast as "the truth". The real truth is usually somewhere between the two narratives.
I agree with what you say about the 8th king. He is one of the seven, and the ten kings of the Revelation will reign with him for one hour, handing over their own power and authority to him. Total 11 kings, one of which is the head of all the others. And they had not received a kingdom as yet when the 6th king existed, and that was when John received the Revelation.
Correct, the text says this.
So the 10 kings can only be the 7th head/mountain/kingdom.
Interesting observation. I'd never picked that out of the text. Not saying you're wrong. I just never noticed that before. I'll have to go look at it again.
The 8th is the beast from the abyss and is one of the 7. His kingdom is also one that existed before John received the Revelation, and will reappear.
Yes, I picked that up too. I think the "origin" of that beast started with the conceptualization of the idea of the "global empire of Rome". Rome was the "empire of the world" as it was known at the time. Thus the "political component" of the beast system's development.
Yet the "religious system" of what that beast system "grows" into; comes out of the Babylonian captivity. What that "religious system" (as it applied to the rebellious of Judea who came out of the Babylonian captivity) ultimately becomes is what we today call Rabbinic Judaism. Modern Judaism is an offshoot of the Pharisees.
The "8th king" is the system itself; which is ultimately ruled by Satan. Now as for a political kingdom that re-emerges thousands of years later? Well that's only happened once in the history of earth (that I'm aware of). Which looking at it in the context of Revelation; makes it pretty ominous for that nation.
Not sure if this is a counterfeit "resurrection" of a human, or simply another human in charge of a kingdom that became "resurrected" so to speak. The former possibility sounds bizarre to me (that of a "resurrected" human - but it's possible if Satan feels the need to match - at least through an illusion - Christ's resurrection from the dead).
I think you're "on the money" here. And that yes; it is an illusion, because Satan can't raise the dead. In reality though, the whole thing is an illusion, because it's a group of people trying to force a particularly narrative upon the population of the rest of earth. And the whole narrative is built on lies.
Now if you start digging through history. (Starting about 1830's) You'll find it. It's pretty glaringly obvious. The most "politically correct" terminology you'll hear today is "Zionism".
Now "resurrected messiah figure"? Will that actually literally "show up" before the end? I don't know the answer to that. I tend to lean toward "No... that's too obvious." But I could be wrong on that too.
Either way, it's all a fake narrative. It's not really a fulfillment of prophecy. Because fundamentally; Christ fulfilled the Scripture.
So if the man of sin points by way of the title "son of perdition" back to Judas Iscariot the betrayer, as well as to Epiphanes ("God manifest") Antiochus IV, and Daniel's 4th beast and Daniel 12 are projecting forward, then the Bible is telling us that Antiochus IV is the type of the 8th king of the Revelation - but also of the man of sin. Which means that the lying wonders mentioned by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2 are not performed by the man of sin himself, but by the false prophet of Revelation 13, and the man of sin = the beast.
I think you are "seeing the forest"; but looking at the wrong tree.
Judas Iscariot is clearly named as "the son of perdition" / "that Scripture might be fulfilled". Now what sort of carry over this has in relation to the end? I don't know? If there is some sort of information about Judas that is known to the global elites, the Vatican or some other resource of historical information; it's not made its why to the surface for public research. I've found very little in regards to who Judas was connected to in history. I've sen some theories; none of which I thought had any solid evidence of being true.
But yes, I believe you are correct about the lying signs and wonders being performed by false prophets; and the "man of sin" very well may be the beast. But I'm not sure what false prophets you may be contemplating? Modern Christendom has a lot of false prophets with lying signs and wonders. I'm taking for granted that you may already be aware of this though.
I used to believe that "all" (Greek pas, which sometimes means "every" but not always - not each and every (pas) person in Judea and Jerusalem went to john to get baptized) meant all the nations of the earth. But I've come more and more to understand Babylon the Great as the anti-thesis of New Jerusalem, and the type of this is the faithful remnant of Jews who refused to apostatize in any given period in Israel's history being the type of New Jerusalem, and the apostatizing, unfaithful Jews being the kings of the earth (
Revelation 1:5-6) fornicating with their mother, Babylon the Great, who sits on many waters, so is Catholic.
Well that's an interesting twist on the conventional narrative that I don't think I've seen before.
I think you are correct though that there's definitely a juxtaposed comparison being made in Scripture between New Jerusalem and corrupt earthy Jerusalem. Revelation 11:8 is pretty clear that the city is Jerusalem. Jesus was not crucified "outside the city gate" of Rome. (Jerusalem also sits on 7 hills.)
Any religious variant though that is not.... (I'm trying to pick words carefully because today many of these words are "politically charged")... true Christianity. (Maybe that's the best way to put it?) is apostasy. Now even in large apostate "churches"; I believe God still has His people that He eventually leads out of those groups. But now that the Messiah is on the scene; any religious system that doesn't recognize that He is the Messiah, is apostate. Now that's not a "politically correct" statement to make; but it is true.
Ever noticed how "the kings of the earth" who committed fornication with Babylon the Great wailed and wept over her when she was destroyed? They could hardly be the same as the ten kings who will "hate the harlot, make her desoltae and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire" She has a kingdom over the kings of the earth, is described as a city - the anti-thesis of New Jerusalem - and the waters where she sits are "peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues" - catholic.(
Revelation 17:15-18).
Now I agree that "Roman Catholicism" as a political (and religious) entity is part of the "beast system". But it is not the sole part. All the political powers that be are also part of that system and so is the vast majority of Protestantism, Eastern Orthodox, Judaism, Islam... communism, socialism, darwin(sim).... It's a long list of ideologies. Any religious system that has enjoined itself to the political power base structure is part of "the beast system".
Again, I think you are seeing the forest but focusing on a couple of individual trees. The "beast system" is a lot bigger than that.
Regardless, I believe that for sure he will use the banking system and the integrated computerized digitalized one-world system to achieve his goals. And maybe quite a lot of computer produced VR imaging too. South Africa has gone backwards a lot, service delivery collpasing everywhere, but it has always been and remains way ahead with regard to the way everything is linked to your ID number and without your ID card and proof of Residence (a bill sent to your address or some other) you cannot have a bank account, you cannot own a sim card for your mobile, you cannot go to school, you cannot work, and I've only listed a few things you cannot do. You cannot bank without it. Period, and the banks are now pushing for no fiat currency wherever you pay, and no debit cards or credit cards. Finger-printing, facial images (mobile banking), and scan to pay - for anything and everything - is the way they're trying to get everyone to go.
True that technology is what makes the global "beast system" possible. And those that are "running the levers" are going to try and accomplish this. How far they will get before the end comes; I don't know. But I agree, they are definitely going to try.
If you start digging through the language in Revelation about "mark of the beast". You'll see two very interesting things emerge.
There's two words for "receive" the "mark".
1. This is a mark imposed upon groups of people who aren't necessarily "willing" participants. That word "receive" actually means "siege trench". This is the they must "receive" that mark to "buy and sell". It's a component of an economic system. That aspect of "the beast system" I think is already in play. We all have bank cards, account numbers, credit card / debit card numbers, social security / tax ID numbers... We all have IP addresses. That I think is the "siege trench" aspect of the "beast system" that has been imposed on all of us.
2. The second "receive" means: to run after and take hold of. Those people enjoin themselves for the sake of "spiritual" power. They've "sold their souls to the devil" for what ever it is they are seeking. (The base of what they desire is power.) They could be athletes, entertainers, politicians, business people etc. Not that all athletes, entertainers, politicians or business people who are in that system are there to "worship the beast"; but the ones that are become noticeable for that allegiance to Satan; (even if that allegiance isn't obvious - it wasn't obvious with Judas); if that makes sense?
Again, I think the picture is a lot bigger than the widow you are looking through.
