The Kings of the East
Focus
on Jerusalem is always striving to present new and enlightening prophecy–related
material to its readers. The FOJ Library has been built to house numerous
articles by various authors that I think have been inspired by the Holy Spirit.
One of the foremost prophecy thinkers of our day is Chuck Missler of Koinoia
House Ministry. His dissertation on the Kings of the East is timely reading.
(03-09-06)
The
Kings of the East
by Chuck Missler
The
original birth of civilization began in the Middle East and migrated westward -
to Greece, to Rome, and then to the nations of northern Europe. And, as Henry
Luce so aptly quipped in 1941, ''The twentieth century was the American
Century.'' Indeed it was. But the centroid of power continues to migrate
westward: it is widely anticipated that the 21st century will be the ''Asian
Century.''
Within the next few decades, virtually 50% of the gross domestic
product of the entire Planet Earth will be produced between China and India.
China is rapidly becoming the primary manufacturing giant, and India,
surprisingly, is becoming a dominant factor in services and advanced
technologies.
The Bible also indicates that a major power will enter the famed
Battle of Armageddon from the east:
And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river
Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the
east might be prepared.
Revelation 16:12
Isaiah also seems to refer to the same:
Behold, these shall come from far:
and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these [from the east] from
the land of Sinim.
- Isaiah 49:12
The label Sinim derives from Ch’in, the
feudal state in China, (897-221 B.C.), which unified China in the 3rd century
B.C., and built the Great Wall. Sinology is the study of
the Chinese culture, history, language(s), and traditions. Their story begins
long before Confucius, Buddha, or Lao-tze (the founder of Taoism). We need to go
back an additional 2,000 years, to the dispersion of all the people from the
Tower of Babel. The Sinites traveled eastward and, geographically isolated by
the subsequent mountain ranges and vast deserts, they developed their own
characteristic culture, undisturbed for several millennia. Yet they retained
some of the original influences from their former homeland, including the
seven-day week, which they still use. They initially retained an accurate
knowledge of historical events from the very beginning of time, since the period
spanned was only three patriarchal lifetimes: Adam to Methuselah to Shem.
The origin of their pictographic language system is believed to
have been initiated in about 2500 B.C. During the Ch’in dynasty, the first
governmental standardization of characters (some 3,000) was instituted and have
to a large degree remained the standard to this present day. The early events of
Genesis seem to be reflected in many of their pictographs, and their earliest
form of worship was monotheistic!
One of the most venerated manuscripts of ancient China is the
Shu Ching (Shoo King), the
Book of History.
Its contents date back nearly to the time of Noah and consist of a number of
records of the first three dynasties, Hsia, Shang, and Chou, and several of
their predecessors, embracing the period from the middle of the 24th century
B.C. to 721 B.C.
It contains the foundation of their political system, their
history, religious rites, and the basis of their tactics, music and astronomy.
The Shu Ching records that Emperor Shun, in 2230 B.C., sacrificed to
ShangTi, which has been identified as the same Supreme Being
of the Genesis record.
It was the reign of Ch’in Shih Huang-Ti that established the
Chinese empire and redirected its religious course. The name ''China'' is
derived from his dynastic appellation. Ascending the throne at the age of 13
in 246 B.C., within 25 years he had conquered all of China’s separate warring
states, unified the great nation, and declared himself the ''first universal
emperor.'' Ch’in Shih Huang-Ti also built roads, a vast canal system, and
standardized the style of writing Chinese characters, as well as weights and
measurements. He apparently fell under the influence of Taoist superstitions and
allowed the corruption of the ancient sacrifices to
ShangTi.
He was also noted for the completion of the Great Wall of China,
extending as an undulating serpent for 1,500 miles, built to protect themselves
from the Hsiung-Nu, descendants of Magog, son of Japheth, a grandson of Noah.
The Muslim writers refer to the Great Wall as
Sud Yagog et Magog,
''the ramparts of Gog and Magog.'
China, in the following centuries, endured war lords, disunion,
reunification, conquest by the Mongols, two wars lost to Britain in attempts to
halt the illegal importation of opium, a Japanese invasion, and a civil war
between the Communists and the nationalist regime.
In 1928 the Nationalist regime of the Kuomintang established the
Republic. In 1949 the Chinese Communist Party won an ensuing civil war and
established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on the mainland, while the
Kuomintang fled to the island province of Taiwan, where it reestablished the
Nationalist government. 1966 began the ''Cultural Revolution'' by Chairman Mao
Tze-tung, which ended in 1976 with his death.
Modern China
Mao strayed from the Soviet Marxist model, attempting to build a
socialist society based on peasant farming rather than a centralized,
bureaucratic, industrialized economy. The subsequent leadership, however, has
achieved a modern miracle of incredible proportions. Economic liberalization
policies quadrupled the gross domestic product in just two decades, between 1978
and 1998, and their economy is now second largest in the world, having passed
Japan and Germany in 1990. China’s economy is growing 7%
faster
than the US and is projected to become the largest in the world in less than a
decade.
At one time, China had the world’s most advanced civilization.
Innovations such as paper, printing, gunpowder, porcelain, silk, and the compass
originated in China and then spread to other parts of the world. This heritage,
along with its burgeoning economy, has now made China the technology
manufacturer of choice (over the US, Mexico, Thailand, Singapore, etc.). It
produces more engineers each year than the US and its research and development
expenditures are now outpacing the US.
China currently accounts for 25% of total world output, over 50%
of total foreign exchange, and enjoys a 30-45% savings rate. (The US has a
virtually zero savings rate, or worse. Savings are the only true source of
capital.) The US sends China over $50 billion per year of capital
(over $140 million per day!) China has attracted more foreign investment
capital in five years than Japan has in the five decades since World War II.
Though during the 1970s and 80s, China was a net oil exporter; it
became a net oil
importer in 1993 and
is now growing increasingly dependent on foreign oil. China currently imports
32% of its oil and is expected to double its need for imported oil between now
and 2010 to become the world’s second largest oil consumer. China’s annual per
capita income has now crossed the $1000 inflection point and there are now
people with discretionary income purchasing consumer goods, cars instead of
bicycles, etc. Passenger car sales grew 55% last year, with lower prices and
broader financing programs. China is in the process of shifting 300 million
people from an agrarian economy to urban city life, more than the entire
population of the US.
A report by the International Energy Agency predicted that by
2030, Chinese oil imports will exceed the oil imports by the US today. China’s
growing dependence on oil imports has caused it to acquire interests in
Kazakhstan, Russia, Venezuela, Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Peru, and Azerbaijan. Despite
its efforts to diversify its sources, China has become increasingly dependent
on Middle East oil: 58% today; 70% projected by 2015. (The US currently
imports 55% of its oil needs; by 2025, 70%.9)
China will soon be the world’s second most powerful military
giant, and they are already studying how to defeat the US in the war
they believe is inevitable.