Jovial (27 Feb 2013)
"Will the False Messiah MOVE his capital from Europe to elsewhere, like BABYLON?"


I explained at http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/feb2013/jovial226-1.htm why most people have concluded the false messiah will rise out of Rome, and why I thought Brussels could be another good candidate as the capital city.  I also explained at http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/feb2013/jovial27.htm why a European base helps to make a lot of sense out of Daniel 8:9, which says he will waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the TsaVI (צבי) [translated “pleasant land” in KJV].”

Some people are of the conclusion that he will, at some point, move the capital to Babylon or somewhere in the middle east.  That could indeed happen without violating anything I see in Scripture after he rises to power, although I have a hard time concluding he will rise from anyplace other than some part of the ancient Roman Empire.

One reason for this is what it says in Daniel 11:44-45

מד  וּשְׁמֻעוֹת יְבַהֲלֻהוּ, מִמִּזְרָח וּמִצָּפוֹן; וְיָצָא בְּחֵמָא גְדֹלָה, לְהַשְׁמִיד וּלְהַחֲרִים רַבִּים.

44 But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall affright him; and he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to take away many.

מה  וְיִטַּע אָהֳלֵי אַפַּדְנוֹ, בֵּין יַמִּים לְהַר-צְבִי-קֹדֶשׁ; וּבָא, עַד-קִצּוֹ, וְאֵין עוֹזֵר, לוֹ.

45 And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the beauteous holy mountain; and he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

The "Holy Mountain" would be in Jerusalem.  It does not say which "seas", but it is plural, so this could be describing a triangulated region.  So is this....

  • Between the Mediteranean and the Caspian Sea and Jerusalem?  This would be somewhere in the region of Turkey, Syria, or northern Iraq/Iran.
  • Between the Caspian Sea and Persian Gulf and Jerusalem?  This would include Easter Iran, all of Iraq and Syria (includnig Babylon), and other places.

So this COULD refer to Babylon, if we go with the second interpretation.  However, if we read both verses together, and not just 11:45, it sounds like he is not moving the permanent seat of government, but moving his residence there to be closer to the battlefield and get intelligence reports more quickly.