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Article:
Europe's Bitter Roots by: David Ben-Ariel As prophesied, there were four Gentile superpowers: Babylon, the Medes and Persians, Greco-Macedonian, and Rome (Dan. 2:31-45). THESE are the roots Europe would do well to research! Nebuchadnezzar, the first leader in this series of human governments, had a most impressive and perplexing dream. This was no normal dream or fanciful flight of imagination - it was a prophetic message from GOD! But none of the king's priests or pagan magicians could tell him what was going on! They didn't have a clue or represent God! Since 'Neb' saw they were on the payroll for nothing, just wasting his time and taking up space, he sentenced them to death! They stood exposed as worthless charlatans, left shaking in their boots! But God saved the day and spared them all. GOD intervened for Daniel, a prisoner in the palace, and used him to clarify what the nightmare meant. This Jewish ambassador disclaimed any extraordinary credentials, but attributed His God-given understanding to Israel's God. He testified before the king and court, that the Most High God far transcends the pagan superstitions! He then proceeded to offer the inspired explanation. The king had seen this monstrous statue of a man, with different body parts composed of different materials. Daniel interpreted the 'members' as representative of successive governments. Each kingdom would have its own characteristics and reflect the disposition of their ruler. Different men are made of different mettle! Each emperor would leave his imprint on history. Just as the huge statue had two legs, coming down in time sequence to mankind's last throes of misrule, the original Roman empire was broken in two - between east and west. Power was split between Rome and Constantinople. After Rome fell (in 476), it's spirit was determined to transform itself ten times, seven under the Catholic Church's influence. The three former entities of the Germanic tribes (the Ostrogoths, Vandals, and Heruli) embodied the Roman form of government, but they were Arian kings - not Catholic or Italian (Dan. 8:24). Justinian's 'Imperial Restoration,' in AD '554
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