rise and fall of the kingdom of men 476: fall of roman empire (daniel 2, daniel 7, revelation 13)...

RISE AND FALL OF THE KINGDOM OF MEN

476: Fall of Roman Empire (Daniel 2, Daniel 7, Revelation 13)

800: Empire of Charlemagne (Revelation 13)

1301 – 1914: Rise and fall of Ottoman Empire (Revelation 9, 16)

1789: French Revolution (Revelation 11)

1796 – 1815: Rise and fall of Napoleonic Empire (Revelation 16)

1866 – 70: End of the temporal power of the Papacy (Revelation 13)

1957 – Present: European Union (Daniel 2, Revelation 17)

FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE PREDICTED

‘In a still clearer light, John, in the Apocalypse, indicated to the Lord's Disciples what shall happen in the last times - and concerning the ten kings who shall then arise, among whom the Empire which now rules, shall be partitioned.’

Irenaeus, ‘Against Heresies', Book V, chapter 26, section 1, 185 AD

‘After them came the Romans, who were the iron legs of the image. For they were strong as iron.

Then the toes of clay and iron, to signify the democracies that were subsequently to rise - partitioned among the ten toes of the image, in which iron shall be mixed with clay...’

Hippolytus, 'Scholia on Daniel' Book III, chapter 2 section 31, 200 AD

FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE PREDICTED

‘The iron legs point to a fourth power, and that is understood of the Roman empire, which is more powerful than all the kingdoms which were before it. But the fact that the feet were partly of iron and partly clay, indicates that the Roman empire is to be divided, so as never to be united.’

Sulpicius Severus,’Sacred History’ Book 2, chapter 3, 401 AD

‘The fourth [kingdom] which holds the city of the World, is theempire of the Romans…’

Jerome, ‘Commentary on Daniel’, chapter 2 section 38, 320 - 420 AD

‘…in the consummation of the world, when the Roman Empire is to be destroyed, there shall arise ten kings, who shall share the Roman world among themselves…’

Jerome, ‘Commentary on Daniel’, chapter 7 section 20, 320 - 420 AD

RESTORATION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE PREDICTED

‘By the beast, then, coming up out of the earth, he means the kingdom of Antichrist…

The words 'he exercised all the power of the First Beast before him'... signify that, after the manner of the law of Augustus by whom the Empire of Rome was established, he too will rule and govern sanctioning everything by it and taking greater glory to himself.

For this is the Fourth Beast whose head was wounded and healed again...

For he will act with vigour again, and prove strong by reason of the laws established by him; and he will cause all those who will not worship the image of the Beast, to be put to death.’

Hippolytus, ‘Treatise on Christ and AntiChrist’, section 49, 200 AD

ROMAN EMPIRE RESTORED UNDER CHARLEMAGNE

‘Apoc. xiii. 1. The Dragon being cast out of heaven by Constantine, he substituted the Beast to be his Vicar there; which Beast is the Pope of Rome, who sprung up at once with Constantine, was made great by the Nicene Council, was wounded by the Goths invading Italy, was healed by Justinian and Phocas, and thenceforth made greater than ever before.

11. The second Beast is the same Pope of Rome, enlarged in his dimensions by Pepin and Charles the Great; who gave him a new kind of springing up, whence he grew extremely wicked.’

Thomas Brightman, ‘Apocalypsis Apocalypseos’ 1603


‘that they should make an image to the beast which had the wound by a sword, and did live;

meaning the Roman empire, which had received a deadly wound in its sixth head, the emperors, by the sword of the Goths, Huns, &c. but now revived in its seventh head, the pope of Rome, to whom the ten kings gave their kingdoms:

the image made to this beast some understand of the translation of the empire to Charles the great, and his successors the emperors, by the pope of Rome, he ordaining so many electors to chose a king of the Romans, and elect an emperor when one was wanting; and this was an image to the first beast, a shadow, an appearance of the Roman empire…’

John Gill, ‘Commentary On the Bible’ 1748


‘France, in the time of Charlemagne, was the kingdom to which the Papacy owed its civil organization and its strength—a kingdom to which could be traced all the civil or secular power of the Papacy, and which was, in fact, a restoration or re-construction of the old Roman power – the fourth kingdom of Daniel. See Barnes on "Da 7:24-28" and compare Barnes on "Re 13:3,12-14".

The restoration of the old Roman dominion under Charlemagne, and the aid which he rendered to the Papacy in its establishment as to a temporal power, would make it probable that this kingdom would be referred to in the series of judgments that were to accomplish the overthrow of the Papal dominion.’

Albert Barnes, ‘New Testament Notes’, 1851

RISE AND FALL OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

‘Apoc. ix. 1. At the fifth [trumpet] sounding the bottomless pit is opened, and swarms of locusts crawl out: that is, of religious persons in the West, of Saracens in the East.

13. At the sixth the Turks invade the world, which is punished for the Romish idolatry.

…

Apoc. xvi. The Vials are poured out.

…

The sixth upon Euphrates; whereby a way shall be prepared for the Jews of the East…’

Thomas Brightman, ‘Apocalypsis Apocalypseos’ 1603


‘The great river Euphrates, the strength and fulness of whose streams doth yet rage so high that there is no passage for the kings of the east to come over. Wherefore this must be dried up... Rev.xvi.12.

...and then it may well enough denote the Turkish power; which, proud as it is at this day, possessing in peace all those regions of the east, yet God can quickly make it wither and be dried up.’

John Owen, ‘The Shaking and Translating Of Heaven And Earth’, sermon preached April 19, 1649

‘The first five vials do dissolve and by degrees ruin the Pope's power in the west. Then the sixth vial breaks the power of the Turk in the east - so making way for the Jews (whom He means to bring into the fellowship of His Kingdom in their own land)...’

Thomas Goodwin, ‘An Exposition of the Revelation’, page, 209 1654


‘The Turkish power is signified by Euphrates (Rev. 9:13,14). The meaning may be that the Turks which lay on both sides of the River Euphrates and were divided into four sultanates or kingdoms, should be let loose, partly by composing their civil dissentions, and partly by being united under one Ottomanical head, to make a dreadful eruption upon the Roman Empire…’

Increase Mather, ‘Ichabod, &c’, page 64, 1669

‘…we have the fourth trumpet proceeding in the ruin of the Empire in the West, and the fifth trumpet is the beginning of the ruin of it in the East (ch. 10) by the Mohammedan Saracens… and after the other Mohammedan locusts under the sixth trumpet, namely the Turks, took away the other part of the Eastern Empire...’

William Sherwin, ‘A Scheme of the Whole Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ’, 1670

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION PREDICTED

‘What is this 'tenth' part of this City which shall fall? In my opinion, we cannot doubt that it is France.

This Kingdom is the most considerable part or piece of the ten horns or states which once made up the great Babylonian City [of Rome]…

The Tenth part of the City which here fell, will, at some future time, appear to be the Kingdom of France, where a Revolution will take place about the year 1785, and a separation from the Papacy follow, when the Names of Monks and Nuns, of Carmelites, Augustines, Dominicans, etc., shall perish forever; and all those vain titles and amorial bearings which serve for ornament and pride, shall vanish, and brotherly love make all men equal.’

Pierre Jurieu, ‘Accomplishment of the Scripture Prophecies’, II chapter 13, 1687


‘As the King of France did his utmost to enhance the glory of Popery - it will be the King of France who will mostly contribute to her ruin…

The city here mentioned is Babylon - that is the Papal Empire, the Church of Rome, the Empire of the AntiChrist.

France is one of the ten horns of the Beast, one of the ten Kingdoms which would be formed according to Daniel out of the debris of the Roman Empire…

According to St. John, she would rise at the same time with the Beast… The French monarchy, like all the neighbouring states, was established upon the ruins of the Roman Empire and grew at the same time as the Bishop of Rome… France is a place and a part of the City; that is, of the Papal Empire.’

Jacques Phillipot, ‘Clarifications of St. John's Revelation’, 1687


‘Before Antichrist's fall, one of the ten kingdoms which supported the beast shall undergo a marvelous revolution. Rev.xi.13: ‘And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven;’ by which tenth part is to be understood one of the ten kingdoms into which the great city, Romish Babylon, was divided.

This many take to be the kingdom of France, it being the tenth and last of the kingdoms, according to the rise, and that which gave Rome the denomination of the beast with ten horns, and also it being the only one of the ten that was never conquered since its rise. However unlikely this, and other prophesied events, may appear at the time, yet the almighty hand of the only wise God can soon bring them about when least expected.’

Reverend John Willison, sermon, 1742

RISE AND FALL OF THE NAPOLEONIC EMPIRE

‘Ver. 8. …their opinion seems most probable to me, who, by the sun, understand some great prince or potentate, or the whole civil power in the antichristian heaven; suppose the Spaniard, or the emperor.

It seems to signify either some destruction of such civil powers, or some defection of them from the papacy, which will vex and enrage antichrist and his party, as if they were scorched with fire.’

Matthew Poole, ‘New Testament Commentary’, 1685

‘Whether by this intense heat of the sun, he meant literally uncommon sultry seasons… or figuratively, a most tyrannical and exorbitant exercise of arbitrary power by those who may be called the sun, in the firmament of the beast, the Pope or Emperor, time must discover.’

Bishop Thomas Newton, 'Dissertations On The Prophecies', 1754


‘To observe then the accurate completion of the prophecy of the fourth vial, in which it is said that power was given to this sun to scorch men with great heat, we have only to cast our eyes over the continent.

[Footnote] Should the present usurper of the throne of France, who already emulates the imperial rank of Austria [Napoleon]… proclaim himself Emperor of the Romans, and thus transfer the crown of Charlemagne from Germany to France… he would then, like Charlemagne, be the representative of the last head of the beast.’

George Faber, ‘A Dissertation On The Prophecies’, volume II, page 211, 1805


‘I have now to add, that the disastrous termination of the campaign of 1805 has made the chief of the French government [Napoleon] the undoubted representative of Charlemagne, and consequently the last head of the beast.’

George Faber, ‘A Dissertation On The Prophecies’, note added to volume II, page 211 , June 3, 1806

‘The Fourth Vial. – The Sun, a Scourge. The Napoleon scourge of Europe; Re 16:8, 9. A. D. 1798 to 1815.

The Fifth Vial. – The Uprising of Italy and the overthrow of the States of the Church; Re 16:10. 11. A. D. 1866 to A. D. 1880.’

B W Johnson, ‘Vision of the Ages’, 1881

END OF PAPACY’S TEMPORAL POWER PREDICTED

‘If numbered from A.D. 412, when Alaric took Rome, and overthrew its empire, the end will be in 1672; or, if from the time of Phocas, A.D. 606, when the Pope's supremacy began, then the end may be expected A.D. 1866.’

Chytraeus, ‘Apocalyptic Exposition’, 1571

‘…seeing the time when he was made universal bishop by Phocas bids fair for the time of his open appearance, and the beginning of his reign, and of his blasphemy, which was in the year 606, to which, if we add 1260, the expiration of his reign will fall in the year 1866; so that he may have upwards of an hundred and twenty years yet to continue; but of this we cannot be certain; however, the conjecture is not improbable‘

John Gill, ‘Commentary On the Bible’ 1748

END OF PAPACY’S TEMPORAL POWER PREDICTED

‘…the full and complete commencement of the period appeared on strong and peculiar historic evidence… to have about synchronized with the epoch of Phocas' decree A.D. 606; and the corresponding epoch of end with the year 1866.’

Edward Elliott, ‘Horae Apocalypticae’, volume IV, 5th edition, chapter 5, 1862

‘…from the analogous decree of the emperor Phocas… in the year 607, 1,260 years extended to 1866-7, the initial date of the recent remarkable overthrow of Papal governments which culminated in the loss of the pope’s temporal power in 1870.

In that year the Papacy… lost the temporal sovereignty, which it had held for more than a thousand years. Thus the predicted period has been fulfilled.’

Grattan Guinness, ‘Romanism and Reformation, lecture 4, 1888

EUROPEAN UNION PREDICTED

‘First he saith in his feet and toes of iron and earth there shall remain as it were under the sole some firm fastness of iron.

Which signifieth the Roman empire, although it be divided and dispersed into Germany, England, Spain, France, and Turkey, etc, as into other monarchies, yet shall these monarchies hold as long as they may have the nature of iron under the use and ministration of the Roman laws called the civil or emperor's laws.

…

They shall be confederated to make a new and all one monarchy, but all in vaine, for this is the last empire to be destroyed at the last day, and it is yet in destroying for reviling and persecuting God's word, whether it be the secular or Ecclesiastick, particular or universal Empire or kingdom.

George Joye, ‘Exposition of Daniel’, 1545


‘The ten kings which give their power to the Beast are in Europe.

That part of the world was to be principally the Seat of the church of Christ during the reign of Antichrist, who must continue until Christ himself shall destroy him with the brightness of his coming.’

Increase Mather, ‘Ichabod: Or, A discourse, shewing what cause there is to fear that the glory of the Lord, is departing from New-England’, page 64, 1669


‘The Church of Rome would accommodate itself with equal ease to a Holy Roman Empire or the United States of Europe…

In which of these ways the fourth of Daniel's beasts or the Western Roman Empire is to be revived, or in what other way, I do not think prophecy determines; but its revival in some form, - royal, republican, or imperial, - seems absolutely required by the prediction.’

Samuel Garratt, ‘A Commentary on the Revelation of St. John, Considered As The Divine Book of History’, page 251, 1897


'This woman is not only herself a Harlot, but is expressly 'the Mother of Harlots and abominations of the Earth' an abomination being an idol, or anything that is worshipped and trusted.

This 'Mother Church' will no doubt gather her Daughters to her ample bosom ere the end comes... Everything not of God, will be consolidated into one opposing system.'

Philip Mauro, 'Of Things Which Soon Must Come To Pass', 1933

'...God's hand will be the active agent in it; that He will 'put in their hearts to fulfil His will and to agree, and give their Kingdom to the Beast' (the League of Nations or something similar)" such as the United Nations Organization, "until the words of God shall be fulfilled!"'

Philip Mauro, 'Of Things Which Soon Must Come To Pass', page 491, 1933

SEVEN MILESTONES IN EUROPEAN UNION

As Defined By The European Commission In 2002

476: Fall of the Roman Empire

800: Coronation of Charlemagne

1355 – 1683: Influence of Ottoman Empire

1789: French Revolution

1815: Battle of Waterloo

1859 – 1870 Unification of Italy

1957 – Present: European Union

THE EUROPEAN UNION – THE KINGDOM OF MEN

‘Time and again men have dreamed of rearing on these dominions one mighty kingdom. Charlemagne tried it. Charles V tried it. Louis XIV tried it. Napoleon tried it. But neither succeeded. A single verse of prophecy was stronger than all their host.

…'Partly strong, and partly broken,' was the prophetic description. And such, too, has been the historic fact concerning them.

…It is 'partly strong'--i.e., it retains, even in its broken state, enough of its iron strength to resist all attempts to mold its part together.

'This shall not be,' says the word of God. 'This has not been,' replies the book of history.’

William Newton, ‘Lectures on the First Two Visions of the Book of Daniel’, page 34, 1859


‘But then, men may say, 'Another plan remains. If force cannot avail, diplomacy and reasons of state may – we will try them.

And so the prophecy foreshadows this when it says, 'They shall mingle themselves with the seed of men‘ – i.e., marriages shall be formed, in hope thus to consolidate their power, and, in the end, to unite these divided kingdoms into one.’

William Newton, ‘Lectures on the First Two Visions of the Book of Daniel’, page 35, 1859

‘For the first time since the fall of the Roman Empire we have the opportunity to unite Europe, not by force of arms, but on the basis of shared ideals and agreed common rules.’

Romano Prodi, EU Commission President, EU Parliament, 13 October 1999


‘It is in the movement towards federalism of the Common Market, with the coming members of Eastern European countries, as well as in the turmoil in the Soviet Union that the Pope may see the greatest possibility for an increase in Catholic political power since the fall of Napoleon, or since the Counter-Reformation.

The Common Market itself started under the inspiration of Catholic politicians…

The European Commission Social Charter and the socialism of Jacques Delores are imbued with Catholic social doctrine.

If European federalism triumphs, the European Commission will indeed be an empire. It will lack an emperor, but it will have the Pope.’

Adrian Hilton, ‘The Principality and Power of Europe: Britain and the emerging Holy European Empire’, page 18, 1997

rise and fall of the kingdom of men 476: fall of roman empire (daniel 2, daniel 7, revelation 13)...

Documents

roman empire daniel

ad roman empire

empire of rome

roman empire predictedin

roman empire predictedby

ottoman empire revelation

napoleonic empire revelation

roman world