Welcome back fellow eschatologists! For the next two posts, we’re going to study something I refer to as the “Greek Connection.” This is truly one of those hidden mysteries that God wants the people living in the end times to know about and understand. In these two posts, we’re going to solve the riddle about the identity of the beast in Revelation 17:7–8: “The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition … the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.” Also, we’re going to see how the prophet Daniel placed the ancient Grecian Empire back to back with the end time kingdom of Antichrist. Are you ready? Then let’s get into this!

THE GREEK CONNECTION

First in a Two-Part Series
By Karen Thompson

THE GREEK CONNECTION

Now let’s go back and reexamine the riddle about the beast: “The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition … the beast that was, and is not, and yet is” (vv. 7–8). It’s time to answer the question about which of the five empires the beast was in power and active before he was locked up in the bottomless pit. I already previously identified it to be the Grecian Empire. The following is the scriptural basis for that conclusion. Knowing this information will answer a lot of questions and shed light on areas that have been in the dark.

It’s already established that the beast is the fallen angel Apollyon, who is part of the unseen realm. Now it’s time to discover who he used to be, before he was locked up in the bottomless pit. The beast’s existence is divided up into three phases: 1) the beast that was, 2) and is not, 3) and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit. Written from the apostle John’s perspective, we know the beast “that was” means the beast was in power before John’s time, before the time of the Roman Empire. That means Apollyon was active and in power during one of the five empires before the Roman Empire. Again, the empires that ruled over Israel before the Roman Empire were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo/Persia, and Greece. So which empire is it? The biblical evidence overwhelmingly points to the Grecian Empire. The beast that was thrown into the bottomless pit, in fact, is the prince of Grecia that we read about in the book of Daniel (Dan. 10:20). And it’s not merely incidental that Revelation chapter nine gives us the beast’s name in both Hebrew and Greek: “whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon” (Rev. 9:11).

Regarding the Grecian Empire, there is a phenomenon that occurs in prophetic scripture that I call “the Greek connection.” In end time prophecy, certain prophets placed the Grecian Empire of Alexander the Great back to back with the end time empire of Antichrist. In fact, the prophet Daniel placed Alexander’s Grecian Empire back to back with the kingdom of Antichrist three different times. The prophet Zechariah also placed Alexander’s Grecian Empire back to back with the kingdom of Antichrist. Understanding why Daniel and Zechariah placed the Grecian Empire back to back with the kingdom of Antichrist reveals a hidden mystery!

The Vision of the Four Beasts

The first time you see the Grecian Empire placed back to back with the kingdom of Antichrist is in the book of Daniel chapter seven. This chapter contains the vision of the four beasts which is a prophecy about four Gentile empires that would rise up to subjugate Israel.

In the vision, Daniel saw four beasts come up out of the sea in succession. First, he saw a beast like a lion that had eagle’s wings, which symbolized the Babylonian Empire. The second beast looked like a bear which symbolized the Medo/Persian Empire. The third beast looked like a leopard with four wings on its back and four heads. This beast represented the Grecian Empire of Alexander the Great, and the four heads represent his four generals. Alexander’s empire stretched across the entire Middle East. After Alexander died, four of his generals divided up his empire among themselves.

The fourth beast is the end time kingdom of Antichrist. Daniel didn’t compare it to any known animal. He emphasized its action saying it was powerful and dreadful, exceedingly strong with great iron teeth and brass claws. It crushed and trampled its prey with its feet and then devoured it. It was different than the beasts that came before it. It had ten horns which symbolized ten kings. It is the end time ten-toed kingdom we see in the vision of the metal man in Daniel chapter two.

As Daniel was looking at the ten horns, he saw another horn come up after the ten horns. In verse eight, he described it as a “little horn.” Also a king, the little horn came up under three of the ten horns, uprooting them in the process. This action symbolizes that he would conquer three nations. Daniel said this little horn had the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke great things, or blasphemous things. This little horn is the end time Antichrist.

In this vision of the four beasts, Daniel placed the Middle Eastern Grecian Empire represented by the leopard back to back with the end time kingdom of Antichrist represented by the beast with iron teeth, brass claws, and 10 horns. When first studying this vision, you can’t help but wonder, Why doesn’t the Roman Empire follow the Grecian Empire? After all, that’s the way history unfolded. Why was it left out of this vision? It seems confusing, but when you understand the spiritual significance as to why these two kingdoms are placed back to back, the mystery is solved and the confusion leaves.

The Vision of Ram and the Goat

The second time Daniel placed the Grecian Empire back to back with the kingdom of Antichrist is in the vision of the ram and goat in Daniel chapter eight. In a vision, Daniel saw a ram with two great horns standing by a river. The ram with the two horns symbolized the Medo/Persian Empire. Daniel then saw coming from the west a goat with one great horn. The goat symbolized Greece, and the great horn on the goat symbolized the first king of the Grecian Empire which was Alexander the Great. The goat charged the ram and broke off the horns of the ram; this action symbolized Alexander the Great defeating Darius, the Medo/Persian king. After the goat defeated the ram, his own great horn broke off, which meant Alexander himself died soon after he conquered the Middle East. In place of the one great horn grew four notable horns. The four notable horns symbolize Alexander’s generals. As already stated, they divided up Alexander’s kingdom among them after his death.

Here is where the end time kingdom of Antichrist comes in. Verse nine says, “And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.” “Out of one of them,” which means out of one of the four Grecian generals will come the little horn. More specifically, this means that the future end time Antichrist will come from a kingdom that was under control of one of these four Grecian generals.

It goes on to say the little horn will wax great, meaning he would increase the size of his empire through conquest, toward the south, the east, and the pleasant land. This is in agreement with the vision of the four beasts when Daniel saw the little horn uproot three of the ten horns: one will be to the south of him, another will be to the east of him, and one will be the pleasant land, which is Israel. Daniel described this little horn as having proud, boastful, and blasphemous qualities.

Then in verses 23–24, the angel said, “…in the latter time of their kingdom … a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.” These verses tell us that in the latter time, the end times, the little horn known as Antichrist will come out of one of these four Grecian kingdoms. All four kingdoms were ruled by Greek generals, and all of them were located in the present-day Middle East. This little horn will rise from one of these Grecian kingdoms in the “latter time of their kingdom.” So now we have two instances where Daniel placed the ancient Grecian Empire of Alexander back to back with the end time kingdom of Antichrist.

The War Between the Kings of the North and South

The third and last time Daniel placed the Grecian Empire back to back with the end time kingdom of Antichrist is in Daniel chapter 11. In the previous vision of the ram and goat, we were told the little horn would come from the kingdom of one of Alexander’s four generals. In this vision in chapter 11, we are told from which of the four kingdoms the little horn will come.

The chapter begins with a brief prophetic word of how Alexander would defeat the Medo/Persian Empire and how Alexander’s four Grecian generals would divide his empire among them. Then in verse five, the prophetic word tells us how the generals immediately began to battle each another to acquire the others’ portion. Two of the generals fell quickly. That left two generals to rule over all of Alexander’s empire: General Ptolemy in the south and General Seleucus in the north. General Ptolemy ruled the southern portion of Alexander’s empire, which was primarily Egypt and in the beginning, Israel. And General Seleucus ruled the northern portion of Alexander’s empire, which was the southern portion of modern-day Turkey, all of Syria, the western portion of modern-day Iraq, and then later, Israel.¹ Their kingdoms increased or decreased in size depending on the outcome of their various wars.

These two Grecian generals, Seleucus and Ptolemy, were constantly at war with each other, trying to acquire each other’s portion of Alexander’s empire. Long after they died, their descendants carried on this war. In Daniel 11:5, we begin to read the account of the wars between the Grecian Seleucid Empire against the Grecian Ptolemaic Empire, the kings of the north and south. Daniel prophesied specific details about the back-and-forth battles between these two empires. The account of the Seleucid kings started with General Seleucus I Nicator, the king of the north. Succeeding him were Antiochus I Soter, Antiochus II Theos, Seleucus II Callinicus, Seleucus III Ceraunus, Antiochus III the Great, Seleucus IV Philopator, and lastly, Antiochus IV Epiphanes.² What is interesting is that there were several more kings that ruled the Seleucid Empire after Antiochus IV Epiphanes, but Daniel only prophesied the events of the Seleucid Empire up to Antiochus Epiphanes. And there’s a reason for that.

The list of the back-and-forth wars between the kings of the north and the south is only important because it leads us to the very last prophesied king of the Seleucid Empire—Antiochus Epiphanes. The reign of Antiochus Epiphanes is prophesied in verses 21–31. A much greater emphasis is placed on Antiochus Epiphanes than on any of the other kings. His actions toward the Jewish people made him a wicked king. In fact, the first verse that introduced him starts out by saying he was a vile person. Then verses 32–35 talk about the Jewish people and the persecution they experienced. Then all of a sudden in verse 36, the subject changes to the future end time Antichrist. The rest of chapter 11 is a prophetic word about him.

What is unusual about this portion of scripture is how it was written. The subject change from Antiochus to Antichrist is not immediately clear. In fact, it’s written in a way that makes you think you’re still reading about Antiochus Epiphanes when you’re actually reading about the little horn, the future end time Antichrist. Antiochus Epiphanes and Antichrist are mirror images of each other, persecuting the Jewish people.

This oddly written portion of scripture fills in the blank that was created by the vision of the ram and the goat, in which it was prophesied that Antichrist would come from the area of one of Alexander’s four generals in the latter days. It is Daniel chapter 11 that tells us the future end time Antichrist will come from the area that was once ruled by the Grecian Seleucid Empire.

Do we know what is the modern-day nation of the Seleucid Empire? In all the years of the Seleucid Empire, its borders waxed and waned with regard to the outcome of its battles. But throughout its history, the whole of Syria was always the heart of the empire. Ancient as well as modern historians refer to the Seleucid Empire as Syria. Most assuredly, the little horn will come from Syria. In any event, we again see for the third time that Daniel placed the Grecian Seleucid Empire back to back with the end time kingdom of Antichrist.

Deposing the Prince of Persia to Make Way for the Prince of Greece

Also, we must include the experience Daniel had when he was waiting on God for an answer to his prayers. In Daniel chapter nine, we read about the archangels Gabriel and Michael in a battle to depose the demonic principality in the unseen realm referred to as the “prince of Persia.” What is key in this scenario is that we get a glimpse of the ruling principality known as the “prince of Greece.” Adding up everything we know about the beast in Revelation, we can ascertain that this “prince of Greece” is the fallen angel called Apollyon that has been locked up in the bottomless pit.

Daniel had been praying for three weeks when the angel Gabriel appeared before him (Dan. 9). He told Daniel that as soon as he began to pray, he was dispatched to deliver the answer to him, but he was delayed in getting there by the “prince of the kingdom of Persia.” As already noted, this was not the earthly king of Persia. It was the demonic principality that ruled over Persia in the unseen realm, and he was blocking Gabriel’s access to Daniel. Michael came to Gabriel’s assistance to help him get past the prince of Persia.

From this passage in Daniel, we get a snapshot of how the kingdom of man is ruled through a double-kingdom system, between the seen and unseen realms. Through the exchange between Gabriel and Daniel, we get a glimpse of how what was happening in the unseen realm had a direct effect on the seen realm.

After Gabriel gave Daniel the message from the Lord, he then said, “And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come” (Dan. 10:20 NKJV). What does it mean that the prince of Greece would come? When Gabriel left Daniel, he went back to assist Michael in the battle against the prince of the kingdom of Persia. This battle was for the purpose of deposing this prince of the kingdom of Persia in order to bring forth the prince of Grecia. The prince of Grecia would take control of the territory that was under the control of the prince of Persia in the unseen realm. What would be the result of this change in the unseen realm? This change of principalities in the unseen realm prepared the way for the change of power in the seen realm of the earthly kingdoms. This change of power in the unseen heavenly realm was necessary so that Alexander the Great would have success over Darius, the earthly king over Persia. This prince of Grecia in the unseen realm would be the entity that would influence Antiochus Epiphanes to commit atrocities against the Jewish people.

Why is all of this significant? It is significant because it tells us that when Antichrist rises up from the nation where the ancient Grecian Seleucid Empire was once located, he will be influenced by the angel from the bottomless pit with the Greek name of Apollyon. Without a doubt, the prince of Grecia principality that influenced Antiochus Epiphanes will be the very same principality that will influence Antichrist. The behavior of Antichrist toward the Jewish people will mirror the behavior of Antiochus Epiphanies. Are you starting to see the Greek connection in all these passages?

In the next post, we’re going to look at the prophet Zechariah’s prophecy to see how he placed the ancient Grecian Empire back to back with the end time kingdom of Antichrist. You won’t want to miss it!

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