Daniel 7:2-8  The four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart (mind) was given to it. And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

Rev 13:1,2 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.  What would names be that would blaspheme God? And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion.

Last week I ended with:  “What if having all these characteristics in one beast is a timeline thing.  Daniel speaks about a serial, sequential progression of four kings/kingdoms.  What if they are a type of four kingdoms that are all co-existing today?  Jesus said there would be wars and rumors of wars—not just one—right before it was “watch-the-sky time.”  So who would the leopard, the bear, the eagle, and the lion be today?”

Well, I embarked on a sidebar-study to run this theory of parallel v. serial king-making to ground.  I started by researching national animals or symbols.  In Asia, the snow leopard—also known as Panthera uncia—is the national animal for Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Iran.¹

The bear, of course, is Russia (also Iceland, Greenland, and Finland…but don’t forget China’s Panda Bear).  The Lion is the national animal for Belgium, Bulgaria, Iran, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Luxemborg, Morocco, England, and Ethiopia. The eagle is the national symbol of America (also Mexico, Austria, Albania, Germany, Ghana, Armenia, Nigeria, Panama, and Egypt).

(And, yes, Iran is the Lion and the Leopard, and a few other quadruped/mammals.  And Iraq’s is the goat. Note:  this list isn’t comprehensive.  Please see  https://animalsake.com/list-of-national-animals-around-world for details.)  I was amazed—we have a lot of options.  In the traditional eschatological stance of choosing Middle Eastern countries, or countries with leaders/names that might derive from Rosh, Gog, Magog, etc.—the Bear could be Russia; the leopard could be Afghanistan; the lion could be Libya; the eagle could be Egypt.  But this parallel theory began to break down when I researched the world’s “most war-torn countries.”

Syria was first on the list with the most war casualties in 2019, then Iraq, next Afghanistan, but after that, Mexico, Somalia, and Nigeria. (Oishimaya Sen-Nag) Mexico has been decimated by drug cartels ☹, and several of the others (including Somalia, Egypt, and Libya) by civil war.  In terms of countries that had been invaded in the last twenty years (1) Yemen was invaded by Saudi Arabia, (2) Syria was invaded by ISIS, ISIL, (3) Afghanistan was invaded by Russia and the U.S., and (4) part of the Ukraine was occupied by Russia.²  But there were no instances in which one nation conquered others and put them under a regime of domination and dictatorship.  You could say that in certain circumstances, United Nations Peace Keeping forces! “dominated” multiple nations. However, they only did that to stabilize the regions—not to set up dictatorships or establish vassal states.  Regardless, I wasn’t seeing an Alexander-the-Great situation, in which a single dictator swept through 14 nations and conquered one after another.  So I began to think my theory might be on thin ice.

Then the idea came to me—what if it was not a matter of conquering via military tactics?  What if it was a matter of conquering via economic domination?

I thought about financial/stock markets and countries that might overthrow other nations economically.  But again, the tendency has been to bail out bankrupt nations, so the whole house of cards doesn’t come tumbling down.  Everything is on an international scale now, and if loans are called, a local crash will reverberate globally.

However, then I thought about the European Union (EU)—which has been considered a key piece in the eschatological puzzle since its formation.  Hypothetically, the leader of that monolithic empire, who stealthily worked through diplomacy to obliterate the democratic checks/balances (and limited terms in office), could control the member countries with the iron fist of dictatorship—just like Nebuchadnezzar, King Cyrus, Alexander the Great, and Caesar Augustus controlled nations militarily.  Could that scenario happen today?  Not on March 12th 2020.  But if, God forbid, there was a global disaster that drove us to marshal law, I believe so.

Here are some EU descriptions from a Brexit documentary (UK’s vantage point):  “power without accountability,” “anti-democratic,” “Fortress Europe is bringing up the drawbridge,” “We are being asked to give up the right to govern ourselves,” “In return for democracy, we’ve been promised prosperity and security,” “There are four presidents…pooled sovereignty…one side is a priesthood,” “a massive transfer of power takes place,” “devised to make sure that the great mass of people could not control government ever again,” “unelected European Commissioners pass all the laws…debate in private.”³

Wiki: The official title President of the European Union (or President of Europe) does not exist, but there are a number of presidents of European Union institutions, including:

the President of the European Council (since 1 December 2019, Charles Michel) Belgian

the President of the European Commission (since 1 December 2019, Ursula von der Leyen) German

the President of the European Parliament (since 3 July 2019, David Sassoli) Italian

The president of the European Commission is the most powerful position in the European Union, controlling the Commission which collectively has the right of initiative on Union legislation (only on matters delegated to it by member states for collective action, as determined by the treaties) and is responsible for ensuring its enforcement. The president controls the policy agenda of the Commission for their term and in practice no policy can be proposed without the president’s agreement.⁴

Now that whole organization sounds like a beast to me. 😊  But the EU could just be the proof of concept.  It demonstrates how a charismatic leader could control a block of nations and get them to wreak all sorts of end time havoc.  And what’s to prevent similar organizations from forming up in a time of global crisis—or galvanizing their members to become formidable forces.  The Union of South American Nations has struggled with leadership and maturation issues. But what if a strong leader emerged?  And if the Shiite and Sunni Muslims ever stop killing each other, the Arab League would become an indomitable force.  Jesus’ prophecy of Luke 21:20 would be fulfilled with Jerusalem surrounded on all four sides by its enemies.  As bleak as that scenario sounds, we can’t lose sight of the end game seven verses later. Luke 21:27-28 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to happen, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Again, no matter how scary the situation may look, He’s got it!

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¹ Trip Trivia Website:   /5-national-animals-from-countries-around-the-globe/XphLiNfEsAAGy_H5

²Wiki Webite: /wiki/List_of_invasions

³ Youtube Website:  /watch?v=ltAtUTlm29w

⁴Wiki Website: /wiki/President_of_the_European_Union