Kingdom Building Part 7   Formation of Seventh Head and Final Victory

Rev. 20:7 "And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."

At the end of the thousand year binding of Satan, which we have shown indicates an indefinitely large period of time, in which Satan is loosed out of his prison. His goal has not changed from that set forth in Rev. 12:17 "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Once more, he goes out to deceive the nations into forming the seventh head of the beast. (See Rev. 17:10 "And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.")

The phrase, "Gog and Magog," is our key to understanding this passage of scripture. Gog and Magog are found only in Ezek. chapters 38 and 39. Those chapters speak of Gog and Magog with a great army coming against Israel and God himself taking vengeance on Gog and Magog and their armies. Similarly, the nations in the four quarters of the earth and their armies, numbered as the sand of the sea, compass the camp of the saints about and the beloved city. At this time, fire (God's wrathful judgment) comes down out of heaven and devours them.

The term, camp of the saints, refers to the disciples of the Lord as an army. This army is not engaged in natural warfare, but spiritual warfare. This is the Lord's militant church. Remember the dragon went to make war with the remnant of the woman's seed that keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, the phrase, the beloved city, also has reference to the church. It can no longer have reference to natural Jerusalem for she is declared to be "Sodom and Egypt." The church, also known as New Jerusalem and Holy Jerusalem is now the beloved city.

We are not given the details about how all this will come to pass, only that it will happen. I make the following observations:

1. Whether the United Nations is this seventh head, I do not know, although it is working toward the formation and has as a goal to form a one-world government.
2. When the seventh head is formed she will continue only a "short space." This will only be a short-lived kingdom.
3. When the beast surrounds the camp of the saints and the beloved city, God takes matters into his own hands and pours out his wrathful judgment on the armies of the beast.
4. It appears to be a complete victory over the beast and her armies.
5. I would much rather be in the camp of the saints than in the camp of the beast. I would much rather have God fighting for me than against me.

"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." The lake of fire is defined as the second death or God's eternal judgment of sin meted out upon the devil, the beast, the false prophet, and the non-elect. Ultimately, the Lord has the complete victory over all evil.
 

Kingdom Builders Part 8 Man of Sin

Throughout the scriptures we have the teachings concerning kingdom builders and the beastly kingdoms they built or strived to build. In every instance the building of that kingdom was in defiance of God. We see the spirit of Satan working in the men working to build those beastly kingdoms.

Several examples of this are presented below:

1. Nimrod and the tower of Babel: Gen. 10:8 “And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.” God had instructed Noah and those who came off the ark to be fruitful and multiple and replenish the earth and subdue it. In opposition and in defiance of the command of God, Nimrod set forth to build a kingdom so that man would not be scattered abroad or be under the authority of God: Gen. 11:1 “And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. 4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.”
2. Chedorlaomer: This king sought to enslave people beyond the bounds of his empire and bring them into his empire as he went about building his kingdom.
3. Tiglathpileser the king of Assyria sought to and had enslaved people of many nations as he went about to build his kingdom and part of his efforts was to make them worship his false gods. He carried away and dispursed abroad the 10 tribes that composed the nation of Israel.
4. Nebuchadnezzar had built an even greater empire in Babylon and sought to enforce the worship of his god that he had erected.
5. Darius the king of the Medes and the Persians sent forth a decree that all men in his kingdom would worship only him.
6. While we are not given the details of the Greek empire under Alexander the Great or of the Ceasars reign in Rome, yet we know that they sought to impose the worship of false gods upon all the people of their vast empires.

This is in keeping with what we read concerning the image of the seven headed ten horn beasts that it was in the image of the Great Red Dragon, which is Satan. We were also told that the Dragon: Rev 13:2 “And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.”

In our age in the last 100 years we have seen men arise to attempt to build vast kingdoms and they sought the worship of those that they reigned over. Included in this list would be Stalin in the Soviet Union; Mao in China; and Hitler in Germany. They sought to reign over the children of men and enforce their beliefs and their obedience to them and force their worship and praise of themselves.

It is very reasonable to assume that when the seventh head of the beast is formed that he will do as those have done that were before him. He will have the same desires as Satan as detailed in the five “I wills of Satan.” After all it is the spirit of Satan that will be working in him.