From the desk of
Bill Ramey
9/22/13
COMMENTARY & OPINION
XLVIII
I said in a past issue that I would do a
historical recap of the book of Daniel and here is that recap:
4/30/11
DANIEL
Do we dare to think in these times when
congressmen/women, lawyers, bankers, accountants and religious gurus presume to
do our thinking for us?” Do we dare
think in an age when that can become a “terrorist act”? A wise man once said something to the effect
that, “In a world of insanity, one dare not look too wise.” Was Homeland Security set up for the express
purpose of identifying, detaining and removing thinking people? We shall soon see.
Thinking people know the difference between contrails
and chem trails. Thinking people know
that the reason for the long list of ingredients on most of our foodstuffs is
not for our good health. Thinking people
know that America’s
economic woes are not a mere recession but rather “legislative piracy”.
Babylon was a world
ruling kingdom some 600 years BC.
That statement will draw hoots of derision from those raised on
historical myths for political purposes.
Why do our educational institutions today teach these myths. The truth will sound strange but then, truth
always does if your life is built around myths. Pontius Pilate, a Roman
Procurator in 30 AD, hung a question in our history books that has really not
been answered even today. That question
was, “What is truth?”
Do we dare look into history as a guide to the
future? If so, which history? Evidently, we must look beyond that taught in
our institutes of learning because, if they teach myths like “Columbus
discovered America”,
how many other myths do they teach? In
order to get our bearings in a world gone nuts, we have to get back to some
basics in history, civics and good common sense. If you were told that the political divisions
of planet earth were laid out some 2,600 years ago and that this has happened
as foretold, would that hold your attention long enough to check it out? How can someone look into the future and see
that far in advance? For the answer to
that question, let’s go the book our supreme court has declared irrelevant and
banished, as it were, from our schools.
That book is the Bible and the section we want to zoom in on is the book
of Daniel the prophet. Many critics
contend that this book was written long after the time (600 BC) its author
supposedly lived. They contend that it
was written no earlier than the 2nd century BC. However, a 5th century BC author
named Xenophon mentioned “Daniel the Prophet” by name in his work
“Cyropedia”. If this isn’t enough proof,
then Christ also mentioned “Daniel the Prophet” by name in Matthew 24:15. Was he endorsing a fraud? Anyway, the question we are addressing is,
“How could any man see 2,600 years into the future and lay out governmental
divisions?”
Have we the intestinal fortitude to look and see? In the second chapter of the book of Daniel,
we see this story laid out:
1. “And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, he dreamed dreams and his spirit was troubled and his sleep broke from him.”
2. “Then the king commanded to call the magicians and the astrologers and the sorcerers and the Chaldeans for to show the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.”
3. “And the king said unto them, ‘I have dreamed a dream and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.’”
4. “Then spoke the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, ‘O king live forever: tell us the dream and we will show the interpretation.’”
5. “The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, ‘The thing is gone out from me but if you will not make known unto me the dream with the interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces and your houses shall be made a dunghill.’”
Here, we have the situation leading up to the
interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
Going on in the same chapter, we can see what appears to be an
unrealistic demand by the king.
6. “But if you show the dream and the interpretation thereof, you shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honor:”
7. “They answered again and said, ‘Let the king tell his servants the dream and we will show the interpretation of it.’”
8. “The king answered and said, I know of certainty that you would gain the time because you see the thing is gone from me.’”
9. “’But if you will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for you have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream and I shall know that you can show me the interpretation thereof.’”
10. “The Chaldeans answered before the king and said, ‘There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king’s matter: therefore there is no king, lord nor ruler, that asks such things of any magician, astrologer or Chaldean.’”
11. “’And it is a rare thing that the king requires and there is none other that can show it before the king, except the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh.’”
12. “For this cause the king was angry and very furious and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.”
You can go back and read the setting in chapter 1
showing how Daniel and his three friends had been taken captive from Jerusalem, had been
trained in a Babylonian school and had become a part of the king’s advisory
panel of wise men. Verse 13 of chapter 2
shows that Daniel and his three friends were being sought also for execution
among the wise men. Dropping down to
verse 16, we see that, “Daniel went in and desired of the king that he would
give him time and that he would show the king the interpretation.”
Now down in verse 27, when Daniel was ready, he went
to the king and, “Daniel answered in the presence of the king and said, ‘The
secret which the king has demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians
and soothsayers show the king.’”
28. “’But there is a God in heaven that reveals secrets and makes known to the king what shall be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed are these.’”
29. “As for you O king, your thoughts came into your mind upon your bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that reveals secrets makes known to you what shall come to pass.”
30. “But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king and that you might know the thoughts of your heart.”
31. “You, O king, saw and behold a great image. This great image whose brightness was excellent, stood before you and the form thereof was terrible.”
32. “This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and thighs of brass.”
33. “His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
34. “You saw till a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay and broke them to pieces.”
Dropping now to verse 36, we see, “This is the dream
and I will now tell the interpretation
to the king.”
We can dismiss, with a wave of our hand, the
prophecies of the prophet Daniel but we do so at our own peril and I will show
you why shortly. But so far we are
seeing the reconstruction of a dream and the king is spellbound. Had he really forgotten the dream? If so, there is little doubt that he
recognized Daniel’s reconstruction as his original dream. Now Daniel goes on with the interpretation:
37. “You, O king, are a king of kings: for the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength and glory.”
38. “And wherever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven has he given into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are this head of gold.”
39. “And after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you and another kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.”
40. “And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: and as iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things… it shall break in pieces and bruise.”
41. “And as you saw the feet and toes, part of potter’s clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron as you saw the iron mixed with miry clay.”
These are the four kingdoms or empires depicted by
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and now we must turn to history to see if we can pick
them out and if it really happened in the fashion laid out by Daniel to show
the king what would be in the latter
days (verse 28).
The interpretation of the vision (dream) said that
the head of gold was Nebuchadnezzar and that the next division (the breast and
the arms) would be made of silver.
Doesn't it fit nicely that the conquerors of Babylon were the Medes and Persians in a
confederacy? (Two arms?)
We need to exercise some caution as we look into the
history of this period because those whose aspirations are world dominion also
have the power to censor history and have been exercising that power for
millennia. For instance, if you go to
the Encyclopedia Americana and look up the article "Daniel", they will
interpret the vision "for you".
It goes like this: "The
interpretation of the vision is revealed to Daniel: '…the four animals (this is talking about
chapter 7 of Daniel) represent four empires, or those of Babylon, Media, Persia
and Greece.'" THIS SIMPLY IS NOT TRUE!
The Medes and Persians were a confederacy and
therefore comprised the second empire. Greece was the third empire. The attempt, by those who censor
literature, is to take the spotlight off the Roman Empire
as the fourth beast or empire.
The vision given to Daniel of the four beasts is in
chapter 7. It was simply a corroboration
of the vision given to Nebuchadnezzar in a dream. Let's look at chapter 7.
Starting in verse 1, "In the first year of
Belshazzar, (grandson of Nebuchadnezzar) king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of
his head upon his bed: then he wrote the
dream, and told the sum of the matters.
2 "Daniel spoke and said, 'I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.
3 'And four great beasts came up from the sea, different one from another.
4 'The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.
5 'And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs (Babylon/Lydia/Egypt?) in the mouth of it between the teeth of it and they said thus unto it 'Arise, devour much flesh.
6 'After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.
7 'After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was different from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.'
These four beasts dovetail nicely with the four
divisions in the image shown to Nebuchadnezzar in his dream. The first beast was like a lion. Archaeological excavations of ancient Babylon
reveal lions sculpted into their
walls as a symbol of their authority.
Next in line came the Medo-Persians
and they are represented as a bear,
as well they should be. They were a
marching army and a bear’s strength is in his legs. Next we see a beast compared to a leopard and could any beast better
depict Alexander's army? Their victory over the Medo-Persians at the
battle of Issus was primarily because they
covered a distance the Medo-Persians knew (or thought they knew) couldn't be
covered in the time Alexander's army did it in.
Leopards are fast.
But let's look deeper into the book of Daniel and
see if we can find more. Verse 17 of the
same chapter says of these four beasts, "These great beasts, which are
four, are four kings, (be aware that the Bible uses the terms kings and
kingdoms interchangeably and this could be better translated as kingdoms
because, as we will see in verse 23, "The fourth beast shall be the fourth
kingdom…" Besides, only one of
the four had less than two kings) which shall arise out of the earth."
The perspective now shifts immediately to the fourth
beast rather than dwelling on the first three.
Notice in verse 18. "But
the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom
forever, even forever and ever.
19 "Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;
20 "And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell (Vandals/Barbarians/Ostrogoths?); even of that horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. (Papacy?)
21 "I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; (how long?)
22 "Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom."
Then this war is still going on today, huh?
23 "Thus he said, 'The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be different from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces."
Who are the ten horns?
24 "And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be different from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25 "And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time."
Why is the world oblivious to the prophecy of
Daniel? Keep in mind that we have only
just begun to unravel the mysteries locked up in the book of Daniel, but let's
look for a moment at what another prophet of God said. Hosea 4:6.
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you hast
rejected knowledge, I will also reject you…" At this point, it gets scary, because it goes
on to say, "…seeing you have
forgotten the law of thy God, I will also
forget your children."
Is this why so many children's pictures are on milk
cartons and in post offices in the U.S.? Have we pronounced a curse on our children
just as the Jews of Christ's day did?
This is heavy stuff.
I very well know that. But as we
get further into the prophecies of, not only Daniel, but others, we will see
that God foresaw our plight of today and began planning for it before the earth
was created.
Those indoctrinated into the material world of today
and seduced by the libertarian philosophies will ask, "Is this 'God
stuff'' real"?
Rather that listen to the opinion makers, perhaps
you should pause long enough to ask yourself where we are as a world and where
we're going. Some of the things to look
at could be:
·Food/population
·Nuclear proliferation
·Pollution
·Usage rates of non-renewable
resources
·Expansion of deserts,
worldwide
·Potable water
·Economic rape by world
bankers and lawyers
Given this "rosy perspective", do you see
a bright future for the world without the intervention of (as U.S. News and
World Report put it) "A Strong Hand From Someplace"?
Our computers get faster yearly but what this does
is concentrate more and more power into the hands of fewer "power
brokers". Those people, it seems,
get more and more profligate. Are we
entrusting our future into the hands of draft dodgers and drug lords? I prefer the intervention of God. And I see that regardless of what men choose
to do, He will intervene before we blast ourselves off the planet.
Shall we go back to the book of Daniel and learn
more about what is about to befall us?
You see, Daniel was given several visions of the future and wrote them
down for us to consider today. One of
the arch angels, Michael, told Daniel in chapter 10, verse 14, that, "I am
come to make you understand what shall befall your people in the latter days:"
He went on to say in verse 21, "But I will show
you that which is noted in the scripture of truth:"
It is my understanding that there were three arch
angels to begin with. They were Gabriel,
Lucifer and Michael. Lucifer was thrown
out of heaven because he became ambitious and wanted to replace God. You can find some of the story in Isaiah 11. The "trinity" doctrine probably
comes from Lucifer (whose name was changed to Satan when he was banished to the
earth) based on the original three arch angels.
Because when you begin to examine the trinity doctrine, it falls apart
quickly. For instance, if the trinity
doctrine is real, then Christ was not the son of God but rather the son of the
other member of the trinity. Check
Matthew 1:20. Joseph was instructed in a
dream, saying, "Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary
thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." The spurious scripture which is quoted to
justify the trinity heresy is I John 5:7 which says: “For there are three that bare record in
heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost” --- Holy spirit is a more
accurate translation. Even using this
scripture, we should be able to see when we compare it with Matthew 1:20, last
part, “…fear not to take unto you Mary your wife for that which is conceived in
her is of the Holy Ghost” (Spirit),
--- that, if the trinity is true then Christ was the son of the Holy
Spirit and not the son of God.
Just so we understand Daniel isn't another
Nostradamas where you crank in your own interpretations, let's take it another
step. To further verify the first three
beasts, let's go to chapter 8 which gives us yet another vision of the prophet
Daniel and will help in identifying the first three beasts or kingdoms. Starting in verse 1, "In the third year
of the reign of king Belshazzar (grandson of
Nebuchadnezzar), a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after
that which appeared unto me at the
first.
2 "And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.
3 "Then I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.
4. "I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.
5. "And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
6. "And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.
7. "And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and broke his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.
8. Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.
To get the interpretation of this vision, we need
only to drop on down to verse 19:
19."And he said, 'Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.
20 "The ram which thou saw having two horns, are the kings of Media and Persia. (The chest and arms of Nebuchadnezzar's dream)
21 "And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: (Alexander) and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king (also the last, but let's go on).
22 "Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power."
When Alexander died young, his kingdom was divided
among his top four generals, Ptolemy, Seleucus, Lysimachus and Cassander. What a beautiful fulfillment of this
prophecy.
So many people say prophecy is confusing and they can't
understand it, but maybe it's because they haven't read it. Seems to me this interpretation given to
Daniel is understandable and not only that, but when you compare it to the
history, as it then happened, the accuracy is awesome.
Up to this point we have pretty well nailed down the
identity of the first three beasts spoken of by Daniel. They were Babylon, Medo-Persia and Alexander's empire
or as it was called in the 8th chapter, "the king of Grecia". But where do we go to find the fourth beast
which "was dreadful and terrible"?
Let's continue in chapter 11, verse 1.
"Also I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to
confirm and to strengthen him.
2 "And now will I show you the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; (Cambyses, Pseudo Smerdis and Darius) and the fourth (Xerexes) shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.
3 "And a mighty king (Alexander) shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.
4 "And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those.
5 "And the king of the south shall be strong…"
Ptolemy, one of Alexander's generals, took Egypt
and Libya
and became the king of the south.
Seleucus took "…the whole region between the coast of Syria and the Euphrates" (per Marcius
Willson's "Outlines of History", 1864 Ed.) which evolved into the "king of the north" as the Roman Empire.
This was the beast in power during the time Christ walked the
earth. This is also the beast spoken of
in Daniel 7:25 that would "…think to change times (calendar) and
laws." Did the Romans do this? Indeed they did. The Roman calendar was substituted for the
Hebrew calendar. Was it an
improvement? Hardly. The Hebrew calendar was made up of twelve months,
somewhat reminiscent of what God said in Genesis 1:14, "…Let there be
lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let
them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:" To keep the
seasons in synch, a full month was added
periodically to the Hebrew calendar.
This calendar was built around a 19 year time cycle. The Roman calendar became a political
football with Caesars vying for status by robbing another month to get a day
added to the month named after himself. The seasons got so out of synch that in
the sixteenth century, 10 days had to be dropped from the calendar.
What about laws? Did they change any laws - or
rather, "…think to change laws…? In
or around 325 AD, it was Constantine who
decided that keeping the Sabbath commanded by the God of Israel was not in
keeping with the Roman law. It was to be
considered Judaizing and punishable by death.
Property of Judaizers, of course, would go to the Roman government. So…did they "…think to change
laws?"
Those who contend that the law was done away (they
only mean the second and fourth commandments because those are the ones that
chaff) will tell you this was done at Christ's death and yet here we find legal
action being taken by the Roman Government (or fourth beast that would
"…think to change times and laws") almost 300 years after Christ's
death. Why? Because Christians, Jews, Gnostics and Aryans
were still observing those laws. They
knew they were still in effect.
Why weren't we taught this in our public
schools? Simply because those who have
world dominion as their top priority have so organized as to be able to censor
literature and substitute myths for history
Shiites: Syria War Will Ignite End Times
There are many
prophets in this world and some of them do some amazing predictions with
equally amazing accuracy. Case in point
is Malachi Martin's prophecy for the number of coming Popes and the future of
the Catholic Church. Nostradamas had
some prophecies on target and some in error.
We have seen
prophecies change with understanding. We
have seen prophecies take on a different shape as keys were discovered that
unlock new dimensions in prophecy. We
have seen fulfilled pro-phecy that is undeniable. (Daniel 11:43-44).
The following discourse
covers some of the prophecies of the Muslim and its accuracy remains to be
seen. The interesting part is that
people believe it and stake their lives on it.
Bill
Shiites: Syria War Will Ignite End Times
September 16, 2013
Posted In: middle east, and rumors of
war
Is Hezbollah’s Syria Approach Tied To Shiite
End-Times Doctrine?
A Lebanese reporter for the Al-MonitorMiddle
East news service explains that Iran and Hezbollah view the Syrian
civil war not only in a strategic context, but in a prophetic one. In their
belief, the radical Sunnis will conquer Syria
for a short period of time and then Iranian forces will intervene on their way
to destroying Israel.
The unnamed reporter points out that Hezbollah leader
Hassan Nasrallah is, like Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, “known for
being a strong believer” in the Shiite prophecy that Iran will lead an End
Times war against Islam’s enemies. At that time, the Mahdi will “reappear” and
defeat the infidel.
According to the author, Iran and Hezbollah rely upon a book
of prophecies called Al-Jafr to guide them. It was passed down
to Jafar al-Sadiq, for whom the Jafari school of Shiite
jurisprudence is named after. Teachers of this book say that the Syrian leader
will be killed in a civil war during the End Times.
A Sunni leader will take over Syria and persecute Shiites,
Allawites and Christians. The persecution will continue until an Iranian army
invades Syria via Iraq, killing this Sunni leader on the way to
capturing Jerusalem.
Once Jerusalem
is taken, the Mahdi will appear. Interestingly, in a modern context, this means
that Hezbollah is fighting to preserve the regime of a man (Bashar Assad) that
they believe will be killed.
Keep in mind, the Jafari school of jurisprudence is
mainstream Shiite doctrine. There’s bound to be disagreement over the
interpretation of prophecy, but these are not the beliefs of an isolated cult.
In July 2010, a senior Iranian cleric said that
Khamenei told his inner circle that he had met with the Mahdi, who promised to
“reappear” during his lifetime.
A very similar eschatological viewpoint is articulated
in a 2011 documentary produced by the office of then-President Ahmadinejad. The
film, titled The
Coming is Upon Us, does not predict a Syrian civil war but shares many
of the same details articulated by the Al-Monitor reporter in Lebanon.
A critical point of convergence between the two
sources is about Saudi
Arabia’s role in prophecy. Both agree that
the death of Saudi King Abdullah will be a major trigger. In fact, this event is so central to the Iranian
film that it opens up with the statement, “Whoever guarantees the death of King
Abdullah of Saudi Arabia,
I will guarantee the imminent reappearance of Mahdi.” MORE
Iranian Website: Khamenei Claims He Was Visited by Hidden Imam
In a speech to the Iranian leadership and foreign
ambassadors, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said that the present world
order, led by the West and the U.S.,
contravenes God’s decrees and is consequently collapsing before our eyes. He
said that one of the reasons for the collapse is the awakening of the Muslim
world under Iran’s
leadership.
The Khandaniha website posted an audio address by a
cleric from Ahvaz province, Mir Ahmad Reza Hajati, in which he claims that
Khamenei told his associates that the Hidden Imam had appeared to him and
promised to arrive during his term as Supreme Leader.
