The Beast and Babylon

The times in which we live are marred by religious, and ethnic wars, and political upheavals in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, which have provoked mass migrations into neighboring countries and Europe. In addition, the last two decades have produced terrible earthquakes, tsunamis, heat-waves, freezing conditions, droughts, and floods that have caused misery to millions of people dwelling in the affected nations. As a result of these man-made and climatic catastrophes, many people consider that international affairs, and the world’s social order are no longer manageable—that Mother Nature is falling to pieces—and therefore the end is nigh!

This expectation was particularly noticeable at the end of the twentieth century; when the electronic date roll-over to the year two thousand was supposed to put our computerized and technological society in jeopardy. However, the world as we know it did not end with a “whimper” at midnight on December 31, 1999, but continued with a sigh of relief when the avalanche of dire predictions about the Y2K Millennium bug did not engulf our civilization. In comparison, the world woke with a “bang” shortly after the twenty-first century began. That bang was the televised spectacle of the World Trade Center, and Pentagon aircraft bombing attacks on 9/11, perpetrated by Islamist Al-Qaeda terrorists who turned America’s assets against them.

I asked the questions: “What was the significance of these terrorist acts? Was September 11, 2001, the day that changed the world?” As a firm believer in the accuracy of Bible prophecy, discovering the answers to those questions became my incentive to study the apocalyptic and prophetic scriptures, as well as the interpretations given by past theologians, on which our modern prophetic understanding is based. However, I soon realized that theologians, writing in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, were unaware of the significant events that occurred in the tumultuous twentieth century. These included: two world wars, the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire, the dissolution and extinction of the great European colonizing empires, the rise of the Nazi regime, and the ensuing Jewish Holocaust—followed by the return of the Jews to Israel in 1948; all of which ultimately led to the proliferation of nation-states around the world.

To my mind, these crucial events needed to be considered in any up-to-date interpretation of Bible prophecy, and so I began an interesting reappraisal of all that I had previously been taught, read, and believed about the end times. This re-examination started with a closer look at the apocalyptic symbolism used in the vision of the four beasts recorded in Daniel 7 (to uncover the rationale behind it), and see how Daniel’s futuristic scenario was historically fulfilled. Afterward, I applied the same rationale to Revelation’s similar symbolic beast entities and the scenarios recorded therein. My aim was to see how Daniel’s narrative about four animate beasts—symbolic of empires—related to the two similar beast entities described in Revelation 13 and 17. This exercise produced new insights into the origin, composition, and demeanor of Revelation’s two beasts, plus a fresh understanding of what they represented (by discerning where they were located), and an improved comprehension of how they fit the timetable leading to the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Over time, it became increasingly obvious that if one component in a generally accepted prophetic interpretation was significantly altered, other interdependent features would become misaligned, and not fit the big picture: my previous opinions about key prophecies would therefore have to be challenged, and I subsequently found it necessary to re-examine the foundation of all Bible prophecy—viz., Daniel’s enigmatic prophecy of “seventy weeks” (Dan. 9:24–27). A thorough reconsideration of this prophecy revealed that Daniel’s reference to a “covenant” in verse twenty-seven, was derived from information in the letter and book that Jeremiah wrote to the Jewish exiles in Babylon—of whom Daniel was one— (cf. Jere. 29:1; 30:1–3; 31:31–34). After Daniel read what Jeremiah had written (Dan. 9:2), he was subsequently given further details about a “new covenant” by the angel Gabriel who informed him who would benefit from it, what it would achieve, when it would be fulfilled, and what the fate of Jerusalem and its sanctuary would be. This investigation convinced me that all facets of Daniel’s prophecy were fulfilled by the Messiah, Jesus Christ, within the “seventy weeks” (viz., four hundred and ninety years) allotted; specifically for the salvation of the Jews.

Around the same time, I began to more effectively study Daniel’s apocalyptic symbolism relating to the history of the Roman Empire; first in relation to the non-adhering iron and clay elements depicted in the feet and toes stage of his metallic-man statue vision; and second, through Daniel’s vision of the “dreadful and terrible” fourth beast. I discovered that Daniel’s narratives matched the official annals of the Roman Empire: showing its historic split into eastern and western administrations; the invasions by foreign (clay) people groups; and Rome’s subsequent devolvement into sub–empires; succeeded by multiple warring nation-states. This research provided convincing evidence of how global exploration, colonialism, nationalism, and two world wars fulfilled Daniel’s prophetic agenda regarding the fourth empire and its eventual fate: leading me to believe that the Roman Empire does not feature in Revelation’s end time narrative about the beast empire, the religious false prophet, and Babylon—the great city! These investigations—undertaken over a ten year period— produced a great deal of information and research material relating to several biblical end time topics. This material became the foundation for the premise of this book: viz., that the healing of the wounded head on the seven-headed beast from the sea (portrayed in Revelation 13), symbolizes a reviving territorial Islamist Caliphate or empire; whereas the beast from the earth (a.k.a. the false prophet), is a pseudo religious leader who endorses the God-opposing political ideology of the empire and promotes its primordial religious system that is symbolically called Babylon.

My personal search for truth in our time, and the fresh conclusions I have reached about the apocalyptic prophecies in Daniel and Revelation, have been recorded in this book that is offered for your consideration regarding imminent events in the twenty-first century.

J. B. Whitelaw-Stevens