The Assyrian Connection

by Phillip Goodman

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This is the book that set Prophecy Watch apart as an original research ministry in Bible prophecy--well received reviews in a paper delivered by the author to The Tim LaHaye Pre-Trib Study Group.

What are the roots of the Antichrist? The answer lies in a careful search of the scriptures, with great respect given to the plain, straightforward understanding of God's Word. The Bible tells us the Antichrist will arise from within a new Europe/Mid-East political union, specifically, in the eastern sector of that restored Roman Empire--more specifically from the region of a long-dead empire within the realm of modern Syria-Iraq. Follow the Biblical clues which converge on the astonishing specter of the coming Beast.

THE ASSYRIAN CONNECTION

by Phillip Goodman

1. The specific identity of the Beast lies in the identity of the “slain” Head.
   1. Though 6 of the 7 Heads of the Beast live, the Beast does not live until the “slain” Head comes to life.
2. The 7 heads are 7 Mountain-Kings, that is, 7 Empires.
   1. Among the 4 Kingdoms of Dan 2, the “king” of Babylon is also the “kingdom” of Babylon (2:38, 39), which is also a “mountain” (Je 51:25), & Greece has 4 “heads” (7:6) which are also 4 Grecian “kingdoms” (8:22), & all of these are superceded by the “kingdom” of Christ (2:44) which is also a great “mountain” (2:35).
   2. Before Satan gives his accumulated worldly Empires to the Beast, these same “7 heads” are seen under his control with crowns on them (Rev 12:3)—signifying Satan’s temporary kingship over kingdoms (Mat 4:8-10; Jn 12:31).
   3. Daniel 7 shows 4 Beast Empires with a total of 7 Heads. Revelation 13 shows the same 4 Beast Empires joined together into a single composite Beast Empire, but with the same 7 Heads. Since the 7 Heads of Daniel 7 are Empire-Heads, so too must the 7 Heads of Revelation 13 be Empire-Heads.
3. The 7 Empires are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome I and the Ottoman Empire.
   1. Of the kingdoms impacting Israel’s history and prophetic future, all are comparative molehills alongside the 7 “mountain-size” kingdoms—or Empires—which dominated the world of their times.
4. Chronologically, one of the Empires has a double existence because the Beast comes as an 8th Empire—yet there are only 7!
   1. The Beast has only 7 heads—not 8 (Rev 13:1 & Rev 17:3,7,9,11).
   2. Head 8, then, is one of the 7—just as Rev 17:11 says.
   3. Therefore, one of the heads—or Empires—has a double existence!
5. There are 3 chronological periods in Revelation 17 that are framed around John’s time (the time of Rome) and outline a chronological order of existence for both the 7 Empires and for the Beast & his Empire.
   1. Jesus Christ sets a precedent in Rev 1:19 for a past, present, and future chronological system in Revelation.
   2. This system is confirmed—with John himself as the reference point—by the Rev 17:12 statement that, from John’s perspective, the 10 Kings are still future.
   3. Revelation 17:8-11 places the time of both the Beast and the 7 Empires within this timeframe.
6. The Beast comes from the “Was” period—or the “East” sector of Rome (all of the “Was” Empires were from the east).
   1. Is there anything that would prevent the Beast from coming from the East since he must be a Roman (Dan 9:26)?
   2. The “east” sectors of Rome are still Rome just as Dan 8:22 says the “east” sectors of Greece are still Greece.
   3. The 10 Kings are already a complete Revived Roman Empire (Rev 17:17) before the 11th King-Beast arrives (Da 7:24, “after them”). Revived Rome already exists before the Beast.
7. The Beast comes from a slain and resurrected Empire.
   1. One of the Beast’s heads is slain and revived in Rev. 13.3.
   2. Since the 7 heads are identified in Rev 17 as 7 Empires, one of the Beast’s Empires has been “slain” & “resurrected.”
   3. If the “head” that was slain had been one of the 4 heads on the Dan 7 “leopard,” it would have been one of the Grecian kingdoms that was “slain.”
   4. The Beast is Empire #8, but there are only 7, meaning one Empire has a double existence, having been “slain” & “resurrected.”
8. The only slain/resurrected Empire is Assyria.
   1. The other Empires have an “extended life” after they lose their dominion (Dan 7:12; cmp Dan 2:35).
   2. History bears out that Assyria disappeared without a trace from history while the other kingdoms shrank back, but lived on.
9. The land of the extinct Empire of “Assyria” became “Syria,” and was the land of the ‘proto-antichrist,’ Antiochus IV, from whose land & legacy will stem the final Antichrist.
   1. Both the Assyrian namesake & the Assyrian political realm became Syria.
   2. In both Dan 8 & 11 the Syrian Antiochus merges almost imperceptibly into the final antichrist.
   3. Syria (Assyria) reappears in the “latter time of their rule” to produce the Antichrist (Dan 8:23).
   4. The Beast is “like” Greece in Rev 13:2, whose Syrian sector was dominant among the 4 Grecian “heads.”
10. The “Prince of Assyria” of Daniel 10 ascends out of the Pit and gives the Beast-Empire a double existence, and gives the Beast-Person a double personage....MORE IN THE BOOK...