Coming Soon –

A Modern Roman Empire?

Where is “modern Babylon the great”? What is the End-

time “city of Babylon”? What nation, today, most represents

the modern equivalent of ancient ROME, and the ROMAN

EMPIRE? Could modern America be an integral part of a

modern ROMAN Empire? What part does the Roman Catholic Church play? A careful study and review of history and Biblical

prophecy reveals the shocking answers. Here is amazing new

insight, on where the world stands, today!

William F. Dankenbring

Ancient Babylon on the Euphrates ruled the world with an iron thumb. Babylon was the world master in economic and military power, a cosmopolitan center of banking and trade. It sent armies plundering, pillaging, and uniting the world in one vast sprawling empire, sustained and governed by its military might. It ruled the world from 607 to 539 B.C., when Babylon was suddenly attacked, and the city seized, by Cyrus the Great and the Persians.

The new world empire was known as the Persian empire, lasting from 539 to 331 B.C., when it fell to the onslaught of the Greek troops under Alexander the Great. The Greco-Macedonian empire ruled the known world next, until the death of Alexander, when the kingdom was divided into four. The Roman empire arose in the west, with the victories of Julius Caesar in Gaul and Pompey in Asia. It became an empire under Julius Caesar, and finally fell in 476 A.D.

Ancient Rome, was world famous for its administrative laws, government, trade, military might, and civil engineering – aqueducts and roads and buildings. It was, however, a brutal government at times, and finally fell amidst corruption, heavy taxes, bread and circuses, alliances with other powers, and social upheaval. It was at its height for about 200 years, before decline set in. During its hey-day, the world enjoyed “Pax Romana,” the “Roman peace,” and no nations were strong enough during that time to contest Roman rule in the empire.

Will there be another “Roman” or “Babylonian” Empire in our day?

The United States – Modern Rome?

Writes Jonathan Freedland, “The word of the hour is empire. As the United States marches to war, no other label quite seems to capture the scope of American power or the scale of its ambition. ‘Sole superpower’ is accurate enough, but seems oddly modest. ‘Hyperpower’ may appeal to the French; ‘hegemon’ is favoured by academics. But empire is the big one, the gorilla of geopolitical designations -- and suddenly the US is bearing its name.

“Of course, enemies of the US have shaken their fist at its ‘imperialism’ for decades: they are doing it again now, as Washington wages a global ‘war against terror’ and braces itself for a campaign aimed at ‘regime change’ in a foreign, sovereign state. What is more surprising, and much newer, is that the notion of an American empire has suddenly become a live debate inside the US. And not just among Europhile liberals either, but across the range -- from left to right.

“Today a liberal dissenter such as Gore Vidal, who called his most recent collection of essays on the US The Last Empire, finds an ally in the likes of conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer. Earlier this year Krauthammer told The New York Times: ‘People are coming out of the closet on the word “empire”.’

“He argued that Americans should admit the truth and face up to their responsibilities as the undisputed masters of the world. And it wasn’t any old empire he had in mind. ‘The fact is, no country has been as dominant culturally, economically, technologically and militarily in the history of the world since the Roman empire.’

“Accelerated by the post-9/11 debate on the US’s role in the world, the idea of the US as a 21st-century Rome is gaining a foothold in the country’s consciousness. The New York Review of Books illustrated a recent piece on US might with a drawing of George W. Bush togged up as a Roman centurion, complete with shield and spears. Tom Wolfe has written that the US of today is ‘now the mightiest power on Earth, as omnipotent as . . . Rome under Julius Caesar.’

“But is the comparison apt? Are the Americans the new Romans? In making a documentary film on the subject over the past few months, I put that question to a group of people uniquely qualified to know. Not experts on US defense strategy or American foreign policy, but Britain’s leading historians of the ancient world. They know Rome intimately -- and, without exception, they are struck by the similarities between the empire of now and the imperium of then.

“The most obvious is overwhelming military strength. Rome was the superpower of its day, boasting an army with the best training, biggest budgets and finest equipment the world had ever seen. No one else came close. The US is just as dominant -- its defense budget will soon be bigger than the military spending of the next nine countries put together. Throw in the country’s global technological lead, and the US emerges as a power without rival” (The Guardian Newspapers, Nov.15, 2002).

No one can deny that the leading super-power in the world today, of course, is the United States of America. How does it compare with ancient Rome and Babylon?

The United States is far more “Roman,” than most people begin to suspect!

F. Tupper Sauasy points out, in Rulers of Evil, “Consider: the land known today as the District of Columbia bore the name ‘Rome’ in 1663 property records; and the branch of the Potomac river that bordered ‘Rome’ on the south was called ‘Tiber’” (p.4).

Says Sausay, “The American Capitol abounds with clues of its Roman origins. ‘Freedom,’ the Roman goddess whose statue crowns the dome, was created in Rome . . . We find a whole pantheon of Roman deities in the great fresco covering the dome’s interior rotundas: Persephone, Ceres, Freedom, Vulcan, Mercury, even a deified George Washington” (p.5).

The term “Capitol” itself bespeaks Roman influence. Claims Saussy, “No building can rightly be called a capitol unless it’s a temple of Jupiter, the great father-god of Rome. . . . Jupiter’s mascot was the eagle, which the founding fathers made their mascot as well. A Roman eagle tops the governing idol of the House of Representatives, a forty-six inch sterling silver and ebony wand called a ‘mace’ . . . America’s national motto, ‘Annuit Coeptus,’ came from a prayer to Jupiter” (p.5).

Another symbol of ancient Rome, is the fasces. A pair of fasces “commands the wall above and behind the speaker’s rostrum in the Chamber of the House of Representatives. . . A fasces is a Roman device . . . It’s an ax head whose handle is a bundle of rods tightly strapped together by a red sinew. It symbolizes the ordering of priestly functions into a single infallible sovereign, an autocrat who could require life and limb of his subjects. If the fasces is entwined with laurel, like the pair on the House wall, it signifies Caesarian military power” (p.6).

Thus much of America can be subtly traced back to ancient ROMAN influence!

Interestingly, even the religious side of American life and influence can be traced directly back to pagan (and so-called “Christian”) Rome.

Roman-Pagan Religious Power

In ancient Rome, public servants were priests of the various gods and goddesses. Monetary affairs were controlled by priests of the goddess Moneta. Hundreds of priestly orders known as the Sacred College managed hundreds of governmental bureaus.

Writes Saussy, “By the fourth century, one half of the lands and one fourth of the population of the Roman Empire were owned by the priests. When the Emperor Constantine and his Senate formally adopted Christianity as the Empire’s official religion, the exercise was more of a merger or acquisition than a revolution. The wealth of the priests merely became the immediate possession of the Christian churches, and the priests merely declared themselves Christians. Government continued without interruption. The pagan gods and goddesses were artfully outfitted with names appropriate to Christianity. The sign over the Pantheon indicating ‘To [the fertility goddess] Cybele and All the Gods’ was rewritten ‘To Mary and All the Saints.’ The Temple of Apollo became the Church of St. Apollinaris. The Temple of Mars was reconsecrated Church of Santa Martina, with the inscription ‘Mars hence ejected, Martina, martyred maid / Claims now the worship which to him was paid.’”

Isn’t it astonishing how pagan influence dominated the early Roman Catholic Church in the ancient Roman Empire? Saussy continues:

“Haloed icons of Apollo were identified as Jesus, and the crosses of Bacchus and Tammuz were accepted as the official symbol of the Crucifixion. Pope Leo I decreed that ‘St. Peter and St. Paul have replaced Romulus and Remus as Rome’s protecting patrons.’ Pagan feasts, too, were Christianized. December 25 -- the celebrated birthday of a number of gods, among them Saturn, Jupiter, Tammuz, Bacchus, Osiris, and Mithras -- was claimed to have been that of Jesus as well, and the traditional Saturnalia, season of drunken merriment and gift-giving, evolved into Christmas.

“Bacchus was popular in ancient France under his Greek name Dionysus -- or, as the French rendered it, Denis. His feast, the Festum Dionysi, was held every seventh day of October, at the end of the vintage season. After two days of wild partying, another feast was held, the Pestum Dionysi Eleutherei Rusticum (‘Country Festival of Merry Dionysus’). The papacy cleverly brought the worshipers of Dionysus into its jurisdiction by transforming the words Dionysus, Bacchus, Eleutherei, and Rusticum into a group of Christian martyrs. October seventh was entered on the Liturgical Calendar as the feast day of ‘St. Bacchus the Martyr,’ while October ninth was instituted as the ‘Festival of St. Denis, and of his companions St. Eleuthere and St. Rustic’ (Rulers of Evil, p. 10-11).

Roman Catholic Paganism

The Roman Catholic Church became the state religion of the Roman empire. It brought paganism into the church wholesale, thus becoming powerful and very popular. No repentance from sin was required – only acts of “penance” and “confession” to a priest. Indulgences were sold giving parishioners “forgiveness in advance” of committing any sins whatsoever – including murder, adultery, rape, or theft.

Declares Saussy, “Playing loose with truth and Scripture in order to bring every human creature into subjection to the Roman Pontiff is a technique called ‘missionary adaptation.’ This is explained as ‘the adjustment of the mission subject to the cultural requirements of the mission object’ so that the papacy’s needs will be brought ‘as much as possible in accord with existing socially shared patterns of thought, evaluation, and action, so as to avoid unnecessary and serious disorganization.’”

The original faith of Christianity became perverted and subverted in the Roman Empire. Speaking of the Roman Catholic Church, historian Will Durant, in The Story of Civilization, volume 3, “Caesar and Christ,” puts it this way: “Christianitiy did not destroy paganism: it adopted it. The Greek mind, dying, came to a transmigrated life in the theology and liturgy of the Church; the Greek language, having reigned for centuries over philosophy, became the vehicle of Christian literature and ritual; the Greek mysteries passed down into the impressive mystery of the Mass. Other pagan cultures contributed to the syncretist result. From Egypt came the ideas of a divine trinity, the Last Judgment, and a personal immortality of reward and punishment; from Egypt the adoration of the Mother and Child, and the mystic theosophy that made Neoplatonism and Gnosticism, and obscured the Christian creed; there, too, Christian monasticism would find its exemplars and its source. From Phrygia came the worship of the Great Mother.”

Durant adds, “The Mithraic ritual so closely resembled the eucharistic sacrifice of the Mass that Christian fathers charged the Devil with inventing these similarities to mislead frail rninds. Christianity was the last great creation of the ancient pagan world” (page 595).

Christmas is one of those pagan “creations.” It traces back to paganism and beneath its “Christian” façade beats a truly pagan heart. The “mass” itself derives from paganism, and the worship of December 25 as a “birthday” of Christ proves its pagan core, because Christ was born nowhere near December 25, the winter solstice, and the birthday of the pagan sun god! Read our free article, “When Was Christ Born?” for the proof.

In a similar vein, Alexander Hislop in his book The Two Babylons, clearly proves the pagan origin of the Roman Catholic Church, its dogmas and creeds, disguised as “Christianity.” Hislop wrote, “In the Apocalyptic visions, it is just before the judgment upon her that, for the first time, John sees the Apostate Church with the name Babylon the Great ‘written upon her forehead’ (Rev.17:5). What means the writing of that name ‘on the forehead’? Does it not naturally indicate that, just before judgment overtakes her, her real character was to be so thoroughly developed, that everyone who has eyes to see, who has the least spiritual discernment, would be compelled, as it were, on ocular demonstration, to recognize the wonderful fitness of the title which the Spirit of God had affixed to her. Her judgment is now evidently hastening on; and just as it approaches, the Providence of God, conspiring with the Word of God, by light pouring in from all quarters, makes it more and more evident that Rome is in very deed the Babylon of the Apocalypse; that the essential character of her system, the grand objects of her worship, her festivals, her doctrine and discipline, her rites and ceremonies, her priesthood and their orders, have all been derived from ancient Babylon; and, finally, that the Pope himself is truly and properly the lineal representative of Belshazzar.

“In the warfare that has been waged against the domineering pretensions of Rome, it has too often been counted enough merely to meet and set aside her presumptuous boast, that she is the mother and mistress of all churches -- the one Catholic Church, out of whose pale there is no salvation. If ever there was excuse for such a mode of dealing with her, that excuse will hold no longer. If the position I have laid down can be maintained, she must be stripped of the name of a Christian Church altogether; for if it was a Church of Christ that was convened on that night, when the pontiff-king of Babylon, in the midst of his thousand lords, ‘praised the gods of gold, and of silver, and of wood, and of stone’ (Dan.5:4), then the Church of Rome is entitled to the name of a Christian Church; but not otherwise. This to some, no doubt, will appear a very startling position; but it is one which it is the object of this work to establish; and let the reader judge for himself, whether I do not bring ample evidence to substantiate my position” (page 3).

In his amazing book, Hislop clearly traces the Catholic teachings of the mass, Christmas observance, Easter, the Catholic holidays, Mary worship, images of “saints,” the trinity, the worship of the cross, and every other basic Catholic teaching, to ancient Babylon and the world cult of paganism!

How far has the Catholic Church gone in its reinvention of pagan practice and belief? Incredibly, recently I took a walk and happened to pass by a home beautifully decorated for the Christmas season, with a multitude of lights, reindeer, manger scenes, angels, and all the Christmas paraphernalia. On the lawn was a depiction of the “Ten Commandments.” What shocked me was the brazen rewriting of the Commandments. The second commandment – “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image . . .” (Exodus 20:4-5) -- was left out, and the tenth commandment was divided into two commandments – “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife,” and, “Thou shalt not covet” anything else! This of course is the Roman Catholic rewriting of God’s Ten Commandments – a brazen, haughty attempt to change the commands of God to justify their worship of the images of saints, and icons of Christ and Mary! The worship of images and icons of course is pure unadulterated paganism – sheer IDOLATRY!

What so few grasp, however, is that the entire “Christianity” of the western world derives from ROME! With the exception of small, Bible-centered churches which follow the Scriptures, the whole professing visible “Christian world” is patterned after the teachings of Rome – even every major Protestant denomination!

Is the United States Really “Protestant”?

The question arises, therefore – how pervasive is the Roman Catholic religion in the United States, which most people view as a “Protestant” nation? Indeed, the answer is – far more than most people begin to suspect!

Before the American Revolution, Roman Catholics were barred from voting or holding public office in the British colonies. The basis for this ruling was that Catholics owed their allegience to the “Pontifex Maximus,” the Pope of Rome. To the British he was considered a foreign ruler who regarded the British king and the Church of England as heretics to be destroyed.

When the colonists fought and gained their independence from Great Britain, they established a Constitution that guaranteed “freedom of religion” to all people, including Roman Catholics. In so doing, they undermined the very foundation of the republic, and potentially surrendered their country to a foreign “lord” – the papacy. With the first amendment to the Constitution, the fledgling new nation welcomed with open arms the agents of popery – the “Pontifex Maximus” – into the hallowed halls of American government.

Says F. Tupper Saussy, “Of the 2,500,000 enumerated inhabitants in 1787 America, the Roman Catholic population consisted of no more than 16,000 in Maryland, 7,000 in Pennsylvania, 1,500 in New York, and 200 in Virginia. Once the Constitution was in place, a steady influx of European immigrants transformed Roman Catholicism from America’s smallest to largest religious denomination. By 1850 the higher powers at Rome could view the United States as a viable tributary, if not another papal state” (Rulers of Evil, p.86).

Ever since the beginnings of American independence, the Jesuit branch of the Catholic Church, has had the “unrelenting Jesuit mission” of extirpating the Protestant church as an independent branch of “Christianity” and to bring all Protestants back into the Roman Catholic flock – or else to utterly destroy them. The growing ecumenical movement shows how effective their propaganda has been. Even America’s evangelical churches have been seduced to seek reunion with the Catholic Church, despite its doctrines which they would normally hold as heresy and wickedness.

Catholic Power in America

How powerful and influential is the Roman Catholic Church in America, today?

Saussy declares, “Rome has so seamlessly adapted its mission to American secularism that we do not think of the United States as a CATHOLIC SYSTEM. Yet the rosters of government rather decisively show this to be the case” (p.13).

Incredible as it may sound to most Protestants, or most Americans in general, America has become a major ROMAN CATHOLIC POWER in the world! Most of the vital committees of the U.S. Senate and House are run by Catholic laymen! Most of the members of the Supreme Court are Roman Catholic. Virtually every aspect of secular life in America has come under the chairmanship of various Roman Catholic laypersons whose primary allegiance is to the Roman pontiff.

Vatican II confirmed the doctrine that dates back to Pope Boniface VIII in 1302 which states “it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.” With this goal in mind, says Saussy, it was the primary Roman Catholic mission to CREATE the United States of America, as an independent nation free from the rule of Great Britain, which was under the control of the Church of England, a church born in rebellion against the papacy. So early Catholics fostered, aided and abetted the American Revolution as best they could, hoping to create a CATHOLIC CONTROLLED POWER in North America.

They have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams!

U.S. foreign policy, and domestic policy, is thoroughly integrated with the influence of the Roman Catholic Church. It has happened quietly, surreptitiously, clandestinely, secretly, by stealth and subtle connivance, intrigue, and plotting.

Casting Out the Bible

In ancient times, when the Roman Catholic Church gained power, the first steps taken were to wrest control of the Scriptures away from lay people, and to place them under the control of priests.

In ancient Rome, says Saussy, “The Sibyllines and the Aeneid were open only to priests and certain privileged persons. The people learned their sacred content by the trickle-down of priestly retelling. When the Old and New Testaments were adopted as the Empire’s official sacred writings they, too, were given to the exclusive care of the priests. And in accord with Roman tradition, the people learned sacred content from discretionary retelling. This had to be, for the sake of the Holy Empire. For should the people acquire biblical knowledge, they would know that Pontifex Maximus was not a legitimate Christian entitlement. Knowing this, they would not bow to his supremacy. The Empire could collapse. And so the monarchial Roman Church forcibly suppressed the Bible’s intelligent reading. This is why the millennium between Constantine and Gutenberg is known as the ‘Dark Ages.’

“Sprinkled throughout the Empire, however, were isolated Christian assemblies who had preserved Scripture from the days of the early Church. For them the Bible invited an ongoing, personal communion with the creator of the universe. They lived by the writings of which Rome was so jealous. By the thirteenth century, these assemblies had grown so vibrant that Pope Gregory IX declared unauthorized Bible study a heresy. He further decreed that ‘it is the duty of every Catholic to persecute heretics.’ To manage the persecution, Gregory established the Pontifical Inquisition.”

The Dark Ages and the Pontifical Inquisition

Saussy continues:

“The Inquisition treated the slightest departure from the life of the community as proof of direct communion with the Bible or Satan. Either instance was a sin worthy of death. Cases were prosecuted according to a strict routine. First, the inquisitors would enter a town and present their credentials to the civil authorities. In the pope’s name, they would require the governor’s cooperation. Next, the local priest would be ordered to summon his congregation to hear the inquisitors preach against heresy, which was defined as anything the least bit opposed to the papal system. A brief grace period followed the sermon, wherein the people were given an opportunity to step forward and accuse themselves of crimes. Those who did were usually punished mildly. Later, the inquisitors would receive at their lodgings unverified accusations, guaranteeing in the pope’s name the anonymity of informants. Many innocent lives were ruined by false testimony.

“Trials were conducted arbitrarily and secretly by tribunals consisting of the inquisitors, their staffs, and their witnesses, all concealed under hoods. The accused were never told the charges against them, and they were forbidden to ask. No defense witnesses were permitted. The accused had but one option: to confess guilt and die. Those who refused to confess (and witnesses who balked at testifying) were carried to the dungeon for torture sessions (boys under fourteen and girls under twelve exempted). Inquisitors and executioners were commanded by papal edict to show no mercy. No acquittal was ever recorded. Every fully prosecuted case ended in the death of the defendant and the forfeiture of his or her property, since it was assumed (as in American forfeiture cases since 1984) that the property was gained in sin. Sometimes the property of family members for generations to come was forfeited. These forfeitures were paid out in expenses to the scribes and executioners, half of the remainder going into the papal treasury and half to the inquisitors. Although popes and inquisitors amassed great fortunes from the Inquisition, its greatest beneficiary was, and has been, the Roman system.

“The Inquisition was most effective against the isolated truth seeker in an ignorant community. As communities became more literate, the Inquisition grew subtler. What brought literacy to communities was the epidemic of Bible-reading made possible by the perfection of Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of movable type” (p.16-17).

Few people today have studied this historical subject. It is glossed over or ignored in mot textbooks. But those who may think that this is just “ancient history” and has no bearing on the future, and on our “enlightened day,” today, are seriously in error. Human nature has not changed, nor has human pride, evil, wickedness, and lust for power. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it!

The Roman Catholic Church still seeks world dominion. Nothing has changed. When it is not in power, it seeks its objectives by behaving outwardly as a lamb. But when in power, it reveals its true nature – that of a ravening lion!

The Secrets of the Jesuit Order

The arm of Catholic militancy is the Jesuit order. Every Jesuit, when accepted into the order, must take a very solemn vow. The head of the Jesuits is the Superior General, often referred to as the “Black Pope.” He shares with the Pope the title “Vicar of Christ,” which means “holds the place of Christ.”

Those trained to be Jesuits are taught total obedience to the Superior General and the Pope. As stated in their spiritual “Exercises,” they affirm, “We must put aside all judgment of our own, and keep the mind ever ready and prompt to obey in all things the hierarchical Church.” According to the Exercises, Section 365.13 states: “We must hold fast to the following principle: What seems to me white, I will believe black if the hierarchical Church so defines” (Saussy, p.47-48).

The Jesuit Society does not open its extreme oath of obedience to public purview. However, a script alleged to be a true facsimile of the extreme oath of obedience of the Jesuit order was deposited in the Library of Congress, number BX3705.S56, translated by Edwin A. Sherman. It reads, in part:

“I _______ now, in the presence of Almighty God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the blessed Michael the Archangel, the blessed St. Paul and all the Saints and sacred Hosts of Heaven, and to you, my Ghostly Father, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, founded by Ignatius Loyola, in the Pontificate of Paul the Third, and continued to the present, do by the Womb of the Virgin, the Matrix of God, and the Rod of Jesus Christ, declare and swear, that His Holiness the Pope is Christ’s Vice-Regent and is the true and only Head of the Catholic and Universal Church throughout the earth; and that by virtue of the keys of binding and loosing, given to His Holiness by my Saviour, Jesus Christ, he hath power to depose heretical kings, princes, states, commonwealths and governments, all being illegal without his sacred confirmation, and that they may safely be destroyed.

“Therefore, to the utmost of my power, I shall and will defend this doctrine and His Holiness’ right and custom against all usurpers of the heretical or Protestant authority whatever, especially the Lutheran Church of Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and the now pretended authority and churches of England and Scotland, and branches of the same now established in Ireland and on the Continent of America and elsewhere; and all adherents in regard that they be usurped and heretical, opposing the sacred Mother Church of Rome.

“I do now renounce and disown any allegiance as due to any heretical king, prince, or state named Protestants or Liberals, or obedience to any of their laws, magistrates or officers. I do further declare that the doctrines of the churches of England and Scotland, of the Calvinists, Huguenots and others of the name Protestants or Liberals to be damnable, and they themselves damned and to be damned who will not forsake the same.

“I do further declare that I will help, assist and advise all or any of His Holiness’ agents in any place wherever I shall be, in Switzerland, German, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, England, Ireland, or America, or in any other kingdom or territory I shall come to, and do my uttermost to extirpate the heretical Protestants or Liberals’ doctrines and to destroy all their pretended powers, regal or otherwise.

“I do further promise and declare that, notwithstanding I am dispensed with, to assume any religion heretical, for the propagating of the Mother Church’s interest, to keep secret and private all her agents’ counsels from time to time, as they may entrust me, and not to divulge, directly or indirectly, by word, in writing, or circumstance whatever; but to execute all that shall be proposed, given in charge or discovered unto me, by you, my Ghostly Father, or any of this sacred convent” (Saussy, Rulers of Evil, p.48-49).

How far will Jesuits go in pursuit of Catholic world objectives? The oath continues:

“I do further promise and declare that I will have no opinion or will of my own, or any mental reservation whatever, even as a corpse or cadaver, but will unhesitatingly obey each and every command that I may receive from my superiors in the Militia of the Pope and of Jesus Christ.

“That I will go to any part of the world whithersoever I may be sent, to the frozen regions of the North, the burning sands of the desert of Africa, or the jungles of India, to the centres of civilization of Europe, or to the wild haunts of the barbarous savages of America, without murmuring or repining, and will be submissive in all things whatsoever communicated to me.

“I furthermore promise and declare that I will, when opportunity presents, make and wage relentless war, secretly or openly, against all heretics, Protestants and Liberals, as I am directed to do, to extirpate and exterminate them from the face of the whole earth; and that I will spare neither age, sex, or condition; and that I will hang, burn, waste, boil, flay, strangle and bury alive these infamous heretics, rip up the stomachs and wombs of their women and crush their infants’ heads against the walls, in order to annihilate forever their execrable race. That when the same cannot be done openly, I will secretly use the poisoned cup, the strangulating cord, the steel of the poinard or the leaden bullet, regardless of the honor, rank, dignity, or authority of the person or persons, whatever may be their condition in life, either public or private, as I at any time may be directed so to do by any agent of the Pope or Superior of the Brotherhood of the Holy Faith, of the Society of Jesus.

“In confirmation of which, I hereby dedicate my life, my soul, and all my corporeal powers, and with this dagger which I now receive, I will subscribe my name written in my own blood, in testimony thereof; and should I prove false or weaken in my determination, may my brethren and fellow soldiers of the Militia of the Pope cut off my hands and my feet, and my throat from ear to ear, my belly opened and sulphur burned therein, with all the punishment that can be inflicted upon me on earth and my soul be tortured by demons in an eternal hell forever!

“All of which I do swear by the blessed Trinity and blessed Sacrament, which I am now to receive, to perform and on my part to keep inviolably; and do call all the heavenly and glorious host of heaven to witness these my real intentions to keep this my oath.

“In testimony hereof I take this most holy and blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist, and witness the same further, with my name written with the point of this dagger dipped in my own blood and sealed in the face of this holy Covenant” (p.50-51).

The Jesuits were the arm of the papacy in instituting and managing the Great Inquisition of the Middle Ages. Their fingerprints were all over it. Millions in Europe were tortured, imprisoned, whipped, scourged, beheaded, burned at the stake, and martyred at the behest of the Pope, by the militant arm of Catholicism.

Could such things happen once again? Bible prophecy says YES! Unfortunately, most Americans are naïve and ignorant of the study of real history. These things are left out of most history books, which only skim the surface of ancient events, plots, conspiracies, and the intricacies of political and religious warfare. For a real insight into the true face of Roman Catholicism, I strongly suggest you read Fox’s Book of Martyrs.

Coming Soon – a GREATER Inquisition!

The modern United States of America has become a major part of a modern rendition of the ancient ROMAN empire, which itself was a descendant of the original BABYLONIAN empire, with the same religious icons, idols, gods and goddesses – the SAME religious tenets, organization, priesthood, sacred Babylonian “mass,” and even the same SACRED DAYS OF OBSERVANCE!

True saints of God will once again be persecuted by the “whore” of Revelation – the great false Church of Rome and its far-reaching emissaries!

There can be no doubt about it! We are a PAGAN people – pagan to the core – under the subtle influence of a PAGAN RELIGION, which cleverly disguises itself as “Christian,” while doing away with true Christian beliefs, doctrines, and teachings!

What does God Himself say about these matters?

How does Almighty God view a nation such as the United States which has allowed pagan religious influence to permeate its civic institutions and religious bodies? What does God think about the moral slide in the United States and Western world, from the highest political offices down to the teenagers in the high schools?

The word of God thunders: “Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward. Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head [politically] is sick, and the whole heart [the churches] faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head [from the bottom to the top of society], there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed or bound up, or soothed with ointment” (Isa.1:4-6, NKJV).

God Almighty describes the JUDGMENT He will execute upon this End-Time world “Babylonian-Roman” system, this “New World Order” – a political and religious world empire -- which exploits the poor and downtrodden, and makes slaves of nations and peoples, and which even trades in the bodies and “souls” of men. The apostle John writes:

“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, ‘Come, I will show you the judgment of the great

harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth

committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk

with the wine of her fornication.’

“So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman

sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven

heads and ten horns.

“The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold

and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full

of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written:

“MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

“I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the

martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. But

the angel said to me, Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the

woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten

horns. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottom-

less pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel,

whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the

world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. Here is the mind

which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman

sits” (Rev.17:1-9).

This impressive scene of the future depicts a great GLOBAL CHURCH which sits upon a MIGHTY EMPIRE called the ‘beast.” It is an end-time world kingdom. Notice! It is “drunk with the blood of the saints, and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus”!

This “woman” sits on “seven mountains.” Historians know that ancient ROME was referred to as the “city of seven hills.” Says Alexander Hislop, in The Two Babylons, “There has never been any difficulty in the mind of any enlightened Protestant in identifying the woman ‘sitting on seven mountains,’ and having on her forehead the name written, ‘Mystery, Babylon the Great,’ with the Roman apostacy.” Hislop refers to pagan poets who called Rome “the seven hilled city.” Virgil spoke of its “seven heights,” and Propertius declared Rome as “the lofty city on seven hills, which governs the whole world” (page 2). Rome was well known in ancient times as the city on “seven dominating mountains.”

This passage is, therefore, speaking of an end-time RELIGIOUS ROMAN CHURCH sitting on a WORLD EMPIRE called the “beast.” It is drunken with the spilled blood of the true saints of God!

Will this system persecute and martyr the saints of God? Notice that she is “drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.”

The Fifth Seal

The prophecy of the fifth seal in Revelation, chapter 6, also alludes to this coming time of incredible martyrdom of God’s people. We read: “When he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed” (Rev.6:9-11).

A future martyrdom of saints – at the hands of New World Religious Order – under the control of a revived, resuscitated, resurrected Vatican with worldwide Catholic POWER!

The Kingdom of the “BEAST”

The “beast” kingdom itself is described in the 18th chapter of Revelation. John asserts:

“And I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her, my people,

lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins

have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. . . .

“In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her TORMENT and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow. Therefore her plagues will come in one day -- death and mourning and famine. And she will be

UTTERLY BURNED WITH FIRE, for strong is the Lord God who

JUDGES her.

“The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously

with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her

burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas,

that GREAT CITY BABYLON, that mighty city! For in one hour your

JUDGMENT has come.

“And the MERCHANTS of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no

one buys their merchandise anymore: merchandise of gold and silver,

precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every

kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of

most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; and cinnamon, and incense,

fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and

sheep, horses and chariots [automobiles], AND BODIES AND SOULS

OF MEN . . .

“The merchants of these things, who became RICH by her, will stand at

a distance for fear of her TORMENT, weeping and wailing, and saying,

‘Alas, alas, that GREAT CITY that was clothed in fine linen, purple,

and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! For

in ONE HOUR such riches came to nothing.

“Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as TRADE

on the sea, stood at a distance and cried out when they saw the smoke of

her burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?’ They threw dust on

their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that

GREAT CITY, in which all who had SHIPS on the sea became rich by

her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate” (Rev.18:4-19).

Let us carefully look at this amazing prophecy in Revelation 18, and notice things we may have overlooked in the past.

1) This “Babylon” is controlled in a large measure by a VAST CHURCH system which is PAGAN to the core.

2) It is also the world’s greatest COMMERCIAL and TRADE center -- it is so great that all the merchants and ship owners in the world lament its destruction.

3) This is a “CITY” -- the prophecy says so -- undoubtedly, then, it is the world’s GREATEST CITY of commerce and power and influence during these “End times.” In ancient times this city was ROME. However, the Roman system has infected the whole western world. Where is this city today?

4) It is a SEAPORT -- the indication is that it is the greatest seaport, with the world’s largest and busiest harbor.

5) It is connected with the “Beast” of Revelation, and the End-time Babylonian world Empire.

What is this “great city”? Where is it? What “city” is the financial-commercial SEAT of the modern world – the end-time “Roman Empire” or “Babylon the Great”?

Wherever it is, it is the CHIEF CITY of this new world mercantile system. It is the HEADQUARTERS of the “New World Order.”

Since the United Nations is part and parcel of the New World Order, it is very likely that the headquarters of the United Nations would be located in this very same city which leads the modern world in trade, commerce, and wealth.

Some have thought that the “Babylon” of Revelation 18 will be the rebuilt city of ancient Babylon on the Euphrates River in modern Iraq. It is true that Saddam Hussein is attempting to rebuild ancient Babylon as a tourist center and attraction. But to claim that such a small and insignificant city is the major modern metropolis mentioned in Revelation 18 stretches all human credulity to the breaking point.

Consider -- this city mentioned in Revelation 18 is the DOMINANT CITY in the entire world -- in that sense, a city LIKE or comparable to, ancient Babylon! This indicates that it has been such a city for a considerable length of time, for it takes decades, even centuries, for a city to grow in power, population, and magnitude. Therefore, this city has to have been around for some length of time.

What city could it be?

New York City! Of course! There can be no doubt!

New York City is Modern BABYLON!

The only city which really fits the criteria -- and fully answers all the elements of this prophecy, today -- is none other than NEW YORK CITY!

The United Nations building sits on a site IN NEW YORK CITY, given to the organization by the Rockefeller family, one of the richest and most powerful families in the United States. The United Nations is vital to the “New World Order,” or what the Bible refers to in prophecy as “Babylon the Great.” It is composed of a General Assembly which includes all nations on the earth, and a Security Council, presently composed of five permanent members -- the United States, Russia, Britain, France, and China -- and ten other rotating members, serving for two years. Organized in April 25, 1945, this final and latest form of “World Government” has been in existence for fifty seven years, as of 2002.

It is no accident that its headquarters is none other than New York City, the world’s greatest modern metropolis, and a symbol for financial power, might and influence -- the home of Manhattan Island, Wall Street, the Stock Market, the heart and soul of modern commerce. Such agencies as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and the leading banks of the world are centered in New York City.

New York City is the major city of the world’s “Last Remaining Superpower” -- the United States. What other city, therefore, could begin to be the End-time “Babylon”?

For far too long, many have assumed that the Biblical “Babylon” mentioned in Revelation 18, as existing in the “last days,” was the city of “Rome,” in Italy. However, Rome’s heyday has long since past. Today, there is a “New Rome,” on the banks of the Potomac River and the Hudson River – Washington D.C., the political capital of the United States, and New York City, the economic-financial capital of the world.

Modern “Babylon” must be, and is very clearly, a SEAPORT -- the world’s great SEAPORT and TRADE CENTER! There is more wealth and riches in New York City than on any comparable spot on the earth, today. The harbor is dominated by the “Statue of Liberty,” which itself is a pagan statue, created on the model of the ancient goddess Diana or Athena, with a turreted crown.

New York City, Babylon, and Rome Compared

How does modern New York City compare with ancient Rome and Babylon? Notice:

1) All three are the major cities of powerful world Empires.

2) All three are the trade and commercial capitals of the world during their time.

3) All three are the hubs of financial enterprise. They are powerful banking centers -- in fact, ancient Babylon was where the modern “banking system” originated.

4) All three are seaports. The Port of New York is one of the largest ports in the world; Babylon lay on the banks of the Euphrates River, and Rome lay close to the Tiber River in Italy.

5) 5) All three were centers of fashion, culture, and the blending together of peoples of many races and nationalities, as great “melting pots” of humanity.

But could modern “Babylon” really be New York City? Could the United States be a major part of the modern ROMAN EMPIRE?

For years I was under the delusion that modern “Babylon” had to be somewhere in “Europe.” Herbert Armstrong of the Worldwide Church of God, had it pegged as modern Rome, where the seat of the Vatican and the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, are located. But the description of “Babylon” in Revelation 18 in no way fits the city of Rome, today. It is neither a seaport, nor a major world center of banking and commerce. Although it is a major world city in its own right, it nowhere near begins to compare with New York City, in any manner, shape or form! Nor does any other city of Europe truly fulfill the description in Revelation 18 of a commercial capital and trade center of the world. The title, by default, must go to New York City.

For too long we have had blinders on, and mistakenly thought that modern “Babylon” had to be in Europe, but no city there really fits the description of Revelation 18. The nearest would be London, England, but even London does not compare today to New York City in terms of trade, mercantile power, financial power, and immensity. Today, Wall Street and the New York Stock Market literally shake the world.

Just because New York City is the major city in the United States, does not mean it could not be the “Rome” or “Babylon” in modern times. Every time I have been to New York, I have been impressed, and so have other people, by its fluid immensity, its electric air, the energy of the people, and the maze of buildings, skyscrapers, and mass of humanity. We always called it “Babylon,” without thinking of the import of those words, almost by automatic reflex. It just seems and feels like “Babylon” to anyone who has been there!

Facts about New York City

New York City is the largest city in the United States, and the fifth largest city in the world, after Shanghai, Mexico City, Tokyo, and Beijing. None of those cities could qualify as the leading mercantile city of the world -- most of them are too poor, and financially strapped. The economy of Tokyo and Japan, today, is a vast delusion of inflated prices, threatening to topple the entire Japanese economy.

New York City lies at the mouth of the Hudson River and covers about 365 square miles (945 square kilometers). Five ethnic groups make up about 77 percent of New York City’s population -- Irish, Italian, Jewish, Negro and Puerto Rican. New York City has more blacks than any other city in the world (over 1,667,000) -- they constitute the largest single ethnic group in the city, over 21 percent of the population. Jews make up about 20 percent of the population. There are also many Chinese, Cubans, Germans, Greeks, and Poles in New York, a true “melting pot” just like ancient Babylon!

These facts and statistics show that New York City is certainly a strong contender for the role of the End-time “Babylon the Great”! But would the End-time “Babylon” be the major city in the United States, which is descended primarily from the House of Joseph, son of Jacob, in the Bible? Is such a thing possible?

The answer is a resounding “yes”! In this End-time age, the northern tribes of the House of Israel, which went into captivity in 718-721 B.C., and migrated into northwestern Europe, the British Isles, and North America, were prophesied to become great, and to dominate the world in the End-time. But they were also prophesied to be worshipping a paganized form of religion, which would lead them astray. Write for our articles, “Who Is Ephraim?” and “United States in Bible Prophecy!”

Notice!

Modern Ephraim and Baal Worship

Bible prophecy indicates that modern Ephraim, the house of Joseph, the leader of the breakaway northern Kingdom of Israel in ancient times, would in the End-time be a nation given over to Baal (that is to say, “pagan”) worship.

The prophet Hosea foretold the state of religious apostasy which would characterize the lost tribes of Israel in the “time of the end.” He declares of Ephraim, the leading tribe of the ten tribes, and therefore the leading nation:

“Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone. Their drink is

rebellion, they commit harlotry continually” (Hosea 4:17-18,

NKJV).

“For now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry, Israel is defiled.

They do not direct their deeds toward turning to their God, for

the spirit of harlotry is in their midst. And they do not know the

LORD. The pride of Israel testifies to his face; therefore Israel

and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah (the Jews) also

stumbles with them” (Hosea 5:3-5).

“I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel: There is the

harlotry [spiritual and religious false worship, my Bible’s margin

says, “spiritual adultery”] of Ephraim; Israel is defiled” (Hos.6:10).

New York City, a cosmopolitan “melting pot” of peoples, is also reflected in the prophecies of Hosea. We read:

“Ephraim has MIXED himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake

unturned. ALIENS [foreigners] have devoured his strength, but he

does not know it. Yes, gray hairs are here and there on him, yet he

does not know it” (Hos.7:8-9).

God warns Ephraim, His people -- the nations of modern “Israel,” where the “lost ten tribes” of ancient Israel eventually settled -- in Northwestern Europe, the British Isles, and North America, mainly:

“The days of PUNISHMENT have come; the days of recompense have

come. Israel knows! The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is insane

[their religious leaders have corrupted them!], because of the greatness of

your iniquity and great enmity. The watchman of Ephraim is with my

God; but the prophet is a fowler’s snare in all his ways -- enmity in the

house of his God. They are deeply corrupted, as in the days of Gibeah

[when Benjamites mass-raped a woman -- see Judges 19:1-30; how

sickeningly comparable to our mass immorality, rape, and perversion,

so rampant, today!]. He will remember their iniquity; He will PUNISH

their sins” (Hos.9:7-9).

God says of His modern people, today, in warning words of love and deep concern:

“When Ephraim spoke, trembling, he exalted himself in Israel [that is,

during the time of the American Revolution, and Civil War, when our

leaders were honest, sincere, God-fearing men, our nation was blessed

by God]; but when he offended through BAAL WORSHIP [that is, the

paganized churches and apostate religions that flourish, today, where

the Word of God has been trampled in the mire along with the LAW of

God!], he died [spiritually]. Now they sin more and more, and have

made for themselves molten images [like images of crosses, crucifixes,

various “saints,” etc.], idols of their silver, according to their skill . . .”

(Hosea 13:1-2).

The house of Joseph was prophesied to become great, in the End-time (see Gen.48:15-20; 49:22-26; Deut.33:13-17). That is why the United States of America rose to such awesome heights after such an inauspicious beginning in 1776, a little over 200 years ago. But in this 21^st century, our peoples have plunged into sin, iniquity, and departed further and further from the ways of God!

God will not be mocked. He will not sit by silently while His people go on a pagan orgy of lust, greed, wickedness, and evil. He will not ignore the fact that pagan Roman Catholic influence has led His people astray, into pagan religious practices, and pagan beliefs and customs, which are nothing but disguised idolatry!

Coming Soon – A New Roman Empire

The modern end-time Roman Empire began to develop soon after World War II with the establishment of the United Nations. Then in the 1950s the “Club of Rome” proposed dividing the world up into TEN geographical/political divisions. Meanwhile, in Europe, the “Common Market” was created in 1956, and today has grown into the “European Union” of 15 nations, with many more in Eastern Europe scheduled to be added during the next few years.

NAFTA and GATT, international trade agreements, are propelling the surge toward world unity, in a commercial sense, with nations becoming interdependent upon other nations in a tightly woven tapestry.

One of the major driving forces behind the push toward world unity, and a modern World Empire, patterned after the ancient Roman and Babylonian Empires, is the United States of America, which stands to benefit greatly from vastly expanded trade and commercial connections. It is as if the world is pulling itself up by its own bootstraps, in a common desire for peace, prosperity, and happiness.

But will it succeed?

Demon or Devil

Years ago, voicing the thoughts of millions, Paul-Henri Spaak, former prime minister of Belgium and former secretary-general of NATO, declared: “We do not want another committee. We have too many already. What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of all people and to lift us out of the economic morass into which we are sinking. Send us such a man, and be he god or devil, we will receive him.”

Waiting in the wings for such an opportunity, is the world’s greatest modern politician, greatly beloved around the world, and especially in Europe. William Jefferson Clinton, former president of the United States, has long been a huge supporter of European unity. Interestingly, he received the Charlemagne Prize for his efforts in promoting a European super state. The prize was bestowed upon him at the cathedral in Aachen, Germany, where the first Holy Roman emperor lies buried.

Tower of Babel

It is interesting to note that the European Union is in the process of adding another ten nations to its roster. The symbol for a modern United Europe is a gigantic edifice in Strasbourg, France, which has an enormous replica of the unfinished Tower of Babel as its centerpiece. Obviously, the modern attempt to unite the world is patterned after the ancient attempt by Nimrod, the first “world ruler” after the Flood, who commissioned the building of the original Tower of Babel, whose construction was thwarted by intervention of the Most High God. Nimrod’s plan was to unite all mankind in opposition to God’s government. But his plans came crashing down! (Gen.11:1-9).

It is also interesting that the headquarters building of the United Europe, in Strasbourg, contains 750 seats for the members of the European Parliament. Some sources report that seat number “666” is at the present time unoccupied!

This structure is only used one week out of ever four. The Parliament is usually based in Brussels, Belgium. At present the EU works in eleven languages, needing 55 separate translations of every document produced. The strongest member of the European Union, economically, is the powerhouse of Germany, reunited, and thriving, and beginning to throw its weight around.

The symbol of the European Union is significant indeed. It is that of a woman astride the back of a bull! How interesting! In the book of Revelation, depicting end-time prophecies, John wrote, “And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy” (Rev.17:3). Clearly, the European Union will be a part of the final BESTIAL Roman Empire!

International Criminal Court

The progress toward a World Union was also enhanced in July, 1998, when 120 nations adopted a treaty called “The Rome Statutes,” designed to implement a permanent “International Criminal Court.” It was to come into force “sixty days after sixty states” ratified it. The final ceremony of ratification took place in March of 2002 when ten nations ratified it, bringing the total to 66 nations approving the treaty.

The ICC is to have jurisdiction in cases of “war crimes,” “genocide,” “crimes against humanity,” and the latter category includes killing civilians, slavery, torture, rape, forced pregnancy, and persecution on political, national, ethnic, cultural, and religious or gender grounds. Individual acts of these kinds may not qualify, as the acts must also be deemed “crimes against humanity” as a whole, a high magnitude of criminal behavior. Random acts of violence would not qualify. But one wonders – what about churches teaching doctrines which do not endorse the “New World Order” in its “One World Religion” aspects? Are those churches which do not accept homosexuality, Sunday observance, Christmas, Easter, and the supreme authority of the Papacy in religious matters, destined to be first persecuted, and then prosecuted?

The ICC will be located in The Hague, the Netherlands, and construction of its new building headquarters is expected to be completed by the year 2007. The UN Security Council will be mandated to recommend cases for prosecution by the ICC.

On December 31, 2000, outgoing President Bill Clinton signed off on the treaty forming the ICC, one of his last acts while president, but President George Bush has not signed off on it, but rejected it, as has the state of Israel. Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is concerned by a move in Belgium, instigated by Palestinians, to indict him for so-called “war crimes” over the alleged 1982 “massacres” of Palestinians in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatilla in Lebanon.

Prophecy in Daniel 9:27

Interestingly, Prophecy in the News reports that information they have received from an ex-KGB agent living in Eastern Europe, “Bill Clinton will become one of two vice presidents of a world government, to be established by the ICC.” They reported, “According to our source, Margaret Thatcher will be given the title of the other VP, while Mikhail Gorbachev will become the president of the world.” They note this will probably not happen right away. The ICC remains to be fully staffed, planned for July 2003, and then will begin real operation. These “plans,” of course, are also subject to various changes during the meantime.

Prophecy in the News asks: “Is it possible that the International Criminal Court will dictate the terms of a forced peace between Israel and the Palestinians? Could one of the leaders of the proposed world government be the “prince” spoken about in Daniel 9?” (“ICC Now a Reality, As of July 1, 2002, Prophecy in the News, July 2002, p.15).

The passage in Daniel reads: “And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city [Jerusalem] and the sanctuary [Temple]. The end of it will be with a flood [armies], and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he [the end-time “prince”] shall confirm a covenant [treaty] with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wings of abominations shall be one who makes desolate [a great desolater/destroyer]. Even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate [or, desolater]” (Dan.9:27).

Could this “prince” be the world’s most consummate politician of this modern age, a man impeached by the U.S. Congress, a man who violated his oath of office, and who committed adultery and sexual sins flagrantly while President, and bombed Bosnia to distract attention from his infidelities?

We will soon see.

The Rising Up of the “Beast”

In the book of Revelation, the rising up of this prophesied “New World Order” is shown in stark detail. We read: “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a BEAST rise up out of the sea [of nations], having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death [a fatal wound]; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon [Satan the devil -- see Rev.12:9] which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months . . . And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over ALL kindreds, and tongues,and nations” (Rev.13:1-7).

This End-time “Beast” is the final birth of the “New World Order” -- the revitalized and energized “United Nations.” At that time it may well change its name to “Federated Earth.” It will hold power over all nations, for a time. It will be led by “seven heads” -- possibly the “G7” nations who dominate world finance -- the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and Italy.

The “ten horns” of this final “Beast” power could well be the ten regions that the Earth has been divided into by the Club of Rome and the Trilateral Commission. These ten regions are North America, Western Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, Eastern Europe, Latin America, North Africa and the Middle East, main Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and Central Asia.

Or, the “ten horns” could be ten “permanent” members of a revised and expanded Security Council of the United Nations. What are these “ten horns” destined to do?

Prophesies John: “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet; but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them . . .” (Rev.17:12-14).

The World’s FINAL Dictator

The prophet Daniel declares of the final world dictator: “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” (Dan.7:25). A “time, times, and the dividing of time” equals 1260 days or 42 months (compare Rev.12:6, 14, and 13:5).

Daniel also tells us about the character of this “beast” or final “dictator.” We read: “And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft [witchcraft] to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand” (Dan.8:23-25).

This terrible world empire, the “Federated Earth,” or “New World Order,” as some think it will be called, will rule for three and one half years -- a time, times, and half a time (Rev.13:5). Its rule is compared to a plague of “locusts” in Revelation, as the first of “three woes,” and these “locusts” -- or armies of the “Beast” -- will “torment men five months” ( compare Rev.9:1-11 and Nahum 3:17-18). Their king is Satan the Devil, also called Abaddon in Hebrew, and Apollyon in Greek, both names meaning “The Destroyer.”

But during the short and cruel rule of this “Beast” and “Final World Dictator,” he will hear nervous tidings out of the northeast. As Daniel records, “But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy, and annihilate many. And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain [Israel]; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him” (Dan.11:44-45, NKJV).

The Sixth Trumpet and Babylon the Great

Biblical prophecy shows that nations from the east and north – the region of Russia and Asia -- will ATTACK the West, modern “Babylon,” and devastate America, Europe, and the new Roman Empire/Babylon the Great. The war will be fought with nuclear weapons! A nuclear strike upon the major cities of the western world -- Berlin, London, Paris, New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Seattle, and many others, will result in a massive thermo-nuclear war and throw the world on the verge of annihilation and cosmocide. As the song says, we are on the “Eve of Destruction”!

Can you imagine the scene? The leading cities of this mighty World Empire, with New York City, the richest and most powerful city in the entire world – will become cinders, ash and rubble. Even the most influential city in the world -- in modern “Babylon” -- will be destroyed “in one hour” (Rev.18:17) – “utterly burned with fire” (verse 8) -- undoubtedly by nuclear weapons – in a massive nuclear STRIKE from the East!

No wonder the traders, ship masters, and kings of the earth will “stand afar off” from her. Her hour of judgment will inflame the imaginations of men around the world. Who would believe that this great city could be destroyed so utterly? No wonder they will wail, and mourn, and shed copious tears.

In this massive attack from the East, Bible prophecy says ONE THIRD OF ALL MANKIND will be killed. We read:

“Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from

the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,

saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, ‘Release the

four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.’

So the four angels, who had been prepared for the HOUR

and day and month and year, were released to KILL A

THIRD OF MANKIND. Now the number of the ARMY

of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number

of them” (Rev.9:13-16).

Notice! This final WAR -- called the “second WOE” in the book of Revelation (Rev.9:12) -- will be prepared for a particular HOUR of a certain day in a certain month and year -- it will be carefully planned, orchestrated, and carried off as a surprise, blitzkrieg type of attack -- a SNEAK ATTACK -- which will cause immense devastation, destruction, and death. In this diabolical attack, some TWO BILLION among all mankind will be killed! A “third of mankind,” today, would be about two billion, since the world population is roughly 6 billion. But this is just the “second woe.” It precedes the “third” and final “woe” -- which occurs at the coming of the Messiah Himself.

This judgment on our wicked, evil system will occur during the awesome “Day of the Lord,” the final YEAR of this age, during the climactic months before the actual coming of Jesus Christ to rule this world! The “second woe” or the “sixth trumpet” plague will be a major part of it (Rev.9:13). That could well be just seven to twelve years from now!

ARMAGEDDON

This “second woe” leads up to the “third woe” – the final battle of “Armageddon” which results when Christ will return from Heaven at the SEVENTH trumpet to put an end to man’s hellish rage and wickedness (Rev.11:15; 16:17-21). Notice:

“Then the SIXTH angel [sixth trumpet plague, or second woe]

poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water

was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might

be prepared.

“And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth

of the dragon [Satan], out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the

mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of demons,

performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the

whole world, to GATHER THEM to the BATTLE of that great day

of God Almighty. . . And they gathered them together to the place

called in Hebrew, Armageddon” (Rev.16:12-16).

This leads up to the “third woe,” which is the seventh trumpet and the seventh plague, of the Day of the Lord -- the final trumpet, heralding the coming of the Messiah, and the final judgment of God upon this wicked, evil world Babylonian system!

“Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air; and a

loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne,

saying, ‘It is done!’ And there were noises and thunderings and

lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and

great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth.

Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the

nations fell. And great BABYLON was remembered before God,

to give her the cup of the fierceness of His wrath. Then every island

fled away, and the mountains were not found. And great hail from

heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent.

Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that

plague was exceedingly great” (Rev.16:17-21).

What Can We Do About It?

The day of Almighty God’s judgment is not far off. Incredible as it sounds, the world is headed for a rendezvous with destiny. The pagan modern world will suffer the greatest tribulation in its history (Matt.24:21-22). Pagan religion is leading us into a horrifying future.

The final “World Empire” is forming quickly before us. This evil and abominable World System is taking shape rapidly.

But in the meantime, what should YOU be doing about these things? Is mere knowledge about them enough? The apostle Paul warns, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to REPENT” (Acts 17:30). Peter declared, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). He added, “Be saved from this perverse generation” (verse 40).

God Himself says this Babylonian-Roman-pagan system will be judged! He says to you and me: “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities” (Rom.18:4-5). Are you ready to repent, and to confess your sins, and change your life? Salvation is available! But you must seize it firmly! Without delay!