Astrology, its basis, validity and accuracy

Interestingly enough there are about 10,000 people who work fulltime in astrology in the United States and 200,000 working part time (from the book “Psychic Forces” by John Weldon and Clifford Wilson). The Babylonians took astrology seriously in 3000 B.C. The ancients believed that the power of the constellations affected the lives of humans. Early Greek Zodiacs had thirteen signs including the Pleiades.

Contemporary astrology uses twelve constellations, which are known as the Zodiac. They are Aries the Ram, Taurus the Bull, Gemini the Twins, Cancer the Crab, Leo the Lion, Virgo the Virgin, Libra the Balance, Scorpio the Scorpion, Sagittarius the Archer, Capricorn the Goat, Aquarius the Water Bearer and Pisces the Fish.

There are two major schools in astrology. “Siderial” astrology deals with the constellation in which the sun is located at the moment of birth and “Tropical” astrology handles a thirty degree slice of the zodiac or a sector. The latter “Tropical” sector astrology was developed for convenience because, “constellations such as Virgo, which bulges beyond the confines of that allotted 30 degrees, and Libra, which occupies only half the allotted area, created a situation in which mythical figures were hanging over everywhere, and so someone had to ‘draw the line’ Some constellations are barely within the traditional 16-degree-wide-band of the zodiac, while the Man-Killing-a-Snake-or Dragon” is on the zodiac, but not used” (Quoting the book “Flim-Flam” by James Randi, Chapter 4 “Into the Air, Junior Birdmen”).

Some of the principal arguments arguing against the validity of astrology include the following:

1. Within the profession of astrology “Siderial” and “Tropical” astrology are at odds with one another.
2. There are two hundred and fifty billion stars in our own galaxy and over one hundred billion galaxies twirling about in space. Therefore the are 25,000,000,000,000,0000,0000,0000 stars in space which could mold a person’s personality, affect his or her likes and dislikes, and predetermine his or her personality, direction in life … That’s what astrology would have you believe!
3. Because of their distance in light years we are seeing the light of some stars which no longer exist. They may have imploded or exploded thousands if not millions of years ago. Is it fair to say one of these stars determine one’s personality at birth?
4. Pursuant to astrology each person is influenced by a wide array of signs, but primarily by one’s birth sign and one’s ascendant, the sign that was rising on the eastern horizon at the moment of birth. There are also one’s moon sign, career sign, and various house signs. In other words a human being is an amalgam of all the signs of the zodiac!
5. Different astrological magazines show totally different horoscopes for the same sign on the same day. There is no consistency in the field of astrology.
6. Why should the sign at the moment at birth prevail? Why shouldn’t the sign at the moment of conception?
7. It would seem that the physician’s body as he assists at childbirth exerts a greater gravitational influence on a baby being born than the entire gravitational field of the planet Mars (James Randi op.cit.).
8. Astronomers tell us the constellations have shifted from where they were 2,000 years ago. Each sign in relation to the earth has moved thirty degrees to the west. Instead of being an Aquarian you may find you are a Capricorn!

The Bible warns us in Deuteronomy 4:19, “Beware, lest you lift your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.” In Deuteronomy 17:2-3 doing “evil in the sight of the Lord your God” is identified as worshiping other gods “or the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host.”

Worshiping the sun or the moon is the same as making oneself dependent on them and turning to them for direction and guidance, after all if you believe in astrology you also believe that the heavenly bodies direct your life.

This author knows of an Eastern guru who has his followers, for a hefty fee, obtain astrological charts from his resident astrologers. If the astrological charts are not favorable, you can pay additional money to the guru for a “karmic adjustment.” The guru has done very well for himself and has found no shortage of devotees willing to part with their money.

The bottom line with astrology is that it fails to stand reasoned analysis. Why create needless worries and apprehension from a belief system that fails to meet the test of common sense? Why create false expectations?

As this website clearly proves there is an Intelligent Designer outside time and space. Why put yourself in bondage to an aspect of the Creation when one can worship the Creator of the Universe? Why honor the pot when one can honor the potter? Why give glory to the software when one can honor its Designer?

Nostradamus, the man and his predictions, past and future put to the test

Nostradamus was an occult prophet who lived from 1503 to 1566. Michel de Nostredame (or Notredame) was born in St. Remy, France to a family of Jews who became Catholics. Although it is reported in several prominent publications he took a medical degree at the University of Montpelier, Peter Lemesurier in his excellent book “The Unknown Nostradamus” documents that while Nostradamus applied for entrance at the University of Montepelier in 1529, Guillaume Rondelet, the student registrar, denied him enrolment in the student body for being a “quack.” There is absolutely no record of his re-admission.

Having been denied admission he set to wander the highways and byways of Europe as a apothecary in search of medical knowledge. When the plague struck Aix en Provence in 1546 the local doctors undoubtedly fled in panic. The celebrated Toulouse doctor Augier Ferrier, a Montpellier alumnus, counseled his fellow doctors, “Get out fast, stay well away, come back late.”

According to Lemsurier, “And since the only reputable doctor who could be relied upon to stay and fight the pestilence was still engaged in Marseille, and either couldn’t or wouldn’t come, the only thing left to do was to invite his second-in-command. If the organ-grinder refused to perform, there was nothing for it but to settle for the monkey.”

Aix in June 1546 hired “Micheou de Nostredame” to fight the plague. Nostradamus concocted some rose-pills for repelling the plague. He later admitted that none of his methods worked and that even his rose-pills were only a prophylactic. His wife and son tragically died of the plague.

The prophet Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes, “That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done, so there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). As with most of human history the 15th and first part of the 16th century were rife with climatic, economic, political and religious events. Europe’s “Little Ice Age,” was in full swing in the 1520’s and crops were devastated, the plague ravaged towns and cities, the rulers of Europe were continually waging war with one another, Soleiman the Magnificent with his superbly trained Janissary armies were sweeping into southeast Europe from Ottoman Turkey up to the very gates of Vienna.

Darkly viewing the future, the public developed an unsatiable appetite for books on prophecies. One of the most successful was the “Mirabilis liber” of 1522 which was undoubtedly read by and inspired Nostradamus and which in many ways is a paraphrase of Biblical prophecy (John’s Book of Revelation: the two prophets confronting AntiChrist, Ezekiel 38-39:Gog of the land of Magog and Gog’s allies attack Israel, Joel 2: the perfectly trained northern army): Here is a sample quote:

“In the very midst of this calm there shall suddenly emerge from the north with Gog and Magog, a nation that shall make the whole world tremble. Horrified, all men shall hide themselves in the mountains and among the rocks in order to flee their presence. They are not of the race of Japheth. The plague of the North, they shall devour human flesh and snakes, women and little children.”

By contrast the Bible in Ezekiel 38: 2-9(NASB), which is possibly an Armageddon or pre-Armageddon end time scenario (some speculate seven or even three and a half years prior to the Battle of Armageddon) reads:

“Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. And I will turn you about, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords; Persia, Ethiopia, and Put with them, and all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops – many peoples with you. Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them. And you will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you.’”

The prophet Ezekiel is prophesying an invasion of Israel, whose people had been scattered to the nations and regathered in the “latter days”. The confederation is headed by Gog who comes from the “remotest parts of the north” (Ezekiel 39:2). Many of the countries named are recognizable. In brief God divinely intervenes through a great earthquake, pestilence, torrential rain, fire, brimstone and by sowing internal discord in the ranks of the invaders. The invading army is annihilated (Ezekiel 3-6, NASB):

“And I shall strike your bow from your left hand, and dash down your arrows from your right hand. You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops, and the peoples who are with you; I shall give you as food to every kind of predatory bird and beast of the field. You will fall on the open field; for it is I who have spoken, declares the Lord God. And I shall send fire upon Magog and those who inhabit the coastlands in safety (possibly a worldwide nuclear exchange); and they will know that I am the Lord.”

Ezekiel 39:14-15 informs us men will be appointed to pass through the land for seven months to search the land and put markers by the bones. Special buriers, perhaps a radioactive “decontamination team”, will then bury the dead in the valley of Hamon-gog.

Undoubtedly Nostradamus, being of Jewish heritage, was familiar with the prophecies of the Old Testament. Because people were willing to pay good money to know the future, especially to know next year’s weather, two or three dozen almanacs were being published each year in Europe, many of them Biblically based.

Nostradamus entered into this lucrative profession and published his first almanac.

For Nostradamus, the approach in prophesying was:

Forty years after Nostradamus published his first “Almanac” his faithful latter-day secretary, Chavigny, was unable to identify any prophecy as having been specifically fulfilled. He offered the lame excuse, “he really meant some other year.” In 1553 Nostradamus published two “Almanachs” which were significantly different (perhaps like reading your horoscope for the same day in two different astrological magazines). It was not uncommon for Nostradamus to recycle some of his prophecies in later publications.

It is interesting to note that in Old Testament times a prophet of God was one who was one hundred percent correct. The penalty for not being 100% right was stoning. In New Testament times prophecy is a “gift of the spirit.” The true spirit of prophecy is inspired and quickened by the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. God, being outside the time dimension does not lie and sees the beginning and end of human history from an extra dimensional perspective.

Only true prophets of God, who are given supernatural insights into the future by God Himself, are infallible. In light of this absolute standard, Nostradamus’s prophesies are presumption (Deuteronomy 18:22).

Nostradamus based his predictions on astrology and admitted consulting the planetary charts. Planetary charts are written in the belief that heaveny bodies influence human affairs, a wild improbability per the previous analysis of astrology. Therefore Nostradamus’s works are individual speculation (intuitive forecasting) and being astrologically based also occultic. Nostradamus was engaged in speculation, charlatanism (see below), and occultism.

The speculation rests on the irrational assumption that similar events in human history will reoccur in the future, as far as hundreds of years from now, when the same planetary alignment (the planets would again be in the same signs) reoccurs. Something very similar to Hannibal’s invasion of Spain and Mediterranean coastal Europe would reoccur, per Nostradamus, when the same planetary alignment was again in evidence in the future.

All Nostradamus had to do is look up the positions of the planets at the time of the former historical events and then use a readily available published book of planetary tables, such as the “Alphonsine Tables” of Jean de Murs available to the public since the fourteenth century or the ninth century “De Magnis Coniunctibus”, frequently quoted by him, and then with the aid of planetary tables determine when similar patterns would happen again in the future. More often however Nostradamus simply stated what the planetary positions had been and let the reader figure out the future timings (of the reoccurring events) because these situations involved significant positions of harder to chart inner planets.

No great divinatory skills were needed for this. The “Astronomicum Caesareum” came with a set of “disc-type paper computers” to make the job easier for putative astrologers. We often picture Nostradamus as wearing a conical hat adorned with new moons staring in the late night into the swirling mists of a crystal ball. But this does not appear to be the case. Professional astrologers in his day assailed his obvious astrological incompetence.

The reality was that Nostradamus was not much of an astrologer. Nearly every one of the horoscopes he cast for wealthy individuals contained per Peter Lemesurier (op.cit.) one significant error and “about half would contain whole rafts of them”. Because of this Nostradamus expected his clients to have their astrological charts already drawn by expert astrologers prior to seeing him. One may wonder why anyone bothered to see Nostradamus in the first place! Maybe this is similar to getting a “second opinion” after having seen your own doctor, just in case. The problem here is your own doctor is more skilled than the “second opinion”.

Regardless, Nostradamus had hit upon the winning formula of projecting into the future past events. If events reoccur then you can have a plethora of prophecies, recycled historical events: comets, famines, plagues, locusts, persecution of the Church, fires, court intrigue, wars, victories, defeats, treason, naval battles, monsters appearing, earthquakes, rapes, Popes fleeing, rapes, serpents rising out of North Africa etc… In one year he generated over 300 prophecies! Nostradamus became to prophecy what Henry Ford was to the automobile. He published three “Almanachs” in 1557 and another two in 1558. .

Immediately foreseeable events also qualified as prophecies. For example for February 1554 Nostradamus predicted two popes would die. That did not happen until the following year. If the popes are old and in poor health their death, sooner or later, is foreseeable. This is similar to prophesying today “There will be terrors in the Middle East (Proche Orient) this year.” It doesn’t take a prophet to conclude this is inevitable. Historically the Middle East has always been a bed of turmoil, but for that matter so has the entire planet.

In 1555 Nostradamus started claiming he was divinely inspired, thereby giving his prophecies unimpeachable authority.

Nostradamus covered his bases by saying the “Dieu est sur tous les asters” (“God is above all the stars”). Therefore if his predictions didn’t come true, the inference is God has simply changed his mind. The burden for the realization of a prophecy was not on Nostradamus but on God. Naturally one can conclude that Nostradamus might have believed he had a private line to God, which nobody else did (the representation of every quack prophet and some “charismatic” evangelists).

The Bible in Deuteronomy clearly cautions, “There shall not be found among you anyone … who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). Undoubtedly even a mass production prophet such as Nostradamus falls under this Biblical ban.

The “Chronique Lyonnaise” attributed in summer 1555 Nostradamus with the ability to practice “chiromancy (palmistry), mathematics, and astrology”. It is interesting to note that Laurent Videl in his 1558 writing criticizing Nostradamus accused him of swindling 10 crowns (approximately $900 today) on the way to the King’s Court from a woman in Lyon by giving her a worthless prescription which didn’t work. Subsequently when the woman cried out “Give me back my ten crowns, for your prescription is no good” Nostradamus “like a shameless charlatan …. said ‘It’s all right’”and refused to give her back her ten crowns.

As a result of his prophecies he was consulted by Catherine de Medicis, queen of Henry II of France (in a similar fashion as the gullible Queen Alexandra of All the Russias fell prey to Rasputin), and became physician to King Charles IX in 1560. He also became a member of the intellectual circle of Julius Caesar Scaliger. The latter bitterly broke the relationship accusing Nostradamus of being an “inane,vile scoundrel”, a disseminator of “falsities”, and a “criminal beggar”.

Folklore says that Queen Catherine de Medicis asked Nostradamus to conduct a séance for her in her beautiful castle of Chaumont. Her husband, Henry II, had just died and she wanted to know the fate of her sons, the Valois royal line. Nostradamus directed the séance. By staring into a “magic mirror” the “angel” (from a Christian perspective a demonic entity impersonating an angel) Anael (nonexistent in the Bible) was invoked.

In the magic mirror she saw her sons. Francis II, recently crowned, appeared and walked around once in an imaginary room seen in the mirror. Then Charles appeared, who succeeded Francis as king, and he walked around fourteen times and disappeared. Finally Henry III of France appeared in the mirror and circled the room fifteen times. Each tour around the room represented a year of power. Francis II did not live long and was succeeded by his brothers for fourteen and fifteen year reigns respectively..

In view of Nostradamus’s track record of cryptic and convoluted prophecies and the precision and accuracy of the “magic mirror” prophecies it is doubtful the séance occurred. Nostradamus denied consulting “familiar spirits” Demons who impersonate the dead; the dead cannot communicate with the living, which is the whole purpose of a séance. He complained of his critics who:

“are quick to blame and to speak ill of me and say that such pronouncements come from a familiar demon… Which is a thing assuredly as alien as the truth as they themselves are for certain far from reason or good judgment, having their minds deranged by envy and ignorance.”

Perhaps the most famous of the Renaissance astrological treatises are the “centuries”of Nostradamus, first published in 1555. Each “centuries” was a group of 100 rhymed prophetic quatrains. Nostradamus won lasting fame in 1559 when King Henry II of France died in a manner supposedly predicted in the “Centuries” as follows:

This is another one of Nostradamus’s cryptic prophecies which can be applied to a variety of situations. Henry C. Roberts in “The Complete Prophecies of Nostradamus” believes this quatrain is a prediction of the fate of Adolf Hitler. He interprets the “iron cage” as the bunker in Berlin where Hitler died. A concrete bunker is more a “concrete cage” with rebars than an “iron cage”.

Classically trained commentators on Nostradamus are fully aware that in Roman times the lower portion of the Danube River is known as “Ister” or “Hister,” and is referred to as such on Roman maps.

Many writers have interpreted the last line of the quatrain to read “Quand Rin enfant Germain observera,” or “When the German Child will see the Rhine,” however “rien” in French means nothing, not “Rhine” and “enfant de Germain” from the 12th to the 16th century meant “brother” or “near relative” (James Randi, op.cit.)

Hitler and Goebbles attempted to make capital of this possible prophecy. Hitler was aware that “Hister” was Latin for the lower Danube but also believed the quatrain had a double meaning and applied to him.

One can only wonder why, as its context is not very flattering. The next line talks about the “great one” being dragged in an iron cage.

All this speculation however over what Nostradamus meant by the word Hister is a moot issue. The “greatest” seer of the Renaissance lays the matter to rest himself in his prediction for November 1554 which reads:

“A very learned man in the last quarter (of the moon), while walking along the river Hister, also called Danube, the ground subsiding, in the said river shall be lost” (Source: “The Unknown Nostradamus” op.cit. Page 68).

He did not mean “Hitler”. He meant “Danube”!

WORLD WAR III QUATRAINS Many have interpreted the following verses as applicable to the advent of the Third World War, an attack upon New York City.
	Cinq et quarante degres ciel bruslera Feu approcher de la grand cite neufve Instand grand flame esparse sautera VI.97 The sky will burn at 45 degrees. Fire approaches the great new city. Immediately huge, scattered flame leaps up ….

Thousands of Americans were killed by the vicious crashing of two airliners into the World Trade Center in September 2001 killing innocent civilians including women and children. At the time many said, “Nostradamus predicted this”.The verses above however do not apply to “911” as New York is at 40.6 or 40.7 degrees latitude, the sky did not explode on fire, and huge flames did not immediately leap up. Nostradamus only mentioned America once, if that was his intent, in quatrain X.66, which has nothing to do with VI.97.

There is a town at 45 degrees north latitude named Villeneuve-sur-Lot in southwestern France which better fits the bill. Ville neuve in French literally means “new city”. Some have argued that Nostradamus meant 40.5 degrees when he stated “cinq et quarante”, however this argument fails as the decimal system did not exist in Nostradamus’s day.

L’an mil neuf cens nonante neuf sept mois, Du ciel viendra un grand Roi deffraieur Rescusciter le grand Roi de’Angolmois Avant que Mars regner par bonhneur X.72

In the book “Norstradamus, 1555 and Beyond” Erika Cheetham offers the translation of this quatrain as:

“In the year 1999 and seven months from the sky will come the Great King of Terror. He will bring back the Great King of the Mongols. But before and this war reigns unrestrained.”

In the book “The Secrets of Nostradamus: A Radical New Interpretation of the Master’s Prophecies” David Ovason offers the following translation:

“The year one thousand nine hundreds ninety nine seven months
From the sky will come a King of alarm
To bring back to life the great King of Angoulmois,
Before after Mars to reign by good fortune.”

Maintaining that Nostradamus was “an initiate, working on behalf of a sixteenth century arcane school,” Ovason analyzes the verse in terms of the Green Language which “has been used widely in occult literature.”

Ovason informs us that Angoulmois comes straight from the arcane Green Language and concludes: “It is evident, therefore, that Nostradamus is disguising the name of the planetary archangel Michael in the pseudo-epigraphic Roy d’Angoulmois.”

With respect to the verse “Du ciel viendra un grand Roy d’effrayeur” or “From the sky will come a great King of alarm” Ovason points out that while “effrayeur” means alarmist or frightener, “defrayer” means to amuse or entertain.

The quatrain’s “1999” per occultic analysis, according to Ovason, “could very be related to A.D. 2087.”

As with everything else concerning Nostradamus, things are very likely not what they seem. Furthermore, the variance of opinion in the interpretation of this quatrain represents a great dilemma with everything Nostradamus wrote. The quatrains are so cryptic that different writers interpret them differently. There are nearly as many interpretations as they are interpreters. People are trying to see something in them that is not there.

The quatrain XXV has been interpreted as the commencement of jihad:
	Le prince Arabe Mars, Sol, Venus, Lyon, Regne d’Eglife par mer fuccombera; Devers la Perfe bi en pres d’un million, Bifance, Egptee, ver. ferp. inuadera The Arab Price Mars, Sun, Venus, Leo. The Rule of the Church will succumb by sea: Towards Persia very nearly a million men, The true serpent will invade Byzantium and Egypt

The planetary alignment we are told represents August 1998. The language has nothing to do with “jihad” but appears to concern an Arab ruler who fields an army of a million men and attacks Persia or present day Iran. He then apparently attacks Byzantium and Egypt. “Byzantium” does not exist anymore but is Moslem Turkey. If this were jihad there would be no reason to attack Turkey or Egypt, which are already Moslem.

During the Iraqi Iran war in the late 1980’s in which Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons against the human wave attacks of the Ayatollah’s Iranians there were about a million casualties and a million men were involved in combat on both sides but this has nothing to do with a planetary alignment in 1998 or an invasion of Byzantium and Egypt.

With respect to the Church succumbing by sea, the Church, which is the body of the people of Christ, is no longer a political power to succumb by military action. The Church is severely weakened by moral compromise in these latter days where good is called evil and evil is called good, but there is no apparent danger from the sea. Nostradamus may have been projecting into the far future danger from the Pirates of Tartary which terrorized the Mediterranean during his time.

Bible Prophecy Verses Nostradamus

The present political factionalism and instability in Iraq with its proximity to the world’s largest oil reserves may eventually lead to a world war, a nuclear exchange, where “every man’s heart will melt”, and “they will look at one another in astonishment, their faces aflame”. What is described in Isaiah 13 is of cataclysmic proportions as “the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light”, perhaps a “nuclear winter”, and mortal man will be “scarcer than pure gold, and mankind than the gold of Ophir”. Isaiah prophesies that God, “shall make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place.” The men assembled in the land of Babylon will “each turn to his own people, and each flee to his own land”.

This latter day scenario ends with Isaiah 13:16. In Isaiah 13:17 Isaiah, who prophesied from approximately 739 B.C. to 681 B.C., gives a prophecy which was fulfilled at least one hundred and forty years after Isaiah made it, the destruction of Babylon by the Medes. This occurred in 539 B.C. when Cyrus, king of the Medo Persians, captured Babylon. Babylon was believed to be impregnable because of its huge walls. The city was so vast that food could be produced in the agricultural land contained within its walls. The Euphrates River flowed through the city. Cyrus is said to have stationed his army where the river entered the city and where it left. He then diverted the upstream flow of the river temporarily by deepening the canals into the Euphrates Valley.. Cyrus’s troops under the leadership of Gobryas entered Babylon by way of the drained riverbed unopposed. The inhabitants of Babylon, dissatisfied with the reign of Nabonidus and Belshazzar, sued for peace and were granted it.

The prophet Jeremiah also prophesied the destruction of Babylon by the “kings of the Medes” (Jeremiah 51: 27-32). Jeremiah was called to his prophetic office in 626 B.C. and prophesied for forty two years.

Compare the cryptic and hard to interpret prophecies of Nostradamus with those of the Bible. The Bible has over three hundred prophecies concerning the Messiah, which Jesus fulfilled, many of which were completely beyond His control such as: His place of birth (Micah 5:2), the time of His birth (Daniel 9:25; Genesis 49:10), the manner of His birth (Isaiah 7:14), His betrayal (Psalms 41:9, Zechariah 11:12, 11:13b), the manner of his death (Psalms 22:16), people’s reactions (mocking, spitting, staring, etc...) (Isaiah 50:6, Micah 5:1, Psalms 22:7,8, Isaiah 53:3, Psalms 69:8, Psalms 118:22, Psalms 69:4, Isaiah 49:7, Psalms 38:11, Psalms 22:7, Psalms 109:25, Psalms 22:17), piercing (Zechariah 12:10, Psalms 22:16) and burial (Isaiah 53:9). These were prophecies made hundreds of years before his birth. For example the prophecies regarding his crucifixion (Psalm 22:16, Zechariah 12:10, Isaiah 53:5-6) were made several hundred years before the Romans introduced this form of punishment into the Middle East. Stoning was the preferred form of punishment prior to the Roman presence in the Middle East.

Rather than repeating other sections of this website concerning Bible prophecies please refer to Section 5 of this website entitled “Powerful Evidence ForThe Deity of Christ” and read the subsections “Prophecy Fulfilled” and the “Prophetic Odds”. Also refer to Section 7 of this website entitled “Other Landscapes” and refer to the subsection “The Testimony of Fulfilled Prophecy”.

The Antichrist

One of the benefits of living in the twenty first century is to look back at the popular Nostradamus books of the late twentieth century and laugh at their unrealized doomsday prophecies. The King of the Mongols who was supposed to appear in 1999 never appeared.

Similarly we never heard of Jeane Dixon’s “Child of the East,” who she saw as the “actual person of the AntiChrist.” He was supposed to have been born around 1962 and we should have heard from him when he was twenty-nine or thirty years old.

So when it comes to prophecy are we in a predicament where the blind lead the blind? The Bible offers us the only answer. “Why not ask your God?” (Isaiah 8:19). Why consult the mediums and the wizards who whisper and mutter? Why consult “prophets” who when it comes to accuracy have a nonexistent track record and in case of Nostradamus do not offer a single clear, fulfilled prophecy.

He is said to have predicted his own death. In this prediction he was right, except he said he would die in November 1567 and he died July 1566. At the time of his prediction he was severely suffering from edema (fluid accumulation in the connecting tissue), gout, and arthritis so prophesying his own end may not be such a feat.

Authors have claimed finding prophecies in Nostradamus regarding “AntiChirst” types and applied them both to Napoleon and Adolf Hitler. He also had “AntiChrist” types from North Africa including the “mighty Camel” from Fez (VI.80, V.68 and VII.34) who would invade Europe and be repulsed. Under careful scrutiny these prophecies are so vague that they tell us little, or, as already discussed, they may be future projections of past historical events.

The frightening thing about Adolf Hitler, who some have called the “Anti-man”, was that he was very normal, per his personal secretary. The Anti-Man loved children and small animals who did not pose a threat and who he could control. He railed at phantom enemies, stirring the German masses into rampaging frenzy against neighboring countries and defenseless minorities, yet at the same time he ate plain vegetarian food and loved to watch Hollywood movies. It is reported that further east Stalin would take an intermission break, go to a courtyard, watch a firing squad mow down a line of his supposed “enemies”, and return in good humor to watch the second half of a movie.

How despicable can man be … as despicable as he can visualize with his mind. The guillotine operators in the French revolution, dripping with their victims’ blood, in high spirits, would take a break to eat bread and cheese and drink wine. The Gestapo troopers in some of the Baltic States marveled at how savagely the local populations massacred the Jews. When the Twin Towers in New York were still burning, incinerating innocent civilians, many cheered around the world. As with Cain, humans are evil, bloody, and sinful.

Despite our condition God loves us. Two thousand years ago the God of the Universe incarnated as a man to die on a cross that whoever believes in Him and on Him is washed clean by the blood He shed on Calvary, thereby providing a sacrifice for our sins. In modern language the Judge Himself leaves his bench, goes to the clerk, and pays for your speeding ticket.

If you accept Christ by asking Him into your heart (just ask “Come in Jesus, take charge of my life. Forgive me for all the bad things which I have done and lead me and guide me from this day on”) you are transformed into a new creature, or at least a creature that is “saved by the skin of your teeth,” as all Christians are, including Billy Graham and the Pope. Only God is without sin.

That is why God Himself had to incarnate as a man to take away man’s sin. But for the death of Jesus Christ we cannot have a personal relationship with the God of the Universe and God’s great blessings, including the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, spiritual peace, God’s personal direction in our lives, joy, abundant life, eternal life, blessings in health and business, bringing the light of God into a dark world.

What does all this have to do with the AntiChrist? The AntiChrist will merely be a man without the ennobling characteristics of God. He could even be a Christian who has forsaken his God for a “mess of potage”, for worldly power and ambition (see the Section on this Website “God's Razor Sharp Law - Once Saved Always Saved? - Merciful But Just"). He could be a New Ager who believes “he” is God, or a worshiper of another “god”. He will certainly be a ruthless politician, a wolf in sheep’s clothes. The reality is any man without God is potentially an AntiChrist.

The Bible gives us abundant information on the AntiChrist. Here are just a few of the verses many agree concern this unsavory and eternally damned individual (items in parentheses are author’s interpretations):

“The king (AntiChrist) will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place. He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all. Instead of them, he will honor a god of fortresses (military force ?), a god unknown to his fathers he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts.

“He will attack the mightiest fortresses (making him a world conqueror) with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor those who acknowledge him (he will reward those who fawn over him). He will make them rulers over many people and will distribute the land at a price” (New International, Daniel 11:36-39).

Unlike the prophecies of Nostradamus who throws us a bone with little gristle on it, the prophecies of Daniel, inspired by the Spirit of God, are extensive and well fleshed out.

In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel saw a dream and visions which included a fourth beast, “dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed, and trampled down the remainder (the lion with the wings of an eagle, generally interpreted by Bible scholars as the Babylonian Empire), the bear with three ribs in its mouth (Medo-Persian Empire) and the leopard with four wings and four heads (Grecian Empire)) with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.”

“While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one (the AntiChrist), came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it (AntiChrist attacking three of his neighbors); and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth uttering great boasts (a loudmouth like Adolf Hitler compared to whom Napoleon was mild mannered)” (Daniel 7:7-8). In Daniel 7:20 we are told the “little horn” had grown into a horn which “was larger in appearance that its associates.”

A horn in ancient times was a symbol of strength and power. Here the little horn or power has attacked three other horns (“three of them fell”) and grown larger.

“I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints (followers of Christ) and overpowering them until the Ancient of Days (the Return of the King, Jesus the Christ) came, and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom” (Daniel 7:22).
The followers of Christ are saved by direct divine intervention. We see in Revelation that AntiChrist and his false prophet are thrown into the Lake of Fire by God’s angels (Revelation 19:20).

“I kept looking until thrones were set up and the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, its wheels were a burning fire. A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before Him; Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, and myriads upon myriads were standing before Him. The court sat, and the books were opened” (Daniel 7: 9-10).

The Ancient of Days is further described in Revelation (NASB,1:13-18):

“And in the middle of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His breast with a golden girdle. And His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire; and His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been caused to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. And in His right hand He held seven stars; and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I (John the Apostle) saw Him, I fell at His feet as a dead man (so would you). And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last’” (the Alpha and the Omega and also the “son of man”).

Returning to Daniel’s vision, Daniel’s spirit was distressed and he approached one of those who was standing by and asked him the meaning of the vision.

“Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth (a world Empire) and tread it down and crush it.

As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings.

And he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law (contravening God’s law with what is “politically correct”); and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time (generally interpreted as 3.5 years).

But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him’” (Daniel 7:23-27).

The Apostle Paul in his Second Epistle to the Thessalonians counsels first century Christians that prior to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ the apostasy comes first, followed by the “man of lawlessness” or the “son of destruction”(2 Thessalonians 2:3). He is described as one who exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship and that he seats himself in the temple of God displaying himself as being God.

The AntiChrist will believe he is God and act accordingly. He will be endowed with supernatural power, “coming in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders” (2 Thess. 2:9). He will be a type of miracle working godless politician in control of the whole world:

“And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, evrey one, whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain” (Revelation 13:8).

The AntiChrist is also referred to in revelation as the “beast.” We are told in Revelation 13 of a beast which comes out of the sea whose power comes from the dragon, Satan. The beast has ten horns and seven heads (three were destroyed, see above). One of the heads, the little horn who becomes the Big Horn (Daniel above), is slain and the fatal wound “from the sword” (Revelation 13:14) is miraculously healed.

In Revelation 17:7 the angel tells the Apostle John this same beast was alive but is not now, but he will return from the bottomless pit and then go to eternal destruction. The angel may be referring to a reconstituted Roman Empire or a reconstituted Third Reich ruled by a modern day Nero or Adolf Hitler.

The AntiChrist may very well be possessed by the same demonic principality as one of these historical butchers. He will suffer a fatal head wound and then suddenly revive. Perhaps at that point the demonic spirit occupies the lifeless body and animates it once again.

The whole earth is amazed and follows the beast. For 42 months the beast is given power and authority. The beast blasphemes God and makes war with the saints, who he overcomes.

The Beast gains authority over every “tribe and people and tongue and nation”.

The Mark of the Beast ~ 666

The beast has a companion, also empowered by the dragon, a second beast which has two horns like a lamb, speaks like a dragon. He may come as a lamb, soft spoken and silky, yet really be a wolf in disguise.

He is also referred to as the “false prophet” and makes fire fall down from heaven to earth. He makes an image of the first beast that was healed, which speaks. This second beast makes all the inhabitants of the earth worship the first beast and his image and “causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead and he provides that no one should be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six” (Revelation 13:16-18).

In view of computers, microchip implants, GPS, an agenda toward national databanks on individuals precipitated by the “war on terror”, a real or fabricated scarcity of natural resources such as energy, socialized health programs, a trend away from the nation state and toward regional trading and political blocks which can be subsequently agglomerated, a global dictatorship could very easily be in the offing.

This will be a much more pervasive dictatorship than any in history, whose technology of control already exists. If you were forced to have a chip implanted in your hand or forehead on which were recorded all your personal history, financial information, medical drugs you require and through GPS your every movement could be tracked, you would be living in a high tech Auschwitz. In those days the Nazis used tattoos.

Unfortunately this is what the Bible prophesies prior to the return of Jesus Christ. If you are diabetic and you don’t toe the line you don’t get your insulin, you go into a diabetic coma, and you die.

For those who like to go with the “path of least resistance” and take the mark (the chip) God does not give you an easy way out. One of the bowls of judgment is “a loathsome and malignant sore upon the men who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image” (Revelation 16:2).

There will be plenty of advance warning to the entire human race about the consequences of accepting the “mark”:

God will send one of his angels to proclaim to the entire planet, “If any one worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or upon his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” If the choice is being able to shop in a supermarket and/or filling your tank with gas by scanning your mark or fleeing in the hinterland unmarked, you better choose the latter.

In World War II in Poland the Jews who fled into the forests, many joining the resistance to the Nazi occupiers, had a much higher survival rate than those who went peacefully to concentration camps.

With respect to the mark there is no middle ground, no straddling the line, no room for opportunists. You are damned if you accept the mark and blessed if you don’t.

Accepting the mark will somehow be tied to the worship of the AntiChrist who is also called the beast and in the Old Testament is referred to as the “Assyrian.”

The Bible & Nostradamus On The Origin of Antichrist. PDF - Download this article "The Bible & Nostradamus On The Origin Of Antichrist" as a .pdf

Origin of Antichrist

Nostradamus had numerous verses, which have been interpreted as concerning the “Third Antichrist” and his origins. Let’s examine some of them first and then see what Bible prophecy says on this subject:

De l'Orient viendra le coeur punique, Fascher Adrie, et les hoirs Romulides, Accompagne de la classe Libique, Trembler Melites, et proches Isles vuides. Century 1 quatrain 9 From the Orient shall come the treacherous one, To strike at Italy (Heirs of Romulus) from the Adriatic sea, With his Libyan fleet, The inhabitants of Malta and of the nearby islands shall tremble.

Some took this verse to say the third Antichrist would arise out of Libya and stage an attack on Italy, which is located just across the Mediterranean. Gaddafi was named as a candidate to fulfill this prophecy. Gaddafi, who ruled with a iron hand, was removed in a civil war and Libya is now another “failed state,” the result of western intervention in helping the rebels, including radical jihadists, dispose of a toothless old wolf. It is unlikely another Libyan leader will rise to power who will threaten Italy, a member of NATO.

Hannibal was a Carthaginian. The City of Carthage is in present Tunisia, next door to Libya. Carthage was established by the great maritime nation of Phoenicia. Until Rome destroyed the Carthaginian fleet and leveled Carthage (Punic Wars 264-146 BC), Carthage was Rome’s greatest threat. Hannibal, a Carthaginian and master strategist, crossed the Pyrenees & Alps in northern Italy with a small army, savaging the Italian Peninsula for many years. With some support from Gallic tribes and with his fabled Numidian (Berber) light cavalry, he outwitted the Romans in a series of bloody battles. In the Battle of Cannae Hannibal defeated a superior Roman army through a strategy of double envelopment.

As an advocate of the cyclical repetition of history, Nostradamus probably believed that the events of the Punic Wars would be repeated in that a new Antichrist would rise in greater “Libya” and attack Italy, just like Hannibal had.

Prince Lybinique puissant en Occident, Francois d'Arabe viendra tant enflammer; Scavans aux lettres sera condescendent, La langue Arabe en Francois translater. Century 3 quatrain 27 A Libyan head of state recognized by the west as being very powerful, Shall inflame the hearts of many Arab nations against the French, Then a man of letters, will consent, To translate Arabic into the French language.

This hasn’t happened. It may be at some point that a Muslim fundamentalist jihadist leader will arise from Libya, since the jihadists are taking control of a large part of the country, but Bible prophecy, which is historically inerrant (although Bible prophecy interpreters, who don’t specifically agree amongst themselves, can certainly be wrong), offers a different scenario. With respect to translating Arabic into French all one has to do these days is download a free translation App on one’s i-phone.
Unlike Nostradamus, the Bible reveals only one Antichrist, not three.

The prevalent view of writers on Bible prophecy has been that the Antichrist would not be a Libyan, but a Roman, ruling over a ten nation European confederacy. They cite such Biblical verses as (in bold) Daniel 9:26-27 New King James Version (NKJV) 25:
Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come (Antichrist) Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.”
In Daniel 9:24-25 Daniel prophesied that the Messiah would be “cut off” (murdered) 490 years after the decree of a Persian king, most likely Artaxerxes to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. For those mathematically inclined this is extensively worked in Sir Robert Anderson’s book The Coming Prince. Messiah is cut off “but not for Himself,” but as a sacrifice for our sin for those who turn to Him.
This is a free gift. Just ask Him now: “Jesus, forgive my sins. I turn my life over to you. Please take charge of my life. I ask you to be my Lord and Savior.” If you prayed this brief prayer, you are covered with the blood of the Lamb, your sins forgiven, and the Holy Spirit is now indwelling in you, giving you eternal life.

We are then told that the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the sanctuary. Herod’s Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the “Romans” in A.D. 70. The Roman General Titus led the legions which burned down the Temple. But Titus was not the prince who is to come because he did not “confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week” bring an end to sacrifice and offering.

This verse takes us from Daniel’s time into a time warp and hurtles us into the far future when Antichrist makes a covenant with Israel (some type of peace treaty, Daniel 9:27)), but breaks it in the middle of the week (3.5 years later), and then desecrates the rebuilt Temple by sitting in the Temple and “setting himself forth as God” (II Thes. 2:3-4). The Jewish people rebel and Antichrist wages war to destroy them.

He destroys two thirds of the population of Israel and one third flees to Petra or Bozra in Jordan. In desperation the Jews will turn to their Messiah (Jesus, Yeshua, the Christ). This is confirmed by the following verses:
Mourning for the Pierced One Zechariah 12-10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn."

In Hosea 5:15 God is the speaker and states:
Hosea 5:15 New King James Version (NKJV) 15 I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me

Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum in his analytical & thorough book The Footsteps of the Messiah (page 306) asks, “When did God ever leave Heaven? God left Heaven at the incarnation in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth. Then because of one specific offense (the word is singular) committed against Him, He returned to Heaven at the ascension from the Mount of Olives. This verse further states that he will not come back to the earth until the offense that caused Him to return to Heaven is acknowledged or confessed.”



He points out that the actual killing of Jesus was by Gentile, not Jewish hands. A Gentile judge condemned and sentenced Him. Gentile soldiers crucified Him. “But all this is ultimately irrelevant for, regardless of Jewish acceptance or Jewish rejection, Jesus would have had to die anyway to become the sacrifice for sin. The national offense of Israel was in the rejection of His Messiahship. According to this verse, only when this offense is acknowledge or confessed will Messiah return to the earth.”

Jesus clearly states the exact condition when he will return: Matthew 23:37-39 New King James Version (NKJV)
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 See! Your house is left to you desolate; 39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”

The Messiah, Jesus, returns riding a white horse, wearing many crowns, flames afire, leading an army of angels in answer to the desperate prayer of the weary remnant in Bozra and makes quick work of the Antichrist and his armies. The first few verses of the Battle Hymn of the Republic by Julia Howe illustrates this:
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

From Where Will Antichrist Arise? Nostradamus has him coming from an Arabian country:
	De la felice Arabie contrade, Naistra puissant de loy Mohametique, Vexer l'Espagne, conquester la Grenade, Et puis par mer a la gent Lygustique. Century 5 quatrain 55 From one of the Arabian countries, Shall be born someone powerful, from the laws of Mohammed, Who will offend Spain and conquer its city Grenada, And then by sea (shall be harmful) to the Italians.

Nostradamus has him coming from an Arabian country:
Nostradamus has Antichrist invading Spain and conquering the city of Grenada. This seems in harmony with Nostradamus’s cyclical pattern of history. History repeats itself. In an invasion of Spain, Berbers, recently converted to Islam, and Arab Umayyad armies occupied swaths of Spain and extended their conquests into French Provence until repulsed from Provence in 732 A.D. The northern Christian kingdoms eventually retook Spain. The last Muslim emirate, Granada, was defeated by the armies of Castile and Aragon under Isabella and Ferdinand in 1492. But for Nostradamus, since history is reoccurring, this will happen again under his “third” Antichrist, and the reach of this Antichrist will even harm the Italians.

'Antichrist trois bien trois annichilez, Vingt et sept ans sang durera sa guerre, Les heretiques morts, captifs exilez, Son corps humain eau rougie, greslie terre. Century 8 quatrain 77 The third Antichrist, gets annihilated, His war shall last for twenty seven years, The heretics are all dead; all of the prisoners are now exiled, His body (the Antichrist) has reddened the waters, and the earth has been scorched. Nostradamus prophesies his Antichrist will reign for 27 years and is then destroyed.

Most expounders of Biblical prophecy will have Antichrist arising in Rome, because per Daniel 9:26-27 after Messiah, Jesus, is “cut off” or killed, the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.

Rome’s legions under their general Titus destroyed the temple at Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Titus however, as discussed above, is not “the prince to come.” Bible prophecy predicts the temple will be rebuilt in the last days and then be desecrated by the Antichrist, the embodiment of Satan, a dictatorial world ruler, who miraculously recovers from a fatal head wound.

Gotquestions.org/... greatly expounds on this event otherwise know as the “abomination of desolation:”
“Whatever the future abomination of desolation is, it will leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that the one perpetrating it is the person known as the Antichrist. Revelation 13:14 describes him making some kind of image which all are forced to worship. Turning the temple of the living God into a place of worship for the Antichrist is truly an “abomination.” Those who are alive and remain during the tribulation should be watchful and recognize that this event is the beginning of 3 1/2 years of the worst of the tribulation period and that the return of the Lord Jesus is imminent. ‘Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).’’

The Old Testament prophet Daniel informs us that it is the people of the prince who is to come who destroyed the Herodian temple (took place in 70 A.D.). Therefore if we can identify the origin of the people, we will determine where the “prince who is to come,” or Antichrist, will be from.

It is not accurate to say that the people were Romans, and therefore the Antichrist is from Rome. The Roman empire’s eastern boundary extended from Spain, to Britain, to the Rhine, to Rumania, to Parthia or present day Persia. It incorporated many people of diverse tribes and ethnic groups. The Apostle Paul was a Roman, a Roman citizen, but came from Tarsus, a coastal city in present day Turkey.

Rome recruited its legions from throughout its empire. Quoting from My Scripture Studies which presents a very thorough discussion of the composition of the Roman legions which destroyed the temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D.: “….most of the Roman soldiers were recruited from the kingdoms and provinces where their garrisons were located, the legions that were stationed in the Middle East were the Arab and Syrian peoples of "The Levant". The Levant is the Eastern Mediterranean, a geographic and cultural region today that consists of Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and part of southern Turkey.”

Josephus, the historian and knowledgeable Jewish general, captured by Titus, states:
"The greatest part of the Roman garrison was raised out of Syria; and being thus related to the Syrian part, they were ready to assist it." —The Wars of The Jews: History of the Destruction of Jerusalem By Flavius Josephus Trans. William Whiston BOOK II: CHAPTER 13 Paragraph 7.

The specific legions which destroyed the temple according to the historian Josephus were:
Legion XV Apollinaris –Syria – stationed by Nero to Syria in 61-62 AD;
Legion V Macedonica -Judea or Moesia;
Legion XII Fulminata – Asia Minor/Syria (had fought Parthians in 58-63 AD);
Legion X Fretensis – Syria, Judea;
Legion III Gallica – Syria.

Since the majority of the people who destroyed the temple were Syrians, the prince who is to come, the Antichrist, will most likely be Syrian.

This is not a particularly startling conclusion since Old Testament prophets such as Isaiah and Micah refer to the Antichrist as the “Assyrian.” According to Wikepedia the Assyrian empire was centered on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia (modern northern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey). So very possibly the Antichrist will come from northeastern Syria. The Antichrist’s invasion of the Holy Land is prophesied by both the prophets Isaiah and Micah in the following verses:
Isaiah 10:24 New King James Version (NKJV) 24 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O My people, who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian. He shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, in the manner of Egypt.”
Isaiah 14:25 New King James Version (NKJV) 25 That I will break the Assyrian in My land, And on My mountains tread him underfoot. Then his yoke shall be removed from them, And his burden removed from their shoulders.
Micah 5:4-6 New King James Version (NKJV) 4 And He shall stand and feed His flock In the strength of the Lord, In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God; And they shall abide, For now He shall be great To the ends of the earth; 5 And this One shall be peace. When the Assyrian comes into our land, And when he treads in our palaces, Then we will raise against him Seven shepherds and eight princely men. 6 And the Assyrian will fall by a sword not of man, They shall waste with the sword the land of Assyria, And the land of Nimrod at its entrances; Thus He shall deliver us from the Assyrian, When he comes into our land And when he treads within our borders.
Isaiah 31:8 New American Standard Bible (NASB) 8 And the Assyrian will fall by a sword not of man, And a sword not of man will devour him. So he will not escape the sword …. When Christ returns in response to the pleas of the remnant of Israel who have fled to the wilderness in Bozrah, He will make short work of the Antichrist. The Antichrist will not be slain by the sword of man.

2 Thessalonians 2:8 New King James Version (NKJV) 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.

Simply the “brightness” of the Lord will be enough to destroy the Antichrist. Darkness cannot coexist with light and a man possessed by the spirit of Satan is nothing before the piercing glory of the embodiment of the Triune God. The armies of the Lord accompanying Him will not have to lift a finger.
In Isaiah 31 the Assyrian will be devoured “not by a sword of man.” In 2 Thessalonians 2:8, the “lawless one” or Antichrist is destroyed by the “brightness of His coming.” Both Isaiah and Paul are referring to the same individual. The “Assyrian” of Isaiah IS the “lawless one” of Paul. He is also the “Little Horn” of Daniel who is destroyed “without human means:”
Daniel 8:25New King James Version (NKJV) 25 “Through his cunning He shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule;[a] And he shall exalt himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity. He shall even rise against the Prince of princes; But he shall be broken without human means".

The Assyrian, the Little Horn and the “lawless one” are all destroyed without human means by the Lord of Hosts, the Prince of princes. They all share the same end because they are all the same Antichrist Satanic entity.

Clarence Larkin, an engineer who became a Baptist pastor and foremost authority in Biblical prophecy (died in 1924), wrote a unique book entitled The Book of Revelation. In the chapter “The Vision of the ‘Kings of the North and South” he states:
“’Antichrist’ shall come out of SYRIA, and as Syria included Assyria ….the ‘Little Horn’ of Daniel is the same as the ‘Assyrian’ of Isaiah.”

Daniel's Vision

Daniel was informed by the angel Gabriel (Daniel 8) that the He Goat he had seen in his vision (Daniel 8), which destroyed the Ram, represented the Grecian Empire (the He Goat possessed one big horn) and the Medo-Persian Empire (possessed two horns).
Daniel’s original vision: Daniel 8:7-8 New King James Version (NKJV) 7 And I saw him confronting the ram; he was moved with rage against him, attacked the ram, and broke his two horns. There was no power in the ram to withstand him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled him; and there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand. 8 Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven.
Gabriel’s interpretation. Daniel 8:16-22 New King James Version (NKJV) 16 And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, who called, and said, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” 17 So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid and fell on my face; but he said to me, “Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end.” 18 Now, as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me, and stood me upright. 19 And he said, “Look, I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation; for at the appointed time the end shall be. 20 The ram which you saw, having the two horns—they are the kings of Media and Persia. 21 And the male goat is the kingdom[a] of Greece. The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king. 22 As for the broken horn and the four that stood up in its place, four kingdoms shall arise out of that nation, but not with its power.

Alexander had no heir; so his territories were divided among four of his generals. Lysimachus took nearly the whole of Asia Minor; Cassander had Greece; Seleucus possessed Syria and the East; while Ptolemy claimed Egypt and Palestine.

At this point Gabriel takes us into a time warp into the distant future and describes Antichrist and his fate. We know this is the case because he states in the “latter time” and “it refers to many days in the future”:
Daniel 8:23-26 New King James Version (NKJV) (italicized words are author’s) 23 “And in the latter time of their kingdom, When the transgressors have reached their fullness, A king shall arise, Having fierce features, Who understands sinister schemes. 24 His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power (he shall be imbued with Satanic power); He shall destroy fearfully, And shall prosper and thrive; He shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people. 25 “Through his cunning He shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule;[a] And he shall exalt himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity. He shall even rise against the Prince of princes (the Lord); But he shall be broken without human means.[b] 26 “And the vision of the evenings and mornings Which was told is true; Therefore seal up the vision, For it refers to many days in the future.”

Daniel 11:36-45 New King James Version (NKJV), (italicized words are author’s) 36 “Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. 37 He shall regard neither the God[a] of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all. 38 But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses (a military man); and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things. 39 Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance its glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain.”

The Antichrist or the Assyrian or the “Lawless One” is also the King of the North. Israel will enter a covenant (a peace treaty, Daniel 9:27) with a fierce new conquering power to its north, which disembowels three nations. Peace treaties are generally entered between belligerent or potentially belligerent foes, generally geographical neighbors.

Syria borders the northern border of Israel. Daniel 11:5-36 describes the wars of the King of the North (Syria) and the King of the South (Egypt). These are the historical wars between the Seleucids in Syria and the Ptolomies of Egypt, who are in the lineage of Alexander’s two generals.

In great detail Daniel 11 describes the future coming of Antiochus Epiphanes. Gotquestions.org relates the historical record: Antiochus Epiphanes was a Greek king of the Seleucid Empire who reigned over Syria from 175 BC until 164 BC. He is famous for almost conquering Egypt and for his brutal persecution of the Jews, which precipitated the Maccabean revolt. Antiochus Epiphanes was a ruthless and often capricious ruler. He is properly Antiochus IV, but he took upon himself the title “Epiphanes,” which means “illustrious one” or “god manifest.” However, his bizarre and blasphemous behavior earned him another nickname among the Jews: “Epimanes,” which means “mad one.”

An altercation between Antiochus Epiphanes and a Roman ambassador by the name of Gaius Popillius Laenas is the origin of the saying “to draw a line in the sand.” When Antiochus brought his army against Egypt in 168 BC, Popillius stood in his way and gave him a message from the Roman Senate ordering him to stop the attack. Antiochus responded that he would think it over and discuss it with his council, at which point Popillius drew a circle in the sand around Antiochus and told him that, if he did not give the Roman Senate an answer before crossing over the line in the sand, Rome would declare war. Antiochus decided to withdraw as Rome had requested. Gotquestions.org/...

In frustration Antiochus moved his troops north and terrorized the Holy Land:

Gotquestions.org: In an act of brazen disrespect, Antiochus raided the temple in Jerusalem, stealing its treasures, setting up an altar to Zeus, and sacrificing swine on the altar. When the Jews expressed their outrage over the profaning of the temple, Antiochus responded by slaughtering a great number of the Jews and selling others into slavery. He issued even more draconian decrees: performing the rite of circumcision was punishable by death, and Jews everywhere were ordered to sacrifice to pagan gods and eat pig flesh.

The Jewish response was to take up arms and fight. In 167—166 BC, Judas Maccabaeus led the Jews in a series of victories over the military forces of the Syrian-Greeks. After vanquishing Antiochus and the Seleucids, the Jews cleaned and restored the temple in 165.

Daniel 11:32-33 prophesies the Maccabean revolt. It is very important to note that at the end of the section prophesying Antiochus Epiphanes, Daniel again time shifts to the future, to the “time of the end” and enters a description of the Antichrist (Daniel 36). Daniel thereby reveals to us that Antiohcus Epiphanes was a type of Antichrist and that the Assyrian will be very similar, also from SYRIA:

The Northern King’s Conquests, Daniel 11 (italicized words are author’s)
40 “At the time of the end (end times event) the king of the South (Egypt) shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. 41 He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab (the remnant will flee to Petra in present day Jordan, Biblical “Moab”), and the prominent people of Ammon . 42 He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels. 44 But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many. 45 And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him.

Daniel 11:40-45 prophesies that at the time of the end, the King of the South (Egypt), will attack the King of the North (Antichrist). The King of the North shall strike back in force, traversing the Glorious Land (the Holy Land, Israel). What transpires is at the time of the end (an end time event).

This cannot be Antiochus Epiphanes who reigned until 164 B.C.. Antichrist will be troubled by news from the east and the north. It appears he shall still go out with great fury, to destroy the remnant taking refuge in the wilderness of Bozrah, and there he shall come to his end by the “brightness” of the Prince of princes (above) and no one shall or be able to help him (2 Thessalonians 2:8).

We are looking at regional warfare in the Middle East between Antichrist and the King of the South, or Egypt. This warfare parallels the historical wars between the Seleucids of Syria and the Ptolemies of Egypt when Alexander the Great’s empire was split among his four generals. It’s a stretch to say that this is a European leader involved in Middle East warfare.

Additional Evidence On Where Antichrist Will Arise From
The Arab Spring has not brought stable democracies, as its western proponents had hoped for, but in Syria it has resulted in a continuing civil war, a proxy war now including Russia, and a humanitarian disaster. It has also empowered extremist groups such as ISIS in Syria and Iraq, which seem to rise from and thrive on the destabilization and downfall of older authoritarian regimes, as seen in Iraq and Libya, and now Syria.

Antichrist will arise from a “storm tossed sea,” from a turbulent political climate (Daniel 7:2-3), from the eastern part of the Roman Empire, the Fourth Beast with ten horns depicted in Daniel 7:8.

He is the “little horn” which will rise from among the ten horns, and he will “pull out” or uproot three of the ten horns. The “little horn” possesses “eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth uttering great boasts” (Daniel 7:8)

In Revelation 20:4 the Apostle John in a vision sees, (italics are the author’s): “the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands.”

So the punishment for those who don’t worship the beast (Antichrist) is beheading. For those who do not accept its violent branch of Islam, beheading is the punishment administered by ISIS.

Does this mean that ISIS or a similar jihadist group will eventually conquer three countries in the Middle East including Syria and establish itself as the undisputed leader of a seven kingdom confederacy?

Does this mean that at some point a leader from this part of the world, a wolf in sheep’s clothes, will arise and establish a 7 year covenant with Israel, which he will break after 3.5 years and desecrate the rebuilt temple?

The prophecy regarding the covenant is certain since it is an inerrant Bible prophecy. Whether ISIS will spawn the Antichrist or some other entity, even one which defeats ISIS, remains to be seen.

Antichrist will be hailed as a great regional peacemaker, but at some point he uproots three kings (Daniel 7:24b) and gains sufficient political power to sign a “covenant” with Israel, which marks the beginning of the Tribulation. The three kings he uproots are rulers in the ten kingdoms into which the world has been divided (Daniel 7:24 a).

He presents himself as a “peacemaker” when he signs the covenant:
Revelation 6:2 New King James Version (NKJV) 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

Although the first horseman of the apocalypse has a bow, it is not armed with an arrow, possibly indicating that this horseman will conquer through peace initially.
This correlates with the covenant made with Israel, the “phony” peace, which the Antichrist will break in the “middle of the week” (Daniel 9:27), 3.5 years after it is signed. After all, Antichrist’s god is a god of fortresses! The peacemaker turns into a ruthless conqueror.

Most scholars in Bible prophecy have argued Antichrist will come from Rome, citing the following verse, in addition to Daniel 9:26-27, already discussed:
Revelation 17:8-12 New King James Version (NKJV), (author's italics )
8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless 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.[a] 9 “Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. 10 There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. 11 The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition. 12 “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.

They have argued that Rome sits on seven hills, therefore the woman who sits on the seven hills, representing Antichrist’s false religious system headed by the “False Prophet,” (Antichrist’s sidekick, very much like Himmler and the SS orchestrated Hitler’s Aryan mythology), is Roman, so Antichrist must also be Roman. Many evangelicals say that the false religious system has something to do with the Catholic Church and its pontiff, the Pope.
The only problem with this interpretation is there are many cities which claim to be built on seven hills, some in Asia and Europe as listed below, so we shouldn’t be Roman-centric, (www.en.wikipedia.org/...):
Asia
• Amman, Jordan • Jerusalem, Israel • Macau • Mecca, Saudi Arabia • Mumbai Saat Dweep Samuh (now joined, into a peninsula) • Tehran, Iran • Thiruvananthapuram, India • Tirumala, India In Asia, there are few cities on seven hills, except in India. One of the hill town of Tirumala is precisely where the Temple of Seven Hills, the Tirumala Venkateswara. This temple is affirmed to be the most active place of worship in the world.
Europe
• Abergavenny, South Wales, United Kingdom • Armagh, in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom • Athens, Greece. The historical seven hills of Athens are Acropolis, Areopagus, Philopappus Hill (or Hill of the Muses), Hill of the Nymphs, Pnyx, Mount Lycabettus, and Mount Anchesmos (or Tourkovounia). • Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany, The seven hills of Bamberg are; Cathedral Hill, Michaelsberg, Kaulberg/Obere Pfarre, Stefansberg, Jakobsberg, Altenburger Hill, and Abtsberg. • Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain said to be built on Mont Tàber, La Rovira, El Coll, El Carmel, La Peira, El Putxet and Montjuïc • Bath, England, United Kingdom • Besançon, France • Bergen, Norway (see Seven Mountains, Bergen) • Brussels, Belgium, said to be built on St.Michielsberg, Koudenberg, Warmoesberg, Kruidtuin, Kunstberg, Zavel and St.Pietersberg • Budapest, Hungary • Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy • Cáceres, Spain[19] • Ceuta, Spain • Coatbridge, Scotland, United Kingdom • Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom (see Hills of Edinburgh) • Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland • Iaşi, Romania (see Seven hills of Iaşi) • Istanbul, Turkey (see Seven hills of Istanbul) • Kaposvár, Hungary • Kiev, Ukraine Borichev, Shchekovitsa, Starokievska and Khorevitsa.[20] • Lisbon, Portugal, São Jorge, São Vicente, Sant’Ana, Santo André, Chagas, Santa Catarina, São Roque • Lviv, Ukraine • Madrid, Spain [21] • Moscow, Russia (See Seven hills of Moscow) • Nijmegen, Netherlands • Plovdiv, Bulgaria • Prague, Czech Republic, said to be built on seven or nine hills: Hradčany, Vítkov, (Opyš), Větrov, Skalka, (Emauzy), Vyšehrad, Karlov and Petřín • Pula, Croatia • Rome, Italy (see Seven hills of Rome) • Saint-Étienne, France • Sandomierz, Poland • Sheffield, England, United Kingdom • Smolensk, Russia • Telšiai, Lithuania • Torquay, England, United Kingdom • Turku, Finland • Veszprém, Hungary • Vilnius, Lithuania • Zevenbergen, Netherlands

In conclusion in interpreting Bible prophecy, the Antichrist, the Assyrian, the Little Horn, the King of the North, the “lawless one” are one and the same and will very likely arise from Syria.

Nostradamus informs us, as already seen, that the third Antichrist will arise from one of the “Arabian countries”:
De la felice Arabie contrade,
Naistra puissant de loy Mohametique,
Vexer l'Espagne, conquester la Grenade,
Et puis par mer a la gent Lygustique.
Century 5 quatrain 55

From one of the Arabian countries, Shall be born someone powerful, from the laws of Mohammed, Who will offend Spain and conquer its city Grenada, And then by sea (shall be harmful) to the Italians.

However, the power and destruction of Nostradamus’s Antichrist appears limited to Mediterranean Europe and appears more a reenactment of the Moorish conquests in Europe than anything else. This conforms to Nostradamus’s view that history is cyclical and historical events repeat themselves. This author does not give it very much weight, although it is in the general “ballpark.”

Bible prophecy however as proven in hundreds of instances (see Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands A Verdict for fulfilled Biblical prophecies) is inerrant, although the interpretations, including this author’s, may not be.

The King of Kings

Rapture, when?

In view of the tremendous interest in Biblical prophecy since the tragedy of September 11, 2001 in New York, the war in Iraq, the recent mega hurricanes in the Caribbean and the great earthquake in Pakistan, this article explores the fascinating area of Biblical prophecy for a period of history we may very well be living in, the end times.

We will first examine whether a Pre-Tribulation Rapture is Biblical with a detailed analysis of the arguments for a pre-tribulation rapture and compare them to those for a post-tribulation rapture. The fictional “Left Behind” series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins a few years ago exposed millions of readers to the Pre-Tribulation Rapture world view. Is this perspective substantiated by the teachings of Jesus, Luke, Matthew, Mark, Paul, the Book of Revelation and the Old Testament prophets or is it a hopeful myth?

In connection with the Rapture such topics as when will Jesus return, the apostasy, the mark of the beast, the Antichrist, the Great Tribulation, will the Church escape the tribulation, who are the “saints” and the “elect”, the issue of God’s wrath, Noah and Lot, the seven Churches in Revelation will all be looked at.

THE RAPTURE, SCRIPTURAL OR DELUSIONAL MYTH?

As tensions once again increase in the Middle East and the never ending turmoil of that cradle of civilization and birthplace of Judaism, Christianity and Islam spreads to the very shores of the United States, American evangelicals search the Bible to see if current world events correlate with Bible prophecy and if we are close to the time when Jesus the Christ will return, bring about world peace through divine intervention (by ruling “with a rod of iron”) and usher the millennium.

Of particular interest to many evangelicals is whether true believers of Jesus Christ will be removed, the PRE TRIBULATION RAPTURE, before that seven year period of God’s judgment upon the earth known as the “Great Tribulation,” a period when an entrepreneurial, evil world tyrant, a wolf in sheep’s clothes, the Antichrist, will require all to have a “mark” on people’s right hand or their forehead in order to buy or sell (Revelation 13:16) and require all to worship his statue, a time when nation will rise against nation culminating in the great battle of Armageddon between the Kings of the East and the Antichrist and his armies, a time of great natural cataclysms when “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn (as their evil ways will be come to an abrupt end ), and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory (Matthew 24:29-30).

For Christians TRUTH is revealed in the Bible, which consists of 66 books written over 1500 years by more than 40 human authors from three continents in three languages but containing one Integrated Message System with similar ideas, themes, concepts and structure. The argument can be made that it is clear that man did not write the Bible because the Bible teaches principles which are foreign to man’s unredeemed nature. The New Testament for example represents Jesus Christ as the incarnation of God. Jesus gave us unduplicated supernatural miracles such as healing the sick, multiplying a few fish and loaves of bread to feed thousands, raising the dead, stilling a storm, delivering those in demonic bondage. But he also taught us such divine principles as turning the other cheek, forgiving those who hurt you, blessing those who curse you, principles which are contrary to man’s nature which are “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, “I don’t get mad, I get even,” “make my day” etc…

The Bible is also a book of prophecy. A major proof that the Bible was supernaturally inspired is that it contains hundreds of prophecies which have been fulfilled (see Section IV “Powerful Evidence For The Deity of Christ” under “Prophecy Fulfilled” and “The Prophetic Odds”) many which will yet be fulfilled. The Bible is the inerrant Word of God. All the prophecies in the Bible will be fulfilled. Human beings are errant. Mistakes are made by errant humans in interpreting prophecy, in trying to “put God in a box”, in misinterpreting the “signs of the times” and in being “fast of the trigger”. With respect to the second coming Jesus said no man knows the time or the hour but only the Father knows.
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... topics such as when will Jesus return, the apostasy, the mark of the beast, the Antichrist, the Great Tribulation, will the Church escape the tribulation, who are the “saints” and the “elect”, the issue of God’s wrath, Noah and Lot, the seven Churches in Revelation will all be looked at...continue