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The Global Kingdom
Deception: The Order of The Day
Studio Session 84
Sam Soleyn
The subject of the coming into the earth of the evil one is widely covered in Biblical prophecy. Of course our problem has been that we have not seen the matter from a heavenly point of view, we have mostly attempted to see it from an earthly, or linear, perspective. And with that of course, much is lost because we do not see it the way that it ought to be seen. We’ve been talking about the fact that the enemy understands what God has said the future is going to be, but it isn’t so much that he believes it as much as it is that he takes the precaution of not being caught—just in case. So he’s prepared for, and he’s prepared himself against the day when—if maybe God is right and he does lose the war with Michael (and we spoke about that in a previous broadcast) and he finds himself thrown into the earth, as the Scriptures say in Revelation the 12th chapter, “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” (Inserted – actual verse—“But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” – Revelation 12:12b)
Now he [Satan] has prepared for his coming and he understands that the humans are being drawn by their desire to preserve themselves and to protect themselves, to provide for themselves, to guarantee their well-being, so he has crafted his methodology for the entrapment of human beings to take full advantage of this weakness. And his global kingdom spreads out, as it were, an entire net that humans will be entrapped in if they are being governed by the twin imperatives of provision and protection. And if they are driven to provide for themselves and protect themselves by the three lusts: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, because these are the things that, according to I John 2:15 and following, these are the things that are contained in the world—the domain controlled by Satan and that kingdom that is meant to encompass all of the interests and needs of humanity. (Inserted – actual verse—“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.” – I John 2:15,16)
Needless to say, the return of the Lord is a subject that is widely covered in the Scriptures and probably one of the most thorough renditions of the events of that time is found in the words of the great prophet, Daniel, from the Old Testament. And we’ve been looking at Daniel as we’ve considered how the world is evolving into a global society because of the events now that increasingly push the earth toward a common response, whether it is tsunamis in Asia or terrorism in Western states such as Spain, the United States and other parts of the Western world. The world is being pushed together and the world wants it to be so. The convenience of being able to shop globally via the Internet, the convenience of being able to have friends and cultural exchanges and economic opportunities all over the world—that appeals to human beings. And so virtual reality—the ability to create a reality that reflects your highest ideals and interests and to customize it—seems to at once open the whole world to humans and yet not submerge them in anonymity.
This duality clearly appeals to human beings—the dual benefits as it were—and there appears to be no end in sight to the opportunities offered by this global configuration of human aims and ambitions. It’s almost like riding on the Titanic, this majestic ship making its maiden voyage across the Atlantic, inaugurating a new age of travel and luxury that “even God could not sink the Titanic,” as the saying was back then. And then suddenly it strikes an iceberg. It seems like this wave of possibility offered to us by virtual reality—brave new worlds in which we can create anything, that we can create a human being for spare parts via cloning or we could create medical therapies and drugs from stem cell research. Science boldly says, “There is really no reason for a human being to die.” The promise of this brave new world is dazzling… like the Titanic.
This is not so much that a doomsayer is angry or frustrated that the world that he knows has changed. It’s not that there was anything wrong with the Titanic; the Titanic itself was a fine ship and no reason for God to want to sink it or not. It was the attitude of men, because of the possibility that the Titanic represented that gave the matter transcendent references. The Internet, cyber-space, virtual reality; these things in themselves are not bad—they are not good, they are not bad, they just “are.” But for humans to think that these things will go on uninterruptedly is for them to disbelieve the plain meaning of Scripture. There is a global kingdom, and a ruler of it will come. When he does, the Scriptures say, “You cannot buy or sell.”—something we regularly do on EBay, all over the world, procuring whatever needs we may have—“You cannot buy or sell unless you receive permission, an identity—the mark of the beast.” (Inserted – actual verse—“He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.” – Revelation 13:16,17)
The beast itself is not the antichrist; the antichrist is the horn on the head of that beast. The beast itself is this global kingdom so whenever you see a global kingdom arising, whenever anything arises that moves toward globalism, the believer, in the Scriptures, ought to be aware of the fact that this—though it may be a benign happening—has the potential ultimately of being controlled by a genuinely evil person. He is the little horn that comes up on the head of this beast. He is the horn with eyes and a mouth that speaks blasphemous things against God, rails against the God of the heavens and makes war against the saints. If you don’t see that as the companion of the rise of globalism then you only see globalism as this benign occurrence, and who would want to be against shopping on the Internet and having access to a global marketplace. Who would be against having information about all facets of human occupation of this planet? Who would be against the ease with which one could make a fortune using computers and the Internet? Who could possibly be against young people finding friends all over the world, talking to them every day in chat rooms? Who could be against the human imagination being unfettered with tools of the digital revolution? If you begin to talk like that then you appear to be someone against progress.
It’s not that these things are good or bad; they are not. They are neither good nor bad. It is that the Scriptures tell us that there will come a ruler who will speak for a global empire and will blaspheme the name of the Lord while utilizing the might of this global empire to crush and devour the whole earth and to wage war against the saints. It is odd, because with virtual reality we have a global kingdom. It is not yet under the control of the evil one but the one who is coming will come. Otherwise the Scriptures are dead wrong. Now when he comes, here are some things that he will do. This is from the book of Daniel, the 9th chapter. Here the prophet Daniel, upon repenting to God, was given a vision from God. Verse 24 of Daniel 9 begins by saying, “ ‘Seventy ‘sevens’ (seventy periods of seven years each) are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.’” So quite literally, from the time of your return from Babylonian captivity to the end of the age, there will be seventy periods of seven years each.
Now if this were seventy periods of seven years each running concurrently that would be a total of 490 years. However, the record of these shows a broken line. After 69 ‘sevens’, there is a broken line. Know and understand this: that from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until the Anointed One—the Ruler—comes, there will be 7 ‘sevens’ and 62 ‘sevens’. So of the 70 ‘sevens’—62 plus 7—which would be 69 of the 70 ‘sevens’ will be consumed in between the years following the decree for the restoration of Israel… and keep in mind now, when Daniel is writing this, Daniel is still in captivity in Babylon. But there will come a decree—Darius, the king of the Persians, will issue a decree—ordering the restoration and the rebuilding of Israel. From that time until the Anointed One, the Lord Jesus Christ, comes there will be 7 ‘sevens’ and 62 ‘sevens’. So 62 plus 7 is 69 ‘sevens’.
Now how many ‘sevens’ were there all together? [There were] 70 ‘sevens’. That means that there is one period left of ‘sevens’… one seven year period. Then he goes on to say, “The people of the ruler who will come,”—this is different from the Anointed One, the ruler; another ruler will come—“The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” Well a ruler came who destroyed the city and the sanctuary. That happened in the year A.D.70; that was Titus Flavius. Jerusalem was sacked and if you visit the ancient city of Rome, there is the arch of Titus and one of the bas-reliefs on one of those sides of this arch of Titus shows Roman soldiers carrying away the seven branch candelabra that was in the temple. So, “the people of the ruler who will come—the people of Titus Flavius, the Roman ruler—will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” And that they did. “The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.” (Inserted – Daniel 9:26b)
Another ruler will come but he is of the type of the destroyer, so it simply says, “He.” “He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’” Then the clock starts again. This world ruler of course will make peace because he will confirm the peace with many, for 1 ‘seven’. So this figure who will come, will come as a man of peace. “In the middle of the ‘seven’”—three and a half would be the middle of seven—“he will put an end to sacrifice and offering.” Well note something here: in this same passage he talks about, “the people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.”—the city and the temple. But then right below that it says, “And on a wing of the temple…” What does that tell you? That there is a time lapse, and the temple that was destroyed because “the people of that ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” And it’s not like we have to guess about this because Titus destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the temple.
The temple, to this day, is in ruins; the site of the temple is now occupied by a mosque called the Al-aqsa Mosque. All the stones of the temple were thrown down. The Romans threw over every stone, just as Jesus prophesied because when the temple burned, the roof of the temple was overlaid with a thin sheet of gold and the molten gold ran down in the cracks between the stones of the temple and this molten gold was discovered and it gave rise to the rumor that the Jews had used gold as paving between the stones of the temple. The Roman legionnaires overthrew every stone of the temple looking for gold. So the temple “was” and “is” destroyed, but chronologically in the middle of the week—the last of the 70 ‘sevens’—in the middle of the week, an end is put to sacrifice and offerings and an abomination is established in the temple. And this abomination causes desolation… an abomination that causes desolation set up in the temple. (Inserted – actual verse—“He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.’” – Daniel 9:27)
In between the 69 ‘sevens’ and the final ‘seven’ of the 70, the temple was destroyed. You might note that the temple was destroyed, as Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24. In his time here upon the earth He prophesied the destruction of the temple and 40 years, almost, after his death and resurrection, the temple was destroyed and has remained in ruins. (Inserted – actual verse—“Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. ‘Do you see all these things?’ he asked. ‘I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.’” – Matthew 24:1,2)
So there is a prophecy regarding the rebuilding of the temple and you will find a connection between that prophecy for the rebuilding of the temple, and the coming of the antichrist, and also the time that wraps up the end—you will find a companion prophecy in the book of Revelation, the 13th chapter, for he says in Revelation 13:5, “The beast was given a mouth to utter proud and blasphemous words and to blaspheme the authority of God and his name and his dwelling place for three and a half years”…time, times and half a time. Then he goes on to say, “He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All the inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast, and all whose names are not written in the book of life.” (Inserted – actual verse—“The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.” – Revelation 13:5-8)
It tells us that the worship of this beast… the worship of the evil one, will take place on the earth. Put the two passages together, what do you have? In fact there is another passage, just following on here in Revelation 13, that speaks to the establishment of an image of the beast in a wing of the temple. (Inserted – actual verse—“Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.” – Revelation 13:14) We’ll come to that but time doesn’t permit us in this particular broadcast to do so.
So in the last of the days, Jerusalem will be the hub of all activity. Since there will be a restoration of the temple and temple worship, the center of all activities—religious and political—will take place in Jerusalem. When the global kingdom rises, it will produce a ruler on one of the heads. This ruler, with his blasphemous mouth, will speak against the Most High and will wage war against the saints. The center of his rule will be the city of Jerusalem. The foundation of his rule will be the restoration of the temple and the worship associated with Judaism and the resurrection of neo-Judaism. I think it interesting that there is an upsurge in the return to Judaism among Christians—in that sense it wouldn’t be a “return”, but a resurgence of interest in Judaism among Christians—born-again, spirit-filled believers are being induced to go back to an observation of law and legal things, of Torah. Yet the Scriptures speak of these events as summarizing the age and giving legitimacy to the rule of the beast. These seven systems of this global kingdom will control everything relating to human life. These would be incredible, powerful systems. In the next broadcast it is my intention to talk with you about the seven systems, but to pay attention to the greatest of these systems: the religious system of the kosmos. These events are rapidly unfolding, even as the world itself careens toward the convenience, the hope, the promise of globalism. Yet a sinister force is waiting to rule it all—this is the antichrist, who will rule by ruling over the beast. Let’s continue our discussion. I’m Sam Soleyn. God bless you and I’ll see you again.
Scripture References:
Revelation 12:12b
I John 2:15,16
Revelation 13:16,17
Daniel 9:24
Daniel 9:26b
Daniel 9:27
Matthew 24:1,2
Revelation 13:5-8
Revelation 13:14
