The Brexit and the Last Days

There is no doubt that the Brexit vote is a pretty major event at least in the short term.  Who knows what the long term ramifications will be.  I thought I would set out my views as they relate to biblical prophecy.  I do not have the time in this article to prove much of what I am saying from the Bible.  Those who have read past articles or have received some of my letters know I have done this in the past.  My purpose here is to summarize things.

Background

The following bad powers will exist in the latter days.

·         The beast.  The political territory of the beast is that which was held by the four great empires Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome.  It will be led by Russia or more accurately, someone unexpected who takes over Russia.  Yes, Russia was never part of any of the empires, but Ezekiel 38-39 is pretty clear that the leader of the last invader of Israel is from the far north.  Thus, the beast and the king of the north mentioned in Daniel 11 are the same.  Put another way beast = king of the north = Gog and Magog.

·         The king of the south.  This comprises Egypt, Libya, Ethiopia or the Sudan if you will and probably other African nations though this is not explicitly stated in the Bible.

·         The kings of the east.  This refers to the Asian nations.

·         Babylon the Great.  It’s political power is a coastal city in the new world.  I derive this through the process of elimination.

Babylon the Great (which I will simply call Babylon from now on) and the beast are united at first.  Revelation 17 states that the great prostitute rides or sits on the heads of the beast.  This shows control.  Later on, according to Revelation 17, the beast turns against the prostitute and burns her with fire.  Thus Revelation 17 clearly shows two things my SDA brethren have no answer for in their understanding of prophecy.

·         Babylon and the beast are two entirely different powers.

·         They are united at first in that one controls the other, but they have a falling out and the beast wins the ensuing conflict.

This is clearly shown in Revelation 17.  Although Babylon fornicates with the kings of the earth, it is the seven heads she actually rides.  Thus the kings of the east, and the other powers I have mentioned here have a relationship with Babylon, but are not directly ridden by Babylon.

I’ll just say here there is a theory Saudi Arabia is Babylon and this theory is a compelling one for many reasons.  I reject this view with respect because Bible prophecy singles out what we call Saudi Arabia today and so I would say Saudi Arabia is a different power from Babylon.  My personal belief here is that Saudi Arabia forms part of the king of the south.

One other point of interest to note is that when Gog and Magog leads the beast, the Bible states specifically that Persia is an ally.  In the Middle East we have Sunni and Shiite Islam.  The Sunni are the more numerous branch of Islam.  Geographically speaking, Sunni control all of the nations in the southern confederation of nations comprising the king of the south and this confederation fights against the king of the north, which is allied with Persia.  Persia is Shiite ruled.

So now the picture becomes clearer.  The beast, Russia, and Babylon will all be united and allied with Persia which is Shiite.  They will fight against the southern confederation of nations and win.  So why can’t the king of the south be Babylon since the beast clearly turns against Babylon and wins?  The answer is the king of the south never rides the beast.  The king of the south always wars against the king of the north and has done so for centuries.

One last bit of background.  Both the beast and Babylon seek to rule alone.  They both persecute God’s people.  But their styles differ completely.  Babylon is a prostitute.  She works behind closed doors.  She seduces and lures.  She is desirable.  The beast rules by brute force.  Daniel 7 records that the beast tramples and crushes.  Both seek to control the economy, but the beast kills those without his mark whereas Babylon arrays herself with fine linen and buys what the merchants have to offer.

Anyone today should be able to easily see how these two work.  Today Babylon is the banking system and the corporate elite operating behind closed doors.  They manipulate the system and get what they want through soft words and seduction.  But Revelation 17 still proclaims the prostitute as violent.  She is drunk with the blood of the saints.  Thus Babylon is seductive on the surface, but she is also violent.  The beast is just a brute through and through. 

A historical parallel would be Nazi Germany.  At first the elites like Ford and IBM rode Germany.  They made money on her and pulled German’s strings.  Then Hitler came to power and built a war machine unlike anything the world had ever seen and embarked on a campaign of violence unlike anything the world had ever seen.  Hitler took control and made the elite bend the knee so to speak.

Where Are We Now

Revelation shows us that Babylon will be on top at first.  Eventually, the western world, allied with Iran and other Middle Eastern powers, will form an economic block.  This will come about after war rocks Europe and the world.  The Bible states that the antichrist promises peace.  The antichrist arises during a time when the people cry out for peace.  So if they are crying out for it, there must be a lack thereof.  And of course, that is what Revelation says as well.

We are a ways from this grand unholy alliance, but things are moving toward that direction.  Russia is firmly allied with Shiite countries and Europe is leaning in that direction as well.  The economic elite want the EU to remain intact as does the United States.

The Brexit is merely part of the growing pains for the formation of what will become the economic powerhouse of the last days known as Babylon the Great.  The economic elite want to rule and they will get their way eventually.  As for the beast, it does not exist yet.  It will rise during a time of war but leading up to that war, Babylon will be the strongest.  Right now the various nations who will form the confederacy which becomes the beast allied with Babylon are still trying to figure things out.  You have individual sovereignty weighed against the benefits of economic union.  Eventually, they will figure things out.

So I don’t see the Brexit as a major thing except that it may help the EU figure things out.  After all, a big player is unhappy so I think we might see some reforms and in the end, the Brexit will strengthen some sort of EU, even if it does not resemble the EU we see now.