PJ54
Well-known member
Tuesday, May 10This attack by the king of the north, acting along with the rest of the world’s governments, provokes the Almighty and brings on the war of Armageddon. (Rev. 16:14, 16) At that time, the king of the north, along with the rest of the nations that make up Gog of Magog, comes to his end, and there will be “no helper for him.” (Dan. 11:45) The very next verse in Daniel’s account gives more details about how the king of the north and his allies will come to their end and how we will be saved. (Dan. 12:1) What does this verse mean? Michael is another name for our ruling King, Christ Jesus. He has been “standing in behalf” of God’s people since 1914 when his Kingdom was established in the heavens. In the near future, he will “stand up,” or take significant action, at the war of Armageddon. That battle will be the final event in what Daniel calls the greatest “time of distress” in history.—Rev. 6:2; 7:14. w20.05 15-16 ¶15-17
He will go out in a great rage to annihilate and to devote many to destruction.—Dan. 11:44.
On the Edge of the Abyss
Over the past few years a new and significant dynamic has emerged in the world in the form of the Russia/China alliance. Other nations are orienting themselves to the newly emerging power, including Iran, Turkey, Japan, the Philippines and many nations of Asia.
e-watchman.com
On the Edge of the Abyss Part 1
January 6th, 2017
Over the past few years a new and significant dynamic has emerged in the world in the form of the Russia/China alliance. Other nations are orienting themselves to the newly emerging power, including Iran, Turkey, Japan, the Philippines and many nations of Asia.
Up until last year America acted as the world’s sole hegemon, that is until Russia intervened militarily in Syria to prevent the illegal overthrow of President Assad. And as 2016 came to a close, America’s army of Islamic terrorists have been defeated in Aleppo. If anything marks an historical turning point it is this development. Putin’s successful intervention in Syria is the reason for the anti-Russian hysteria flooding the mainstream media in America.
With the emergence of Russia and China and the One Belt-one Road initiative sweeping Asia and Africa, and the decrepit economies of Europe and America facing collapse, Anglo-American ambitions of global dominance have been confronted with their most serious challenge since the Second World War. So far the response of London and Washington has been to ramp up the propaganda war and prepare for nuclear war.
Of course, empires and nations come and go. That process has been going on as long as there have been nations. And no doubt most people assume that history will continue to unfold in the same way going forward. But there is a non-human factor to consider.
From a biblical perspective, the nations of this world are a temporary arrangement. Just as God lovingly provided Adam and Eve with animal skin clothes as they faced the harsh world outside of Eden after their expulsion from paradise, God has allowed and even supported various governments over the centuries in order that these might provide some temporary benefit. As inadequate as modern civilization may be, the alternatives —tribalism and anarchy —are not preferable alternatives.
The apostle Paul revealed the extent of God’s involvement in human affairs when he wrote to Christians living in Rome, then the capitol of the empire, saying: “Let every person be in subjection to the superior authorities, for there is no authority except by God; the existing authorities stand placed in their relative positions by God. Therefore, whoever opposes the authority has taken a stand against the arrangement of God…”
To put things in perspective, although the Roman authorities persecuted Christians —even putting Christ to death —the empire also facilitated the rapid spread of Christianity in various ways. A recent Watchtower article highlighted ways in which Pax Romana may have benefited Christ’s ministers in the first century.
There is a caveat, however. The “existing authorities” are a temporary “arrangement of God.” At a certain point —no one knows the day or hour —the various governments of this world will no longer function as the “superior authorities.” The reason being, that the coming of Christ will result in a change “in their relative positions” toward the incoming King of kings.
The second Psalm expresses the epic changing of the guard this way: “Why are the nations agitated and the peoples muttering an empty thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and high officials gather together as one against Jehovah and against his anointed one. They say: “Let us tear off their shackles and throw off their ropes!” The One enthroned in the heavens will laugh; Jehovah will scoff at them. At that time he will speak to them in his anger and terrify them in his burning anger, saying: “I myself have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.””
Christ Jesus also spoke of a time during the conclusion when the nations will be agitated and terrified by his very presence. Jesus foretold: “Also, there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth anguish of nations not knowing the way out because of the roaring of the sea and its agitation. People will become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”
Although the kings of the earth have supposedly already gathered as one against Christ as foretold in the prophetic Psalm, even the Watchtower in all of its 1914 hullabaloo does not claim that the nations are in anguish due to the roaring of the symbolic sea of humanity. Yet, the Psalm and the prophecy of Christ obviously speak to the same situation.
Since the nations do not acknowledge Jehovah they will not accept the Kingdom of Christ as having any authority over them. Instead of relinquishing their power to him the ruling elites will presume to perpetuate their human scheme after the point when Christ is installed upon God’s throne in heaven —making them presumptuous rebels and usurpers before God. Their gathering as one will undoubtedly take place when the eighth king is empowered; when the symbolic ten kings give their power and authority to the beast for the symbolic one hour, after the beast emerges from the abyss it is about to be plunged into.
This will, in fact, be the basis for judgment. Those who support the human scheme after Christ has come will be marked with a symbolic 666 —“a man’s number” —indicating that they are opposed to Christ’s Kingdom. And that is why those who receive the mark are doomed to everlasting death, since they will demonstrate that they refuse to accept the rule of Christ.
What does any of this have to do with the changing political scene today?
Excluding the eighth king’s short-lived reign, according to Bible prophecy, there is only one successor to the Roman Empire, which is without a doubt the present Anglo-American dyad. We should not, therefore, expect Russia or China to eclipse London and America as the world’s dominant power.
But given Russia’s military parity with the USA and China’s commitment to science and global economic development, unless something radically changes China is certain to become the most powerful nation on earth, and America is doomed to become a third world nation, albeit with a huge arsenal of nuclear weapons. Obviously, something has to give. And Bible prophecy indicates what is to occur.
Strangely, at this most critical time in history the Watchtower has, for the most part, gone silent on prophecy. No doubt the reason the self-proclaimed watchman class has nothing to say is because of their assumption that it has already all been said. Nothing could be further from the truth. Consider the book of Daniel as a case in point.
The seventh chapter of Daniel depicts a bizarre 10-horned wild beast that succeeds the Grecian Empire. But an 11th horn emerges later and plucks out three of the ten horns. According to the Watchtower, this phenomenon occurred gradually over the course of several centuries —beginning when the Spanish Armada was defeated by the British in 1588. The Watchtower is skimpy on the details of how the loss of a few wooden warships brought down the Spanish kingdom or how the Dutch of French kingdoms may have been overthrown in the 1800s.
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