Genesis
3:1 Now the serpent [satan ....
Isaiah 14:12-17;
Ezekiel 28:12-19;
Revelation 12:9] was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.
3:15 And I will put enmity [hostility] between thee and the woman, and between thy seed [satan and his followers] and her seed [Jesus Christ and His followers]; it shall bruise thy [satan's] head [ultimate destruction], and thou shalt bruise His [the Lord's] heel [temporary wounding at the cross].
Humans began to organize into cities shortly after the Lord's judgment of the flood in the days of Noah. These units of human habitation were formed for the purpose of self-government apart from the Lord's providence and direction. [
Genesis 11:1-9]
The units included a king, government, political structure, offensive and defensive military, and cultural, economic, and false religious systems.
Further development led to larger city/states which eventually grew into the size of empires, usually through conquests and various alliances.
The symbolic terms used to describe this lost condition of organized humanity are Mystery Babylon the Great, the "woman", the "great city part", and all of the other cities in the world. [
Revelation 14, 17, 18]
She is the nucleus of the 7 heads [dominions] of the beast of
Revelation 13 and 17, and her existence and influence will be worldwide at the time of the end. [
Revelation 17:15]
She is the symbol and sum total of all organized unsaved humanity that has separated from the Lord for the purpose of avoiding His rule. She behaves in ways that are self-deceiving and this effect is spread throughout her presence. [
Revelation 17, 18]
Her great city part [civilization] is dominating and is connected economically with all of her other cities in the world at the time of the end. [
Revelation 17:15-18]
The Lord is totally against this type of organizational behavior since it tends to separate humans from Him. This can prohibit the necessary relationship humans must have with Him in order to insure their eternal life and future.
Israel and the Gentiles have both gone their way of self-determination without Him and this will always result in total failure.
Satan directly exploits this organizational behavior of lost humanity in many different ways. His objective is the destruction of human existence in one way or another and to place himself above the Lord as ruler of the earth. [
Genesis 3:1-15;
Isaiah 14:12-14]
Satan does this by his own direct involvement as described in
Revelation 12. He also includes the agency of two other significant fallen angelics who will be present on the earth at the time of the end.
These are Abaddon-Apollyon, the first beast of
Revelation 13 and 17, and the false prophet, the second beast of
Revelation 13 .... both will do satan's bidding on the earth
The symbolic beasts describing four different successive Middle Eastern dominions [kingdoms, empires] and associated king positions in Daniel's vision include four symbolic animal beasts [these describe successive human kingdoms] .... not angelic beasts [these are fallen angelics]. [
Daniel 7]
Abaddon-Apollyon's focus is on the human kings who occupy the "position" of the king ruling over a kingdom of humans. He has influenced the kings of his past 5 Middle Eastern dominions through subordinate angelic princes, and will do this directly through the little horn/beast. [
Daniel 7:7, 8:9; 11:36-45;
Revelation 13:1, 17:8]
Examples of these kings of the ancient past were Sargon, Senacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, Cyrus, Alexander the Great, and Antiochus IV. Many kings filled the king positions of the ancient empires of the Middle East.
A dominion, head, or mountain describes the geographical extent of the human king's control over city/states, nations, and empires. [
Daniel 2:36-38, 2:44-45;
Revelation 13:1, 13:3, 17:7-13]
The king "position" is the symbolic position of the king, and is not used exclusively in reference to any particular human king. [
Revelation 17:9-10, 17:12]
Satan's strategy for the time of the end will include Abaddon-Apollyon, the false prophet, and 11 contemporary human kings. The symbol of the horn is used to describe a human king who is linked to satanic influence.
The little horn of Daniel's visions will be ruling the sixth "smaller" dominion at the beginning of the 70th week [the Lord's coming hour of trial]. He will expand the sixth into the seventh which will include the other ten horns [kings]. His power and authority will come from satan and Abaddon-Apollyon. [
Daniel 7:7-25; 8:9-12; 8:23-25; 11:36-44; 12:7]
The ten kings that share power with the little horn are the same kings associated with Daniel's fourth animal beast and the seventh head of the beast in
Revelation 13 and 17.
Three of the 10 kings will be overthrown and replaced by the little horn. These 10 will then rule the divided kingdom of iron and clay with the little horn. [
Daniel 7:24;
Revelation 17:12-14]
The initial set of these ten kings will exist in the Middle East at the beginning of the 70th week decreed for Israel. The little horn will appear among them and those of his choosing will rule with him. [
Daniel 7:7, 7:24]
The little horn will remove and replace three of these kings in the process of consolidating his Middle Eastern dominion. [
Daniel 7:8;
Revelation 17:12-18]
He will be fully possessed by Abaddon-Apollyon and will rule the seventh dominion of iron and clay himself as the 8th king. Abaddon-Apollyon and the final set of ten will be challenged by the Lord and destroyed at Armageddon. [
Revelation 17:11, 19:11-20]
Satan's strategy will also include his false prophet whose mission will be to lead the cult of Abaddon-Apollyon and to offset the two witnesses [prophets] that the Lord will send to Israel during the 70th week decreed for the nation. [
Revelation 13:11-18]
This beast is another fallen angel like Abaddon-Apollyon who will fully possess two human religious leaders [two horns]. The primary characteristic of this creature is that he acts like a lamb [a religion of "peace"], but speaks like a dragon [of hatred and disdain against the Lord the believer, and Israel] .
His promotion of the cult religion of Abaddon-Apollyon as a god is related to a religion that appears to be one of peace .... but the preaching and actions will be satanic and blasphemous.
This religion will be represented as peaceful, but will actually incorporate hatred and destruction toward those who will not submit to its doctrines. [
Revelation 13:15-17]
These two religious leaders will appear in the land of Israel [specifically in relationship with Jerusalm and the temple mount] during the time of Israel's invasion and occupation by the little horn and his followers. [
Revelation 11:2-3; 13:11]
They will direct attention to the first beast, Abaddon-Apollyon, who will be incarnated in the little horn, as the eighth and final king of the gentiles.
The Lord will use the little horn and the ten other kings (horns) to destroy the great city part of Mystery Babylon the Great in one day and this will take place shortly after the beginning of the 70th week [the tribulation period]. [
Revelation 8:8; 14:8; 17:16-18; 18:1-16]
MBG's great city part will not be located in the Middle East where the little horn will have his base of operations. This great city [civilization] of the [nations] will have a significant worldwide influence with regard to financial wealth, economics, commerce, and business culture. [
Revelation 18]
Once out of the way, the little horn [the beast] will begin to form and rule his seventh dominion which will include the conquering of the Middle East and the invasion and occupation of the land of Israel. [
Ezekiel 38;
Daniel 8:9, 11:41]
He will then rule for 42 months [second 1260 days of the 70th week] unopposed ....the Lord will then direct His wrath against satan, Abaddon-Apollyon, the little horn, and his followers [next 30 days]. This will lead to their destruction at the battle of Armageddon. [
Ezekiel 38:18-23; 39:1-29;
Daniel 11:45;
Joel 2:20; 2:9-21;
Micah 5:5-6;
Zechariah 12:2-3; 14:2-3; 14:12-14;
Revelation 14:14-20, 16:1-16, 19:11-21].
Satan will lose this challenge and he will be tossed into the abyss for 1000 years so that he cannot deceive the nations that will develop during the Lord's coming millennial kingdom on the earth .... after, he will be released again to cause another human rebellion .... and then destroyed in the lake of fire forever [
Revelation 20:1-10]
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