second part of reply to Omega
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
Rev 17:10-11 (KJV)
It is impossible that the phrase "and one is" in Rev 17:10 refers to anything other than Rome which "is" during John's time.
(If one would ascribe "and one is" to a future period, then one would be skipping over the Roman empire since it existed during John's time.)
And if Rev 17:10 is set in the context of John's day, then Rev 17:11 must also be.
If one were to assume that Rev 17:10 is set in the context of John's day and that Rev 17:11 is not set in the context of John's day, then we would have the problem that Rev 17:11 would not have been true when John through the power of the Holy Spirit spoke it.
In other words, since Rome *is* during John's day, then it would not have been true for the Holy Spirit to say that Rome *was* and *is not*. And what the Holy Spirit says is true and the Bible does not contradict itself.
There is no question about the 5 kings which had fallen before John's time. Also there is no question about which king *is* during John's time. But if the Holy Spirit had meant that there would be a beast which *is* during John's time and *will be again in the future*, He could have easily said so in such a way that it was true when He said it and it would also be true when the future events happened. But He didn't say it that way. The way He did say it logically rules out Rome as the beast.
There is no logical way to say that Rome *is* in v 10 and then say in v 11 that Rome *was* and *is not*.
And you can not show me where two or more of the OT prophets said that Rome would come against Israel. Therefore according to Ezek 38:17, Rome is not Gog. (If you don't want to believe that Gog is another name for the antichrist, fine, disregard Ezek 38.)
So, Dan 9:27 is not about Rome. Ezek 38 is not about Rome. And Rev 17 is not about Rome.
Where is there any Scripture which points to Rome in connection with the beast then?
And no, I didn't say that you believe that Rome is that great city which sits on seven mountains aka Mystery, Babylon the Great. (But you do believe that, don't you?)
If you don't believe that it is Rome (which sits on 7 hills) then surely you must agree with me that it is Jerusalem (which sits on 7 mountains). Otherwise, which great city that sits on 7 mountains do you think it is?
And if you do believe that that great city is Rome, then how would you explain that a "revised Roman empire" would hate Rome and attack her? Or what connection that would have with Israel and Armageddon?
You asked: "So what your trying to say to me is that Judaism will reign over the earth correct?"
If you are asking if I mean that Judaism will be the only religion in the world, then the answer is "No." What I am saying is that Judaism is one of the religions which is worldwide and as such Jerusalem reigns over the kings of the earth. I do not say that Judaism will be the only religion in the world. Nor do the Scriptures say that there will be only one religion in the world. The Christian religion will exist on the earth until the resurrection of the dead in Christ at His return and we who are alive and remain will be caught up with them in the air. The Jewish religion will also exist until the return of the Lord because He said that He would not return until they say "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord". (So Judaism will exist at least until that time.) And there will also be at least one other religion, the Muslim religion which will make war against Christians and Jews (and is doing so already).
The idea of there being only one religion in the world in the end-times is something which was made up by man. There *will* be one flock and one Shepherd. But that will be after the return of the Lord and not before.
I do agree with you that we are living in the end days. As such we need to reexamine those things which we have been taught which we see no evidence of and begin to consider those possibilities which we do see evidence of.
Jerusalem sits on 7 mountains and is a harlot. There are OT Scriptures which say so. Since Israel was the first harlot, she is the mother of harlots. All other harlots (such as the RCC) are daughters of the mother of harlots.
The beast is comprised of nations which are antichrists, which according to 1John and 2John means that they deny that Jesus is the Son of God. Muslims deny that Jesus is the Son of God because they believe that God has no Son.
Those Muslim nations hate the harlot (Israel) and will attack her. The war will result in the battle of Armegeddon (which is located in Israel).
They will also make war against the saints. Some will be beheaded. (Rev 20:4)
We are seeing those things already.
Yours in Christ,
John Reno