The Kingdom of Babylon Parts 1 & 2

Divided We Fall

Book Two: The Kingdom of Babylon

Part One and Two

Copyright 2012 Don Wigton

Smashwords Edition

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Table of Contents

Foreword

Part1: The Great Fall

Chapter One: Fools Wisdom

The Martyr

Tax The Rich

The Coward's End

Chapter Two: The Beast

The Two Kingdoms

The Antichrist

Chapter Three: Those Who Disobey

The Golden Age

At the Top of Rome's Game

A Crack in the Armor

Plagues

Killer Bees

Floods and Wildfires

Earthquakes

Tornadoes and Hurricanes

Heat Waves, Freezes and Comets

The Mighty Hand of God

Chapter Four: Who is to Blame?

The City of God

The Pagan Assault

Big Churches Far From God

Constantine's Demand

Chapter Five: A Troubled Kingdom

Big Government and the Breakdown of a Civilization

Chapter Six: When the Peasants Revolt

Class Warfare

The Extinction of an Antichrist

War Against the Wealthy: No Justice No Peace

Chapter Seven: When the Cities are laid to Waste

The War in America's Cities

The American Gladiator

Killers Run Amuk

Seeking a Solution

Violence in School

Singleton

Going Postal

Columbine

American Christians - Martyrs With a Cause

Class Warfare's Desolate Finale

Chapter Eight: Rob From the Rich to Give to the Poor

Tax, Tax and More Tax: Keeping Big Government Running

The National Health Care System

The Fall of Civilization

Chapter Nine: Take Away Their Guns

A Divided Kingdom

Gun Control

The Militia Response

America's Love Affair With Guns

The Barbarian Conquest

Babylon's Fall

Chapter Ten: A Whole New World

New World Order

Like the Good Communists That They Are

Part 2: When Republics End

Chapter Eleven: Humble Beginnings

The Genesis of an Empire

The Pagan Dilemma

Chapter 12: The Cost of Imperialism

Go West Young Man

A Clash of Cultures

The War Goes On

Who is to Blame?

Chapter Thirteen: Vengeance is Mine, Saith Man

A Formidable Foe - A Change of Heart

The Conquering Americans

Chapter Fourteen: The New Age of Old News

Looking to the East

The New Age Movement

A New Freedom

Ecumenicalism

Bring On the '60s

The East Takes Hold of the Western Mind

America's Schools - The Breeding Ground of the New Age of Supression

Melting Pot Religion

Chapter Fifteen: The Dream of a King

Chapter Sixteen: A Time for Change?

Feeding the Beast

Corruption in Government

Breeding Grounds for Dictators

Chapter Seventeen: Who Will Lead the Blind?

Where Did all the Morals Go?

Breakdown of the Family

Old Time Religion

I Will Ascend to Heaven

Chapter Eighteen: A House Divided

Who Will Speak Out for the Little Ones?

John Brown

Chapter Nineteen: Who Can You Trust?

Power in the Right Hands

Power in the Wrong Hands

A Calamity Just Waiting to Happen

One Man's Tyranny

Chapter Twenty: We Can Change Your World

Commie or Not?

In Support of Tyranny

We're Not Talking Jeffersonian Democracy

The KBG is Back

A Question of Character

Flip Floppiest of Presidents

An Affair to Remember

Whitewater

Family Values? Right

The Company You Keep

The FBI File Flap

Druggies in the White House

Chums With the Chinese

The Lincoln Bedroom

Selling Out Your Country (To the Chinese or Anyone Else for That Matter)

Who Are the Clintons?

A Strange New World

Chapter Twenty One: We Want a King!

Once a Communist

Always a Communist

Man's Inert Desire for a Dictator

Chapter Twenty Two: Who Do They Serve?

The Wave of Destruction

A Nation of Immigrants

Going Broke in California

All For a Cheep Head of Lettuce

The True Strength of America

Freedom is Fragile

Chapter Twenty Three: How I Love Your Law

When God is Taken Out of School

In the Shelter of God's Law

A Prophet is Without Honor

When Everything is Backwards

Chapter Twenty Four: The Triumphal Entry

Definitely in Control

Chapter Twenty Five: One Shrewd Dude

Peace at All Cost

Make 'Em Think They're Free

About the Author

References and Suggested Readings

Foreword

Bewilderment filled their hearts. The commonwealth had long since left the values that had built her into the principle power in the world. Though those with insight heralded the return to traditional family values, few would listen. Adultery was rampant, homosexuality common and street violence a way of life.

The welfare state had burgeoned till it was out of control. In the hopes of keeping the discontented masses in the impoverished slums content, sporting extravaganzas filled the arenas in each major city with every imaginable amusement. The entertainment industry, once the expression of the finest art, had degenerated into the display of the most disgusting sexual acts that could come out of the imaginations of her writers.

Moral tension was high. Throughout the country debate was stirred concerning how society should act, and if there was a God that they were accountable to. The greatest minds of the domain pondered this question, and there were a multitude of answers with no resolutions.

While the poor fought in the street, the middle class enjoyed the advantages of the long peace. Wealth was easily had by many, and opulence and indulgence in every sort of stimulating activity was their central pursuit. The proposition of peace and prosperity was the theme of the age.

Hardly had anyone considered the possibility of foreign invasion. The armed forces of the kingdom were unmatched in the entire world. The peace that their strength brought, gave the world prosperity such had never before been imagined. They had become the wealthiest citizens in the history of the world.

They were a nation of people who were obsessed with their personal rights and liberties. Societal law was king. This law granted them a pluralistic community, where every culture in the world lived together in peace. Religious freedom was the dominant theme, as the people employed any god they desired in any way they could dream up. And they had many to choose from, for every religion in the world had gathered within their borders.

The kingdom's long-standing democratic institutions were intact, but the freedoms that they implied were long gone. Politicians had forgotten why they were elected. Financial gain and political power now dominated their minds. Statesmen gathered around issues that were popular to their constituents, but no longer was the will of the people directing the actions of the state. Their leaders had given themselves over to self-indulgence.

As the centuries passed, the long-standing peace faded. The populace that had learned the art of violence became the victim of the savagery themselves. Class struggles had eventually weakened the land beyond repair. The poor had managed to subjugate the rich, as the wealth of the domain was redistributed into their welcoming hands. In the midst of struggle, these victors of class contention overlooked the very internal forces that would lead to the nation's undoing. It wasn't long before the world's cities were burning under the cruel hand of the very people who had feigned political leverage.

Fingers pointed to the cause of the dilemma. Most aimed at the followers of Christ. If we hadn't become a Christian nation, many reasoned, we would never have got into the jam that we now have found ourselves in. Christianity has made us weak.

Out of the controversy arose a man who settled the matter. His name was Saint Augustine, and the kingdom he was speaking to was 5th century Rome. Because Augustine lived in a society inundated with gray, he determined that he would put his gray matter into action. As it turned out, Augustine has since been recognized as the greatest mind Rome ever produced. Yet soon their civilization would be no more. They were committed to living in the gray.

While hands shook in accusation of the Christian, Augustine stepped in with his great mind to silence all who opposed him. After he had written his greatest work, the City of God, the critics of Christianity were silenced for a thousand years. It was his astute mind that assured Christianity would be the principal religion in the West for many centuries to come.

It hasn't been until the 20th century that Christianity has suffered any serious challenge that has threatened it with universal annihilation. Times have changed. Christians have forgotten that there is nothing new under the sun. They have bent their ear to everything novel that passes by their senses. Christians have turned to the gray. They are living in the middle. Though the greatest minds in the history of the world have been believers who have submitted their minds to Christ, Christendom has stopped thinking.

As a result, the attackers of Christianity have asserted that Christianity is an ignorant religion. These haters of Christ have proclaimed themselves as the true minds of the age, while the Church wanders after pursuing its sensual pleasures. Truth has been lost in the senseless reckoning of non-truth within a culture that has determined that nothing is worth considering beyond its self image.

But answers are as old a Rome. For in the writings of Saint Augustine lie the explanation from God's Word that delineates the very culprits of the agony of our new age. Through the centuries, the pages of the Bible speak the same truth that they communicated to the ancient bewildered society of Rome. Augustine utilized the words of God to silence the oppressors of Christ, and these same words are as pertinent today as they ever have been.

The book you are about to read is about using your head. It is a call to the modern world's cerebral mass that has been slumbering in the stupor of its own complacency. It is a summons to wake up and begin thinking again. It is the shout of truth echoing in a truthless world. It is the argument of Saint Augustine being told once again to the same wayward society from which all modern apostasy began.

Augustine spoke of a house divided. He spoke of two cities, which have stood diametrically opposed to each other since the beginning of time. It is as these two cities express themselves in the world that the division of man is manifested.

There is no middle ground between the two cities. There is no gray area to divide opposites. The answers for today are not encompassed in Should or could I, I hope so or I hope not, Maybe or maybe not. Rather, the only solution that makes sense lies in the propositions of Left and right, Up or down, In or out, Good or bad, Right or Wrong.

In this book we will examine how the two opposites of the world have manifested themselves in history. We will apply this knowledge to our contemporary society and its worship life. In so doing, we will turn to reiterate to the world what Augustine had shown us fifteen hundred years ago. We will identify the source of our problems. We will be directed to our only hope.

We will consider the house divided; the division in society that is inevitable when two points of view are prevailing. We will discover that the separation between opposites is absolutely essential in discerning truth from error. We will see why the doctrine of tolerance within the framework of non-accountability is exactly that which severs liberty and freedom from man.

We will examine the great kingdoms of the world to see how Augustine's two cities have manifested themselves through history. We shall uncover the consequences that have developed in the kingdoms of men as a result of the influence of each point of view. We will unearth the reality which acknowledges that the future of a kingdom is directly reliant upon the city which directs its course.

We will consider the philosophies that underpin the two cities. We shall behold that these ideologies determine how men view themselves and direct how they see the world that they live in. We will resolve that men become exactly who they think they are. Finally, we will come to an understanding of the precepts of the two great religions of the world. Each of the two cities is masterminded by its own faith. Because there is only one faith that is true, we shall rustle the Queen of Apostasy out of her nest, to expose her and demonstrate where she has made her bed.

* * *

As we wait for Christ's return, we perceive the coming darkness that proceeds the dawn of a new age. As we look about at the gloomy disorder that lurks about us, we are observing the translucent images of our past transformed into subtle grays. We know that when the sun can no longer be seen on the horizon, that evening is near. When twilight descends with its shaded impressions, we know that it will soon be night. So it will be in the last days of man.

Yet among the bearers of truth, there are no grays: For some reject the sensual thinking of their generation, to utilize their gray matter which restores the reasonable to the absurd. They realize that there is no matter that is gray.

Those who truly know how to think understand that truth cannot be found in compromise with its opposite. They discern that truth is specific rather than relative, objective rather than subjective. They realize that the matter is distinctly Black-and-White. It is when this occurs that we can discover the true unity of mind that can save a nation from herself.

Part One: The Great Fall

Chapter One: Fools Wisdom

The Martyr

He grimaced in pain as the last nail was driven into his emaciated limb. Tongues of retribution ran up and down his frame delivering the oil that was now seeping into his wounds. As they raised him up, he could see his wife across the courtyard while to his side he could hear the agony on the breath of his firstborn son. Together they were elevated in martyrdom as the emperor paraded his grandeur before them, riding upon his chariot to the thundering applause of his subjects. Yet the man hung suspended, hardly noticing the antics of the tyrant. His mind drifted into memories.

It was only hours ago that he was together with his family. Concealed in the vast matrix near the city, they clutched hands as he somberly blessed their final meal together. The affectionate squeeze emanating from his life long companion had assured him that their firm poise in the faith would not go un-rewarded. The words that the prophet had spoken were true! They now knew the presence of their God was with them. So they sang as one to glorify the king they served.

Now this blessed moment has quickly faded. He hangs awaiting his certain death. Far below the praises still ushering from his lips, he witnesses the servants of the emperor in their revelry. Their drunkenness has left them oblivious to his suffering just above their heads. They toast to the god of fertility as they worship images made to look like mortal man and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another (Rom 1:23-24 niv). Men with men, women with women, they sing in riotous laughter while the innocent prepare to die.

A nameless man has led his now forgotten family down a path that will bring them an eternity of peace. He takes one last glimpse into the eyes of his beloved. The torch has been lit as the flames engulf their bodies. They are in the presence of the Lord.

* * *

Now there is left behind only the carcasses to illuminate the monarch's feast. It was rumored the dictator had lost his mind years ago. The prophet had once walked these courts chained to a guard as he shared the truth to all who would listen. It was to Nero that the Apostle Paul had appealed to in his defense, and to Nero's tribunal he was taken after his first imprisonment. (Acts 25:11) Nero seemed to take a considerable amount of interest in providential cases such as Paul's so it is very likely he heard the message of the Gospel from this one who presented it as none has since.

In the early years of this infamous Caesar's reign, the Apostle wrote to the Roman Church to explain the great doctrines that comprised their faith. He was eventually beheaded for this stand he had taken. This occurred in the last year of this cruel dictator's life very near the city of Rome itself.

Paul wasn't the only one to fall into this tyrant's clutches. Even the apostle Peter was executed by Nero, crucified upside down on a cross as he felt himself unworthy to die as Christ had done. Now all the followers of that message suffered constant persecution in the hands of that insane dictator.

There was a time when Rome and Christianity were on friendly terms. Christians were viewed by the rulers of the day as a harmless Jewish sect. Possibly the trial of Paul brought to Nero's mind the difference of the two. The great fire of July 64 A.D. nearly destroyed Rome. The result was that thousands of homeless people required housing and the lowering of the price of corn.

The desires of the depraved Caesar were not easily fulfilled! It was suspected his demented ego inspired him to burn the city while he played contemptuously on his fiddle. In actuality he was in Atium when the fire began, returning to supervise in person the work of the fire brigades, while exposing himself to danger in the endeavor. He even opened up his private gardens to shelter many of the homeless. Yet he could not shake the suspicion that continued to knock at his door. He desperately needed something to defer the attention away from his cowardly personage. The Christian community provided the perfect scapegoat.

Christians were already despised as a result of their abominations. Their withdrawal from society, exclusive behavior, failure to participate in the duties of state and their active evangelism drew the suspicion of Rome. As a result, charges of immorality were levied against them. It was believed they conducted nightly orgies, Thespian feasts, and Oedipodean incest. These are interesting accusations coming from a society that has been attributed with such rank sin itself.

It is an embarrassment to us today that many pronounced ministries have been exposed to the same judgment by a world that finds itself involved in the vilest of sin. It is even more deplorable that the accusations are in fact true. The Biblical record assures us that the Early Church was involved in much loftier activities as they met to worship the one true and holy God. Yet this did not defray the anger of Caesar nor the misunderstanding that surrounded them. Therefore Christianity became a crime as the followers of Christ were labeled enemies of the state.

Thus began the first persecution of Christians by a heathen nation. It would not be the last! Anyone who confessed to being Christian was arrested and interrogated. Many were implicated by these confessions. Those who remained faithful to the faith found themselves victims to the appetites of the wild beast in the great arenas. To the amusement of a discontent populace, myriads of Christians suffered violent ends in the hands of sadistic executioners. They were covered with the skins of animals and fed to the dogs, crucified, lit up as torches, and mocked as a result of their beliefs. Women were tied to mad bulls and dragged to death in the mad emperor's hands.

Yet it would not be long before Nero would meet his end; indicted in the hands of his contemporaries. The prophet had delivered the message. Caesar would not believe.

The fate of this wretched individual seemed to be sealed on the day of his birth. Among the congratulations of friends, his father declared that any of his seed could only prove to be abominable and disastrous to the good of the public. At the age of three, Nero's father had died and his inheritance robbed by Caisus. In 39 AD his mother Agrippa was banished by Caisus, on account an alleged plot against him. As a result young Nero was separated from both his natural parents at an early age to be raised by his aunt.

In 41 AD, as Claudius ascended to the seat of Caesar, Nero was restored to his vindicated mother. Yet with this reunion began the unscrupulous acts of this Jezebel who would manipulate events and incorporate the asset in her son with the express desire to rule the entire known world in her insidious hands.

Now Agrippa's uncle, the emperor, was a sucker for female charms. Quite aware of this, Agrippa seized the opportunity and captured his fancy. They were married in 49 AD and she found herself empress of the greatest empire the world had ever known. Exercising all of her cunning allowed the betrothal of Nero to Claudious' daughter Octavia, and the subsequent adoption of Nero as a son. The true heir to the throne, Britannicas was carefully kept in the background as Agrippa executed her well-devised plans. Any alleged supporter of Caesar's true son was either murdered or cast into exile. Soon Claudius was persuaded to draft a will in favor of Nero.

The stage was finally set for their ultimate rise to power. Rumors began to be developed amongst the Senate and the populace that Claudius was not favorably disposed to the exclusion of his son. Not to allow this to thwart her plans, Agrippa enticed Xenophon, his physician, to insert a feather down Claudius' throat laced with poison under the pretense of inducing a vomit. Through these precarious circumstances Nero was brought forth and proclaimed emperor in 54 AD.

At first, Nero permitted two respected advisers to direct state affairs, Seneca, a philosopher and writer, and Burrus, a military officer. The result was five years characterized by good government. In fact Nero was quite popular among the Senate and the people. Indeed he was very devoted to his mother, calling her the best of mothers.

He silences the lips of trusted advisers and takes away the discernment of elders. (Job 12:20 niv)

However, when Seneca and Burrus became aware that Agrippa intended to rule with her son, they proceeded to encourage him to pursue a relationship with a Greek freed woman, Acete, to break Agrippa's spell over him. The plan was successful as the arrogant Agrippa found herself without her chief protector, Pallas.

She retaliated by threatening to present Britanicus as the rightful heir to the throne, only to sign the young man's death warrant. While attending a banquet, Nero arranged to have Britanica's hot wine cooled with water laced with poison. It was convenient to blame the incident on the epilepsy Britanica had suffered since his youth. Defeated in that arena Agrippa took up the cause of the mistreated Octavia, which lead to the removal of her bodyguards and her expulsion from the palace.

Seneca and Burrus, according to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, perceiving the bent of his evil nature, allowed him to indulge in low pleasures and excesses with the most profligate companions, thinking, perhaps, either that the young ruler would in this way prove less harmful to the public, or that, after sowing his wild oats, he would return to the serious business of government. However in both ways they were sorely disappointed, for Nero, having surrendered himself to the basest of appetites, continued to go from excess to excess. He surrounded himself with the most dissolute of companions, conspicuous among whom were Salvius Otho and Claudius Seneco.

Those in the Church today who desire to adopt policies of tolerance and leniency towards sinful behavior should closely observe the resulting events in Nero's life.

Otho's wife Poppanea Sabina unprincipled, and endowed with every gift of nature except an honorable mind sought the king's attention in accordance with her consuming lust for power. It was through her husband that she gained Nero's admiring eye, enabling her to influence him to disregard any restraint, ignore the council of his advisors, and dig a hole of immorality and crime he would never climb out of. At her wishes, Nero sent Otho to a distant province while he proceeded to have an affair with his wife.

Not to allow the possibility of any competition, Sabina plotted the death of Nero's mother as well. Upon Nero's orders the Admiral, Anicetus constructed a seagoing vessel that would sink on command. Nero persuaded his mother to travel on it, whereupon it was sent to the bottom of the Mediterranean. Agrippa survived the accident by swimming ashore, but was soon found dead in the clutches of her murderers.

Nero divorced Octavia who was falsely accused of committing adultery. Banished to the island of Pandateria, she too fell into the sadistic hands of the possessive and vindictive Sabina. The innocent Octavia was executed in 62 AD, and her head was delivered to the vile concubine. Yet fate had its ultimate reward upon this loathsome beast. Indeed, Sabina married and became empress, but only for a brief time. God brought justice to this unrighteous tramp as she died in childbirth as a result of a swift kick in the stomach administered by the one she fought so hard to possess, Nero. Sin indeed carries with it its own reward.

To support his extravagances though, Nero had squandered the vast treasury his predecessor had accumulated. Therefore he began to plunder the provinces that had once enjoyed sound Roman government. Yet this did not prevent the financial crisis that eventually lead to the bankruptcy of Rome and collapse of this mighty empire.

Tax the Rich

Gibbons wrote in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Agriculture is the foundation of manufactures; since the productions of nature are the materials of art. Under the Roman empire, the labour of an industrious and ingenious people was variously, but incessantly employed, in the service of the rich. In their dress, their table, their houses, and their furniture, the favourites of fortune united every refinement of conveniency, of elegance, and of splendour, whatever could soothe their pride or gratify their sensuality. Such refinements, under the odious name of luxury, have been severely arraigned by the moralists of every age; and it might perhaps be more conducive to the virtue, as well as happiness, of mankind, if all possessed the necessities, and none of the superfluities, of life. But in the present imperfect condition of society, luxury, though it may proceed from vice or folly, seems to be the only means that can correct the unequal distribution of property. The diligent mechanic, and the skilful artist, who have obtained no share in the division of the earth, receive a voluntary tax from the possessors of land; and the latter are prompted, by a sense of interest, to improve those estates, with whose produce they may purchase additional pleasures. This operation, the particular effects of which are felt in every society, acted with much more diffusive energy in the Roman world. The provinces would soon have been exhausted of their wealth, if the manufactures and commerce of luxury had not insensibly restored to the industrious subjects the sums which were exacted from them by the arms and authority of Rome.

Taxation is never a solution to resolve the problems created by overspending. In this case the policy we now are adhering to in modern society spelled financial disaster for this ancient culture; to the extent of absolute elimination of that particular civilization altogether. It took some time, as we will discuss later.

For now suffice it to say that if history is any indication, then America was establishing a very dangerous financial precedence in the 90's. It is interesting that Rome eventually had to devaluate gold and silver in the later empire. To consider the value of our current dollar bill that can no longer be redeemed for silver as the now extinct Silver Certificate, one has to wonder how far The United States of America is off the course of its ancient example, Rome.

President Clinton got himself elected promising he would tax the United States out of dept. The only way that he could propose this successfully was to assure the bulk of America that the money would not be coming out of their pockets. He said he would get his money from the rich. He was a modern Robin Hood, a champion of the common man. What better solution could we have other than to rob from the rich to give to the poor! The wealthy have plenty of money. It is time for them to carry the load.

I think the American people want action, assured Senate Majority Leader, George Mitchell in asserting that the Senate supported the President's plan. I think the American people want change. And this Senate has taken a step toward giving it to them.

House Budget Committee Chairman Martin Sabo declared, They elected a new president with a new vision for the future. . .Today's the time for us to deliver.

You will also leave that place with your hands on your head, for the LORD has rejected those you trust; you will not be helped by them. (Jeremiah 2:37 niv)

What were these trusted people to deliver? . . .One of the biggest tax increases in history. It was an increase that the Senate GOP leader characterized as the largest tax increase in the history of the world. This increase would focus its attention on the large corporations and the wealthy.

All of this was to be done in the name of reducing the National Dept. When President Clinton was asked why Americans would be happy to pay higher taxes he responded, I think the American people want us finally to step up to the bar and reduce the national deficit and get it down to zero and get some economic growth going. . .We're finally beginning to face our problems in a mature fashion, and I'm encouraged.

This mature solution of taxing our way out of debt was the Roman solution. It failed in Rome, it will suffer a similar fate in America as well.

In spite of the consistent historical record that testifies that an economic plan such as this would surely fail, the nation's legislators began to deliberate the merits of the proposed solution. In the midst of the intense debate, the president took his case to the people. It's been at least 30 years since the president has asked Americans to take personal responsibility for our country's future, he insisted. No more something for nothing. We're all in this together. . .We're on the verge of breaking out of the old false choice between tax-and-spend and trickle down, between abandonment and entitlement. The president was proposing something new. It was a measure that he contended was fair and did a responsible job of reducing the deficit. It was intended to revive the American dream by restoring the economy.

Then the president turned his attention to Congress and declared, Now there are only two choices, our plan or no plan.

So, on, May 27, 1993, the House of Representatives narrowly passed the president's budget by a tally of 219-213. Rep. Charles Schumer could only say, If we don't vote for the president, we cut him off at the knees. We can't do that. . . we must show the country we can govern.

President Clinton was in a victorious mood. He proclaimed that the House had voted no to gridlock, no to the status quo and no to the special interests who worked so very hard to frighten Americans.

This is our historic opportunity for getting our economic house in order, he later said.

The bill still had to pass through the hands of the deeply divided Senate. In fact, the budget came down to the vote of one man. Senator Bob Kerry had spent weeks pondering his decision but could not make up his mind. Then, when the tally was taken, he voted yes to President Clinton's measure stating that he could not and would not cast a vote that would bring down the administration. As it turned out, his vote made it a tie that was broken by Vice-president Al Gore.

Not a Republican in either chamber voted for the budget. Many Democrats jumped ship as well. Bob Dole noted that it was certainly not a mandate, two votes in the House and one in the Senate. . .This is a bad plan, he added. It raises taxes, and it does little to effectively reduce government spending or control the deficit.

Nonetheless, though it only passed by three votes, a budget was produced for America that carried with it the spirit of Nero. It was a measure designed to continue to support government extravagances through taxation. It was an act that had set its aim towards the wealthy, the very class of people that Rome's Nero set his sights on as a tax base to bolster his excessive spending. It was in this context that President Clinton signed the bill proclaiming, Today we come here for more than a bill signing, we come here to begin a new direction for our nation.

What were the specifics of this new direction? Income taxes of the wealthy would go up. High wage earners would be subject to a 2.9% payroll tax for Medicare. Those with the higher Social Security incomes would pay more. Corporate income tax would go up. Certain business deductions would be eliminated. So as not to leave the middle class feeling left out, a 4.3 cent per gallon tax on gasoline would be levied. More and more money was to be procured to feed the gigantic governmental machine that had purposed itself to spend -- spend -- and spend again.

In the 1990 Budget act, the government had once before adopted the liberal agenda and raised taxes under the same premise as incorporated by President Clinton. It was a dogma that insisted that one could lower the deficit by taxing the rich. What was the result? The deficit ballooned!

In the spirit of Nero, the liberal Democrats had determined in their agenda to punish those who had profited under the Republican dynasty started by President Reagan the decade before. They claimed that 12 years of Republican administrations featuring tax cuts for the rich had left America with a terrible dept.

The truth was that the Reagan tax cuts were for everyone, and everyone benefited. All income groups saw their incomes rise from 1980-1989. Economist Alan Reynolds pointed out, The mean average of real income rose by 15.2% from 1980 to 1989. . . compared with a 0.8% decline from 1970 to 1980. Yes, the middle class shrunk, but it was because people had gotten rich.

As far as the affluent were concerned, the much-maligned top 1 percent of earners increased their share of the total tax burden dramatically during the 80's. In 1981, the top 1 percent paid 18.2 percent of federal taxes. By 1988, the top 1 percent was paying 28 percent of total taxes. This was in spite of the fact that they were allotted tax breaks! Figure it out for yourself. The answer becomes obvious.

Just as the supply-side economists predicted, cutting tax rates actually increased the flow of revenues into the national coffers. Between 1981 and 1987, federal revenues increased by 42%. Unfortunately, governmental spending increased by 50% during the same period. Thus you have the cause of the deficit and the source of America's economic woes wrapped up in the policy of governmental greed.

On April 1994, Washington announced that, barring any changes, the baby boom generation would completely exhaust Social Security's retirement trust fund by 2036. The annual study also warned that Social Security's disability trust fund could be thoroughly broke by 1995. Together, Medicare and Social Security accounted for more than one-fourth of the federal budget, pumping in $1 billion a day into the U. S. economy.

On March 23, 1994, the Associated Press announced that the Senate Finance Committee had voted to update and simplify a widely ignored law that required individuals to pay Social Security taxes for people they have working in their homes. It was noticed that three quarters of people who had this help neglected to pay the taxes.

Do, you have a housekeeper? Pay the tax. Is your gardener or baby sitter over 18? Cough it up. Uncle Sam needs your support. The government has resolved itself to squeeze every dime it can out of ever sector of the populace it can find the cash.

This is Nero's agenda, folks. It is the doctrine of big government. It is the program of the one who would have people working for the government rather than government working for them. It is the notion of the taskmaster who would become a dictator over the people.

Now what happens in an environment when government has decided to take its wrath out on the wealthy? The Rome of Nero could explain it to us quite well.

The Coward’s End

In spite of his constant persecution of the church in Rome, Nero was not able to quell opposition among his own countrymen concerning his regime. Reacting to his unfair confiscation of their property, a group of nobles attempted to rebel against this tax on the wealthy. The plot was betrayed, resulting in an inquisition that culminated in the death of Rome's most illustrious men. Nero also executed many Roman senators because they questioned his actions.

While Nero spent two years in Greece to participate in musical contests and games, a revolt was conspired against him that he could have easily suppressed had he not been the coward that he was. In self-pity he fled to the Servilian gardens, where he had once displayed his glory before the martyrs of Christ, to lament over his state. Convinced that suicide was his only solution, he searched for assistance in that regard, but could not even find someone to help him. In his anguish he cried, What an artist I am to perish!

But learning he had been condemned to a cruel fate by a decree of the Senate, he committed suicide with the help of his secretary, Epharoditus. So on July 9, 68 AD the world had rid itself of this maniac as he fell into a fate dictated by his own hands, and the judgment of a righteous God -- the One who communicated the message of salvation to Nero through God's servant Paul.

Nero was an incredulous individual with an eye for women carrying that nameless vice of antiquity-love of a male favorite. There was no sin that this man of effeminate tastes overlooked. However God still saw fit to reach out to him through this man, Paul who was so compelled to appear before Caesar that he jeopardized his freedom to do so. (Acts 28:16)

As it turned out, this incidental meeting between the Ruler of the known world and a Hellenistic Jew from Tarsus became a turning point for an entire Civilization. When Nero rejected the message, the fate of Rome was sealed in the subsequent deaths of God's saints. Insanity was the price paid for his unbelief as Nero proceeded to murder those who carried the message that haunted him in his state of un-repented sin. As we will discover, Rome was never the same after the series of events that surrounded the birth of Christ and the message preached by the Apostle Paul. In the same way we will see how this same message is being revealed to America today. Indeed, our fate as well hinges on the balance.

Look, here comes a man in a chariot with a team of horses. And he gives back the answer: 'Babylon has fallen, has fallen! All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground!' (Isaiah 21:9 niv)

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Chapter Two: The Beast

The Two Kingdoms

Rome continued in the same pattern of decadence as established by this tyrant, Nero, who had rejected the word of God as conveyed to him by God's prophet, the Apostle Paul. As they pursued their own version of the American Dream Romans found themselves consumed in their own wealth and greed.

Before the reign of Nero, Julius Caesar and Caesar Augustus built the Roman Empire and the government that ruled it. Julius Caesar founded the empire and Augustus established the rule of the principate. This ruler was to become the god of the Romans who had little regard for this carpenter's son whom many converted Jews and gentiles were proclaiming was the Son of God and Savior of the world.

Just before the birth of Christ, Romans got a taste of what it is like to worship a man. Julius Caesar set himself up to be a god becoming the chief (princeps) of the Senate. He was recognized officially as a demigod, and temples were dedicated to his clemency. He also made himself the high priest of the Roman official religion (Pontifex Maximus) so that he could manipulate the will of the gods for his people. He was eventually murdered though, throwing the empire into division and civil war.

Out of this anarchy rose the person of Caesar Augustus. He became the official founder of the Roman Empire on January 16, 27 BC. Civil strife had exhausted the Republic that couldn't seem to make up its mind and act upon national emergencies. Supreme power was the only solution for the crisis, and Augustus was glad to rise to the occasion. He established a hereditary rule that lasted until Nero himself.

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Cyria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and the line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:1-11 niv)

It is not a coincidence that during the very reign of the first monarch over the Roman Empire that the King of Kings was born. It was by design that God sent a heavenly solution to a Roman world that was looking for hope for the future. It is for us today to learn from the example of those who look to man rather than God. Rome sought for answers in the power of the principate. The answer though, lay at that very moment wrapped in linen in a manger far off in a distant corner of the empire. He was just a baby who was placed under the authority of the potentate of the greatest kingdom known to mankind. He was the Christ, the Son of God.

Indeed, two kingdoms were born at the very same moment of history -- the Kingdom of Rome and the Kingdom of Christ. For centuries to come, they would contend against each other for the hearts of the people. But Rome hailed their Caesar who had more power and supremacy than any living man had yet attained in the history of the world.

When he called for a census, everybody obeyed and went to their home city. But the very act of Augustus' will demonstrates that he was a mere pawn in a vast plan staged by God. For by his command, the monarch only fulfilled what had been prophesied centuries before by the Jewish Prophet, Micah. For it was the Lord who declared, But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me the One who will be the ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. (Micah 5:2 niv)

This fact demonstrates the extent that the Roman citizenry erred in looking to man rather than God. They rushed enthusiastically to the promises and proposals of someone who could do no more than exist as the instrument of God's hand. In all his power and glory, what Caesar Augustus accomplished was to assure that Jesus would be born right were God had willed it to be done. Caesar was in the hands of a small child. Who is the greater of the two?

Tiberius (14-37) was the emperor who reigned at the time of the death of Jesus. "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put and end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophesy and to anoint the most holy.

Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing." (Dan 9:25-26b niv)

The last two years of Tiberius' rule were marked by absolute tyranny. In the mist of these events, the One who the Jews had called their King died on a Roman cross, hanging between two common criminals. It seemed that it was just a blip on the map in a remote province when seen in the light of the Caesar who ruled the world. But it was the power contained in the life and death of this one Man that would eventually bring the whole kingdom of Rome to its knees.

The fact is that Biblical scholars have discovered that the sevens that Daniel was talking about can be understood in accordance with the ancient calendar. Chuck Smith wrote of this detailed account of the arrival of the Messiah, "One of the most astounding of all Bible prophecies is found in the Book of Daniel, Chapter 9. When the angel told Daniel that from the time the commandment would go forth to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of the Messiah the Prince would be 69 sevens (7-year periods) or 483 years. The Babylonian calendar was predicated on a 360-day year. So, that would equal 173,880 days (483 years X 360 days = 173,880 days).

Now history tells us that on March 14, 445, B.C., Artaxerxes gave the commandment to Nehemiah to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. Exactly 173,880 days later, Jesus on April 6, 32 A.D., made His triumphant entry into the city of Jerusalem. It was exactly the sixty-nine sevens or 483 years just as Daniel prophesied. The King of Glory's death was prophesied to the very year centuries before it even happened.

The Romans could not see the truth of Scripture though it was starring at them straight in the face! So, rather than believing on the King of Glory, they inherited the likes of the emperors to guide and direct them. Gaius (37-41 AD), in his insolence, commanded that his own statue be set in the temple of the Jews who he persecuted. His reign was accompanied with incest, assassinations, and assorted cruelties. Claudius (41-54) treated the Jews harshly and banished them from Rome. The persecution of God's chosen had begun.

The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolation's have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven,' but in the middle of that 'seven' he will put and end to sacrifice and offering. And one who causes desolation will place abominations on a wing of the temple until the end that is decreed is poured out on him. (Dan 9:26b-27 niv)

There is yet one last seven in Daniel's prophecy yet unfulfilled. It is the era of the Antichrist. It is the time when this abominable tyrant will declare war on the Jewish nation.

So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation, ‘spoken of through the prophet Daniel - let the reader understand - then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in the winter or on the Sabbath.(Matt 24:15-20 niv) The history of Rome illustrates for all posterity what it will be like for God's people in those days when the unholy and sinful one will rule the earth.

"For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now -- and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There He is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect -- if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time.

So if anyone tells you, 'There He is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here He is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. For as the lightening comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. (Matt 24:21-28 niv)

It was Nero who began the first persecution of Christians. He commenced the principal of punishing Christians, and this became a precedent for future rulers. So we see within the events that surrounded this mighty empire, the cry of the martyrs exclaiming, How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until You judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood? Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed. (Rev 6:10b-11 niv) Yes, many would end out giving their lives for the sake of the faith before the ordeal of Rome was over.

Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and them the end will come. (Matt 24:9-14 niv)

The Antichrist

A lot of suspicion arose amongst the Romans concerning the beastly life, confusion in their world, and strange death of Nero. In fact, there arose a belief that he had not died but was living amongst the Parthians.

Turmoil followed his death. Nero's despotic reign certainly made it evident to them that the succession of rulers should not be determined by heredity. So it was discovered that emperors could be nominated by the armies who contended for mastery of the empire. As a result, after the death of Nero, in 68 AD, bloody civil war was so profound that the empire in one year that saw four emperors ascend to the throne.

Greece and Asia were disturbed by a report of the resurrection of Nero, which was termed, Nero Revivivus. Even the famous Roman Christian theologian Saint Augustine mentioned Nero coming back from the grave in his City of God. They were reacting to the words recorded in the fourth century, Belial shall appear in the shape of a man, the king of wickedness, the matricide, which specifically were intended to identify Nero with the Antichrist. They were afraid that Nero was Satan himself. They had good reason for this fear. In the Hebrew language, numbers had names that were associated with them. The Hebrew letters of 666 found in Revelation 13:18 is the numerical equivalent of Neron Kesar (Nero Caesar). So, they were concerned that the mark of the beast was the name of Nero himself.

They had read about the woman Babylon, The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits (Rev 17:9b), to realize that ancient Rome was built on seven hills. They read: Then the angel carried me away in the spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The Woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filed with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. This title was written on her forehead:

MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT

THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES

AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony of Jesus. (Rev 17:3-6 niv)

The number ten was the number of worldly power (i.e. the beast with the ten horns and ten toes in the Book of Daniel 2). They began to associate scarlet-colored beast with Roman government in general, and Nero in particular.

The Jews believed that Nero would re-emerge as the Antichrist himself. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with then crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast, and they also worshipped the beast and asked, Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him? (Rev 13:1-4 niv)

As it was, Nero was not the one with the fatal head wound that would raise from the dead to become master of the world. When he died, he was never heard of again, though the likes of historical personalities such as Hitler and Stalin were truly likely candidates to fulfill the personage of this possessed man.

This is exactly the point. When interpreting Biblical prophesy, one must understand that, due to the universal nature of the truths proposed by them, they can have a multitude of fulfillment's before they find their place in final consummation. This is why Pharaoh, in the book of Exodus, suffered from plagues very similar to the ones incurred by the final kingdom in Revelation. He continued to remain steadfast in his disobedience to God by refusing to surrender to Moses' command to let the people go. By the same token, those who remained obedient and smeared the blood the lamb (Christ) in the shape of a cross around their doors escaped the wrath.

The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. (Ex 12:13 niv)

The Bible instructs us, Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. (I John 2:18 niv) With that, we understand that throughout history there has been a multitude of personages who were precursors of the One whose appearance will usher the last days of the world. These antichrists have and, perhaps will rule over kingdoms that resemble the final kingdom of the world. Because they bear the similarity, they will likewise behave in the same manner of this final demonic kingdom, and will inherit a judgment that resembles that which we read about in the book of Revelation. As we look at Rome, we see God's universal spiritual principles of judgment in action. Likewise, when we gaze at her history, we can see the characteristics of that final kingdom that will herald the coming of Jesus by its own wickedness.

The Apocalypse was composed by the Apostle John in a province of Asia at a time when the church was threatened with persecution. This was probably accomplished during the reign of Domitian (81-96 AD). During the time there was a public enforcement of the imperial religious cult of Rome and the Emperor. The Christians could not pledge their allegiance to any other but God.

The state priesthood organized in cities was administered to cause men to fall down on their knees to worship Rome. Then I saw another beast coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he has been given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image on behalf of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all of those who refused to worship the image to be killed. He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.

This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate