An alternative view of Biblical Prophecy
A Historicist explanation of the time times and half time, and other time prophecies in Daniel and the Revelation.
THE PROPHETIC CALENDAR
A day for a Year
Of Calendars and Kings
No two ancient kingdoms used the same method of keeping track of time. Some used a Solar calendar, some used a Lunar Calendar, and some used a Stellar or Sidereal Calendar. Depending on who was in charge and what things were important to the kingdom dictated how their calendar was made up. Most calendars started in the spring, but not all. In order to perpetuate the myth that the king was a god, great pains would be taken to know when a certain star or constellation might ascend or decline. One could become rich if one were able to ascertain this kind of information for the king.
It was not until Pope Gregory XIII, in 1582, that a reliable method of time keeping was devised. Roman Catholic countries adopted the Gregorian calendar immediately by order of the Pope. Protestant countries, being naturally suspicious of the Pope, did not readily accept the calendar but did slowly follow suit over the next two hundred years. They understood he was the anti-christ fulfilling prophecy by changing times [Dan 7:25], but begrudgingly realized that it was more accurate than the pagan Julian calendar they were using. This is why people like George Washington and Beethoven will have two birthdays listed; they were born in the year their country changed over to the Gregorian calendar.
Note: Pope Gregory XIII also made a significant change in first century dating by “losing” the six years that astronomers had determined the calendars were off by. See End Note: Soli-Lunar Cycles
Fortunately, throughout time, God has provided men with the ability to solve these difficult problems and they have been successful in matching up all the different calendars coming up with accurate dates in antiquity. These dates were compiled by the great chronologist of history; Sir Isaac Newton, Clinton, Laplace, James Bowman Lindsay, Wiseler, Benson, Brown, Mann, Ideler, Biachini, Sanclemeti, etc. Since the purpose of Biblical Prophecy is to foretell history, the interpretation and fulfillment must fit within the boundaries of generally recognized historical chronologies.
FYI: During the mid 1700’s a Swiss astronomer and chronologist, M. Jean Philippe Loys de Cheseaux (published 1754), while attempting to fix the date of Christ’s crucifixion discovered four soli-lunar epacts (reconciliation of solar and lunar calendars) previously unknown to astronomers. These were discovered by examining the 1260 day/yr, 1290 day/yr, 1335 day/yr, and the 2300 day/yr prophecies in the book of Daniel and using recently invented telescopes and accurate timepieces. M. de Cheseaux found a near perfect method of harmonizing the lunar, solar, and sidereal calendars that reconciles them to one another. He determined that every 1260 years the sun and moon align within 5 minutes, allowing the calendars to reconcile. Needless, to say, M. de Cheseaux’s work points to the obvious, that our Creator is the perfect and complete historian and that the stars do give signs. The 30 days and additional 45 days of Daniel Chapter 12 are required to harmonize the calendars. See End Note: Soli-Lunar Cycles
Times Explained
Day for a Year
The Historicist views that a day set forth in prophecy denotes a year in history. This understanding comes from studying numerous scriptures that point to the symbolic use of days and weeks to denote years.
Notice He says, “ I have today, tomorrow, and the next day” (the third day He reached His goal) Christ’s ministry lasted 3 1/2 years by counting the Passovers in the gospels. [John 2:13; 6:4; 18:39] This is a day for a year.
Ezekiel chapter 4 records the symbolic act of the prophet laying on each of his sides as being one day for each year of their punishment. After the reign of Solomon the kingdom had divided into two separate nations, Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Ezekiel lies on his left side 390 days for Israel and on his right side 40 days for Judah. Each day equals one year of judgment.
A Year or a Time Equals 360 Days
A Historicist views that a year or a time in prophecy is the equivalent of a 360-day year. Studying numerous scriptures and having an understanding of the historical grammatical interpretation leads this understanding.
- Noah entered the Ark in the second month on the 17th day.
- The waters abated in the seventh month on the seventeenth day.
- The waters had prevailed for a total of 150 days.
- This breaks down to five months of 30 days each.
- Conclusion: If each month is 30 days and there are 12 month in a year; then Noah’s year would be 360 days. The story of Noah is the only place in the Bible where the length of a month is defined.
- Archeological evidence exists that the Egyptians and Chinese also used a calendar of 360 days as early as 4000 BC.
- The Babylonian astronomers, of whose science Daniel would have been most familiar, followed the Egyptian use of a 360-day calendar. The calendar was reconciled with an extra month every time they realized they were off.
Times Used in Prophecy
Moses:
God’s covenant with Israel is found in the books of Moses or the Books of the Covenant. His blessing for them was that they would have an intimate relationship, if they would be faithful and do all that He asked, keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary. [Lev 25:55-26:18] If they were faithful they would never want for anything, no enemy would harm them and there would always be food.
Every seventh day was a day of rest, a Sabbath.
Every seventh year the Lord commanded the Israelites to set aside and rest the land as unto the Lord. [Lev 25:1-7] This is called the Sabbatical year for the land.
Every forty-nine years there would be a Jubilee Year (the 50th year also the 1st year) wholly set aside unto the Lord. Slaves were to be set free, land was to be returned to its original owner, and no crops were to be planted. [Lev 25:8-34]
However, if they were not faithful, Israel would be punished for disobedience with specified consequences. Four times Moses repeated that their chastisement would be for seven times. [Lev 26:18, 21, 24, 28] Wild beast would take their children and animals, armies would invade, there would be famine, and the land would become desolate until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths.
Israel failed to keep the covenant.
Daniel:
The Gentile King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had conquered Judah, by 606BC.
Daniel, a youth, was taken captive along with others from Judah to Babylon as part of God’s 70 year redemption for the land. Trained by the Chaldean’s in their language and culture, Daniel proved to be a wise counselor and gifted in the interpretation of dreams and visions.
Nebuchadnezzar’s relates a dream [Dan. 4:1-37] in which he is portrayed as a great tree, cut down for “seven times”. This is significant to Nebuchadnezzar, as during his lifetime it was traditional to use the icon of a tree to represent the king. It was called the Mystical Tree of Life. At the thought of his tree, being cut down Nebuchadnezzar is understandably upset, as the cutting down of the king/tree was a sign for death. Daniel assures him that he will not die, only live like a beast for seven years. Then he will come back fully restored knowing the God who rules all things. Much relieved that he was not going to die, Nebuchadnezzar forgot the rest of the interpretation and when he least expected it God struck him down.
Nebuchadnezzar’s bestial character typifies the bestial prophecy of [Dan 4 & 7] in which Nebuchadnezzar was both the ruling head and representative of their character. [Dan 2:37-38] These gentile empires were ignorant of God, and idolatrous persecutors of the people of God. However, at the end of his punishment, he acknowledged the Most High. He praised and blessed the one who lives forever. This infers that these bestial kingdoms will some day acknowledge God. [Isa 45:23; Rom 14:11; Phil 2:10-11] Just as his bestial character typifies the bestial kingdoms the seven years typifies the seven times that the bestial kingdoms would reign. So, these kingdoms will rule over God’s people for 2520 years, typically called the Times of the Gentiles. [Lk 21:24]
The Times of the Gentiles 2520 Years
It is the viewpoint of the Historicist that the usage of SEVEN TIMES in prophetic language determines the length of times for the gentile reign and punishment of Israel for the breaking of the covenants. In addition, they view seven times to be equivalent to 360 years times 7, for a total of 2520 years. This constitutes the FULL TIMES OF THE GENTILES. This punishment for breaking Sabbath covenants is to end when the Holy People are no longer trodden down. [Dan 8:13]
Determining a “start” date is not as easy as it sounds. Does one begin with Nabonassar as the first gentile kingdom represented by the Head of Gold, or with Nebuchadnezzar who is told by Daniel that he is the head of gold? Only in the completion of the prophecy does the time frame become clearer.
Reconciling Sidereal, Lunar and Solar Calendars:
Note: Another consideration, when reckoning time-periods is that it is not always possible to assign a single date. More often than not, there is a period of time leading up to an “era or epoch” and a period of time coming out of an era. We do not have exact dates for the beginning of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, or the Modern Age. The same is often true of events in antiquity.
The Biblical prophetic seven times is equal to 2520 years. When working with lunar years, in order to adjust to our solar calendar, 2520 will be equivalent to only 2442 solar years. Likewise, 2520 sidereal years are equivalent to only 2484 solar years.
The day Nabonassar was crowned the first king of Babylon is the earliest possible starting date for the beginning of the bestial kingdoms, February 26, 747BC.
Ω 747 – 539 BC Babylonian Empire (Gold)
Ω 539 – 334 BC Medio-Persian Empire (Silver)
Ω 334 – 65 BC Greek Empire (Bronze)
Ω 65 BC – 476 AD Pagan Roman Empire (Iron)
Ω 476 AD – Today Roman Empire (Iron and Clay – the ten kingdoms)
Remember
“Seven times” equals 2520 solar years.
2520 lunar years is equivalent to 2442 solar years.
2520 sidereal years is 2484 solar years.
FULL TIME OF THE GENTILES
X 2520 YEARS X
Lunar: 747 BC —————————– 476 AD —————————- 1689 AD
Nabonassar crowned fall of Rome Treaty of Carlowitz
1st king of Babylon
Solar: 747 ——————————————————————- 1774 AD
Nabonassar crowed Accession of Louis XVI
1st king of Babylon Era of Retribution *
Solar: 723 ———————————————————— 1798
Samaria 1st besieged by Napoleon 1st
Shalmaneser Counsel of the Republic
Solar: 675/6 ——————————————————- 1844
Esarhaddon invaded Israel edict of Toleration **
Lunar: 587 ————————————————- 1860***
Fall of Jerusalem Lebanon under Christian Govt.
Syrian Massacres occurred brought in European intervention
Solar: 605 ——————————————————- 1915
Nebuchadnezzar makes Judah a Tributary World War I
Solar: 604 ——————————————————- 1917
WWI Belfore Declaration
Solar: 598 ——————————————————- 1923
Birth of Cyrus the Persian last Caliph dies
Ezekiel taken to Babylon
Solar: 587 ——————————————————— 1934
Final fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar election of Hitler
Solar: 587 —————————————————– 1934****
Fall of Judah & Jerusalem British mandate for Palestine
Liberating Israel from all Turkish rule.
* The “Era of Retribution” begins with the death of Louis XV and the ascension of Louis XVI on the same day. Followed a few years later by the French Revolution, which culminated in the loss of temporal Papal power. If we bisect this period (747BC – 1774AD) we arrive at 533AD and the decree of the Roman Emperor Justinian making the Bishop of Rome the head of all the “Holy Churches” and all the holy priests of God.
** 1844 The edict of Toleration stated “The Sublime Porte engages to take effectual measures to prevent henceforward the execution and putting to death of the Christian who is an apostate. Henceforward neither shall Christianity be insulted in my dominions, nor shall Christians be in any way persecuted for their religion.”
*** During the reign of the last king of Judah (Zedekiah), in 587BC the last group of captives were taken to Babylon and Jerusalem fell. Measuring from 587BC to 1860AD the Syrian Massacres occurred and brought in European intervention, which was the beginning of the end of the Ottoman Empire. If we bisect the SEVEN TIMES or 1260 lunar years, we arrive at the capture of Jerusalem by Omar in 637AD. A few years later the Mosque of Omar or Dome of the Rock was built on the Temple site.
**** Measuring from 587BC the year Jerusalem fell, brings us to 1934AD the year of the British Mandate for Palestine. Liberating Israel from all Turkish rule 14 years later in 1948AD, Israel was free and independent.
Time, Times and a Half-time, or 1260 yrs
The Full Time of the Gentiles covers a period of 2520 years or seven times during which Israel and Judah are dispersed among the nations and the Holy People are trodden down. [Lev 26; Dan 4:32; Ps 102:13, Rom 11:25-27] The beast kingdoms of Babylon, Medio-Persia, and Greece, give way to Rome, the fourth and terrifying beast. With the entrance of Rome we have a complete description of the full times of the gentiles (3 1/2 times + 3 1/2 times = seven times) over God’s people until the complete destruction of the last beast.
In the year 605 BC the people of Judah first lost their independence and became subject to Babylon and Daniel was taken into captivity. [II Kings 24:10] Now, from the first deportation in 605BC to the first edict by Cyrus in 536BC [Ezra 1:2], for the Israelites to go back into their land and rebuild Jerusalem, was a total of 70 years. The duration of the entire Babylonian Empire from Nabonassar in 747BC to its capture by Cyrus in 538BC was 210 years. 210 is divisible by 3 equal 70. This means the Babylonian Captivity of the Jews occurred during the finale one third (or 70 years) of the Empires reign. The 210 years is also seven prophetic months, 30 times 7 equals 210. So ancient Babylon lasted seven such months.
Now John is taken into the throne room in heaven and sees the Lamb that was slain (Jesus Christ) opening the sealed scroll that finishes the prophecy and clearly identifies the last half of the seven times. The description of Daniel’s fourth beast allows us a comparison with the characteristics of the beast out of the sea in The Revelation, in order to properly identify the beast out of the sea. Both of these beasts describe the civil or political Roman Empire.
The Revelation explains that Spiritual Babylon will lasts six times as long [Rev 11:2; 13:5] as the Kingdom of Babylon lasted. So that 6 times 7 equals 42 and 42 times 30 equal 1260 years. During this second period of 1260 years, the symbolic temple (believers) is to be trodden under foot. (also ½ of the 2520 Times of the Gentiles or the seven times) (see; Approaching the End of the Age, Guinness pg 413-415) This means that two time-periods of 1260 years have been given to make up the total of 2520 years. [Dan 12:7; Rev 11:3, Rev 12:6]
The first 1260 years covers the reign of the pagan empires of Babylon, Medio-Persia, Greece and The Roman Empire. At the mid point of the seven times or 2520 years The Revelation describes the fall of the Roman Empire and its reappearance as the Kingdom of Iron (Rome civil) and Clay (Rome religious). This is the second half of the 2520 years and the second time-period of 1260 years. The reign of the twin apostate horns of Daniel 7 and 8 are during this time-period. They are given until the end of the Times of the Gentiles to plague God’s people.
Just as there were two Roman Empires, Eastern and Western, there are two different starting periods when figuring the bisecting period of the 2520 years. This bisection era spanning 160 years is well marked by two unquestionable events; one event for each half of the Roman Empire.
Please Note: All lunar and sidereal years have been adjusted to solar years.
Crowning of Nabonassar Fall of Rome (to the day)
deposition of Romulus Augustulus
602BC + 1260 lunar years = 622AD
overthrow of Hegira
Jehoiakim by Nebuchadnezzar (the beginning of the Mohammedan calendar)
587BC 1260 lunar years 637AD
Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of Jerusalem Omar/Saracen conquest of Jerusalem
Western Empire
From the beginning of the Times of the Gentiles to the demise of the Roman Empire, covers a period of 1260 years, the first period of time, times and a half-time (3 1/2 times).Papal Power arose dominating the second half of the seventimes or second period of time, times and a half-time. [Dan 12:7; Rev 11:3, Rev 12:6]
1260 years of Papal Power
Western Empire
Solar: 533 AD ———————————————————- 1793 AD
Edict of Justinian Regicide and Reign of Terror
Lunar: 533 ———————————————————– 1755
Decree which made the Beginning of French Revolution
Bishop of Rome the head of the church (1755 by lunar, 1774 by calendar, and 1793 by solar)
all important initial dates of the French Revolution.
Sidereal: 533 ——————————————————— 1774
Accession of Louis XVI
Sidereal: 590 ——————————————————— 1849
First Pope proper Pope loses temporal authority
Pope Gregory the Great Sept. 3 Feb 8th Roman Republic declaired
Solar: 607 ———————————————————— 1867
Decree of Phocas Papal overthrow / Austria vs Prussia
Confirming the primacy of the see of Rome over all church battle at Sadowa
3 great overthrows of Papal power
(1830 by lunar, 1848-49 by calendar, 1866-70 by solar)
Lunar: 607 ———————————————————— 1830
Papal overthrow / Abdication of Charles X
Sidereal: 607 ———————————————————- 1848-9
Papal overthrow / Revolution
Solar: 610 ————————————————————— 1870
Emperor Phocas at Constantinople Pope’s temporal power lost
conceding to the Pope
headship over all Christendom
Solar: 663 ————————————————————— 1923
Laterizing decree of Vitalian Mussolini
All church service shall be held in Latin
Eastern Empire
From the beginning of the Times of the Gentiles to the rise of Islam, covers a period of 1260 years or time, times and a half-time (3 1/2 times) or one half of the seven times. The second half of the seventimes or time, times and a half-time, 1260 years,brings us to the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the restoration of Israel to the Jews.[Dan 12:7; Rev 11:3, Rev 12:6]
1260 years of Mohammedan Power
Eastern Empire
Lunar: 622 AD ——————————————————- 1844 AD
Hegira Ottomans compelled to stop / edict of religious toleration
Solar: 622 ———————————————————– 1882
1st settlement reestablished in Israel
Lunar: 637 ———————————————————— 1859
Omar captures Jerusalem Turkey proclamation of equal rights
Dome of the Rock was built on the Temple site
Solar: 637 ————————————————————– 1897
Turkey lost Crete to Britain
Sidereal: 637 ———————————————————– 1877-78
Berlin congruence
English Protectorate of Asia Minor
Time Set for the Desolation
“And from the time that the continual burnt offering is taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” Dan 12:11
Many believe, that in prophetic language, whenever the phrase abomination that makes desolate is used it means some kind of idol set up in the Temple. This is not so! In Daniel there are three different times that a variation of this phrase is used.
à The first one in Dan 8:13-14 is concerning the little horn of the Greek Goat and can only be fulfilled by the Eastern Empire. Therefore, we must look to the East for something that will trample (persecution) the host for 2300 years. From the first Seleucid in 313BC to the end of the Ottoman Empire in 1919/20AD is 2300 lunar years.
à The second, Dan 9:26-27, speaks of armies and is about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. This is the same desolation that Matt 24:15, Mark 13:14, and Luke 21:20 speak of.
Neither of these desolations speaks to a literal idol or icon that is set up in the Temple. For one thing, after 70AD there is no Temple in which to set up an idol. The prophecy says that this desolation will take place for 1260 years plus 30 more years. Yes there is a pagan temple (Dome of the Rock) set up maybe on the site of the original Temple but there is no physical Temple there. However, in the New Testament we are told that it is the believers who are the Temple of God and he will dwell, through His Spirit, in them.
The only abomination that has lasted for 1260 years, or 2520 years etc. is that abomination that has been set up in the hearts of man. The Mystery Religion in the forms of pagan worship, the Roman Church, and Islam have permeated first Israel and then the True Church of God in such insidious ways that she does not even know it. She has become the vessel in which it continues to live on, until the Holy One returns and destroys it completely, once and for all.
à Dan 12:11 is merely speaking to the second 1260 years of the seventimes and has added an additional 30 years for the abomination that has corrupted man’s heart and doctrine to retain some kind of authority. Dan 12:12 says, “blessed is he who waits, and comes to the 1335 days”. This is yet another additional time of 45 years. Together there is a total of 75 years added to the 1260 years and the seventimes.
Let there be no mistake, there is no mention in Daniel 12 of what is to take place after the 2520 years, second 1260 years, and the additional 75 years. Many have considered this a reference to the onset of a millennial reign or the Second Coming of Christ, but this cannot be. It is only a time reference for the end of the abomination. It does not say what comes next!
360 Years for the Angel’s Oath or in other words The Shiny Dude
“The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven; and I heard him swear by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, two times, and half a time; and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be accomplished.
I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, “O my lord, what shall be the issue of these things?” He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but those who are wise shall understand. And from the time that the continual burnt offering is taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
Blessed is he who waits and comes to the thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. But go your way till the end; and you shall rest, and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.” Dan 12:7-14
“Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring; when he called out, the seven thunders sounded.
And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” And the angel whom I saw standing on sea and land lifted up his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there should be no more delay, but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God, as he announced to his servants the prophets, should be fulfilled.” Rev 10:1-7
It is evident that The Oath Taker in both references is the same, the Son of God Himself. To Daniel it is announced; that the events which had just been predicted would occupy a time, times, and a half, and then the time of the Gentiles would be finished. To John it is announced; after the Sixth Trumpet of judgment has been blown, and has failed to bring an apostate church to repentance, that not one single time remained. After the Sixth Trumpet there is less than a “time” (360 yrs) left to complete the judgment of the Bowls.
360 Years, or final “time” of the Angel’s oath
1510AD ———————————————————- 1870AD
Luther teaches “the Just live by faith” Independence of Italy / Papal Infallibility
First immigration of Jews to Palestine (see Zionists)
1517 —————————————————————- 1877
Luther’s 95 Thesis A converted Jew, Samuel Schereschewsky
translated the Bible into Mandarin Chinese
1529 —————————————————————- 1889
Dicta (court) of Spires “The Ralliement” *
1555 —————————————————————– 1915
Confession of Augsburg (religious freedom) World War I Beginnings
1563AD —————————————————————- 1923AD
End of the Council of Trent Palestine mandate ratified by League of Nations
1572AD —————————————————————– 1932AD
St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre Hitler’s election
1648AD —————————————————————— 2008AD
End of The Thirty Years’ War Possible Seventieth Jubilee
* General George Boulanger won a striking victory in Paris. But he did not march on Elyse’e Palace, and made himself dictator. He later died in exile. The Boulanger fiasco was a blow to the Monarchist and their ally, the Church of Rome. Pope Leo XIII, discouraged by the failures of the monarchist, turned to a policy of reconciliation “The Ralliement”. This was motivated by the popes desire to secure French aid for the solution of the Roman question.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER: DANIEL 10, 11 &12
NEXT CHAPTER:ANTI-CHRIST
Throughout the ages, all peoples from all walks of life, from kings and rulers to servants and slaves, rich and poor alike have called on wizards, prophets, and seers to consult the moon, stars, tea leaves, and horoscopes; to get understanding that is beyond the human mind. Countless decisions have been made on the advice of some mystic claiming supernatural power, deciding marriages, wars, and alliances. However, no one single cult or organization has been so influential and far reaching as the Babylonian Mystery Religion that birthed them all.
Let us get down to the dirt. Contrary to the popular teaching of today (by the futurist), the anti-christ is not one political leader or some kind of literal monster at the end of time. The Babylonian Mystery Religion, like a chameleon, has manifested itself in many shapes and forms with one goal, to usurp the authority and deity of the One True God. Even so, only one stands out as fulfilling the apocalyptic prophecies.
For more than twelve centuries the succession of the Roman Pontiffs, who wear the triple tiara-crown (King of Heaven, King of Earth, and King of Hell), are the monarchs who have governed Papal Europe. They ruled as temporal sovereigns and united under their sway the ten kingdoms of Western Christendom. This is the clay in the feet of Daniel’s metal man. [Dan 2]
John Bunyan said:
John Bunyan
“ANTICHRIST is the adversary of Christ; an adversary really, a friend pretendedly. So then Antichrist is one that is against Christ; one that is for Christ, and one that is contrary to him; (and this is that “mystery of iniquity.”) Against him indeed; for him in word; and contrary to him in practice. Antichrist is so proud, as to go before Christ; so humble as to pretend to come after him; and so audacious as to say that himself is he. Antichrist will cry up Christ; Antichrist will cry down Christ. Antichrist will proclaim that himself is one above Christ. Antichrist is the Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition; a Beast that hath two horns like a lamb, but speaks as a dragon.” The Ruin of Antichristpage 13
The word anti-christ can only be found in I and II John. Paul uses the terms son of perdition and the lawless one (or a better translation would be “Torah breaker”), II Thess 2. In Daniel 7 this same antichrist is called the little horn who speaks great words. Then in Daniel 11:36 the antichrist is known as the Willful King whereas John, in The Revelation 13, calls him the Beast from the earth. Now, let us examine each of these titles separately to discover their commonalties.
The entomology of the word anti-christ, is easily mistaken by English speaking persons to mean, that which is opposed to, or opposite. But this is not the case. The Greek word does not convey the idea of an enemy. It rather signifies one who is, in the stead of, or substitute, vice or vicar. A close example would be our own word vice-president; the person who holds this office speaks and acts for the President when the President is unavailable or indisposed. An example of this is found in the Chronicles of Zechariah of Mytilene (6th century, Ch. 1, par. 1, Burry’s Byzantine Texts). It says: “King Justin made his sister’s son who was General, Anti-Caesar, and Justinian became Anti-Caesar on the 5th day of the week in the last week of the fast.” Therefore, anti-christ will be anyone who takes the place of Christ, who stands in His stead, or claims to speak for Him.
“Children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out, that it might be plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all know.” I Jn 2:18-20
Here antichrist is not one person, but many. They are not in our future, since they were already present and at work in the first century. The expectation of one, fantastic, political antichrist, who in the future will attack God’s people and control the world and its finances, was not known to John.
“For many deceivers have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh; such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.” II Jn 7
The antichrist is any who denies that Jesus came in the flesh. They are liars and deceivers. Those who deny the true deity and humanity of Jesus Christ are antichrist! Now the word deny used by John (Ho arnoumenos, the one refusing) in no way implies atheism, or the denial of God’s existence. [Josh 24:27; Mt 10:33; II Tim 3:5; Tit 1:16]. It simply signifies the heretical departure from the truth. The word is consistently used in the New Testament and in the Septuagint. People, who, in any way, deny the basic truths of the scripture, are liars, and deceivers, in other words anti-christs.
The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus was a real man and God on earth, that He actually lived, died, and rose from the dead. Scripture teaches He ascended into heaven and He will truly come again, with a real, although glorified body. To deny these basic truths whether by dogma, doctrine, or practice is enough to be an anti-christ. Many Jews of the first century denied that Jesus was the Christ. Those within the Church, who invalidate or ignore the real humanity or deity of Christ by usurping Christ’s position and placing another in His stead, have also become anti-christs. John does not call them atheist, infidels, or unbelievers, but rather liars, deceivers, and anti-christs.
It is apparent, that the spirit of anti-christ is that which fosters teachings opposed to the basic truths of The Word. It is the spirit of falsehood and deceit, a departure from Christian truth, that of apostasy, not of atheism. The sin of anti-christ is neither physical nor moral. It is wholly spiritual; it is spiritual darkness [II Cor 4; I John 1:6-7]. Just as Judas, the archetype son of perdition was a thief and a traitor [Mat 16:6, 12; John 12:6, 17:12] we would anticipate that the anti-christ would be likewise. We do not read that Judas was evil or lived a scandalous life. It is a mistake to expect the anti-christ to be malevolent or heinous. No! The prophecy predicts that the sin of the little horn, the son of perdition, the Beast from the earth, or the anti-christ is a spiritual one. It is blasphemy as defined in the Bible that which discredits God’s name by usurping God’s attributes and functions or opposing and counterfeiting the Holy Spirit. This is the unforgivable sin. [Mt 12:31; Mk 3:29; Lk 12:10]
The Church of Rome has many dogmas, doctrines and practices that have no foundation in the teachings of Our Lord, the Apostles, or the Prophets. The following is just a short list of their teachings that are contrary to scripture. Although many of these beliefs were practiced earlier than the dates given, they did not become binding on Roman Catholics until they were officially adopted by the church and proclaimed by the popes as dogmas of faith. (earlier dates are approximate)
Sacraments, in which a priest anoints and prays for one in danger of death
It is enough : To neglect to teach the deity of Christ; to be anti-christ. II John 9
To neglect to confess the real humanity of Christ; to be anti-christ. I John 4:3
To neglect to declare that Jesus Christ is coming again in the flesh; to be anti-christ. II John 7
It is extremely important that we as Christians continually gain knowledge about, and test those around us who claim brotherhood with us. We cannot believe everything or everyone just because they claim to be a follower of Christ. The anti-christ will come from among us. Be wary!
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit, which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in, the flesh is of God, and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already. Little children, you are of God, and have overcome them; for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world, therefore what they say is of the world, and the world listens to them. We are of God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and he who is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” I Jn 4:1-6
“The Son of Perdition” or “Torah Breaker”
“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to meet him, we beg you, brethren, not to be quickly shaken in mind or excited, either by spirit or by word, or by letter purporting to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you this? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by his appearing and his coming. The coming of the lawless one by the activity of Satan will be with all power and with pretended sign and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are to perish, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends upon them a strong delusion, to make them believe what is false, so that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” II Thess 2:1-12
These events must by their very nature be in chronological order. The order of the events in these prophecies must be in the same order as events in history. John says the anti-christ is already at work, but not yet revealed. So before the coming of the Lord all these things must take place:
First there must come the falling away. The Greek word translated falling away or rebellion is apostasia that means defection from the truth. This falling away does not refer to a falling away from religion into irreligion or atheism. It refers to a departure from, corruption of, or a going into error, regarding Christian doctrine. This does not take place in the pagan world. It is not Humanism, Hinduism, The One World Order, or any revolution in the secular world. It developed right in the professing Christian church and the corruption was already happening in the first century as stated in Acts 20:28-30, II Pet 2:1 and I John 4:3.
The Thessalonians [II Thess 2:1-3] knew what was keeping the man of sin from displaying his power. They did not need to be told what it was. In verse 6 what is restraining him is neuter, in verse 7 he who now restrains is masculine. So, the man of sin could not be revealed until someone controlling some power is taken out of the way. We must look into church history to find out what it was. This restraining power was The Roman Empire. All early church fathers agreed that Rome was the restraining power. (Tertullian, Cyril, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Augustine, Jerome, Justin Martyr, Ambrose, and Hippolytus just to name a few)
This restraining heathen imperial power was swayed by and centered in, a series of single persons, the Caesars (later known as emperors), one following another in succession. When Constantine, the Roman Emperor, removed the seat of power from the seven-hilled city of Rome to Constantinople, then the restraint began to be removed which had prevented the Bishops of Rome from exercising temporal power and promulgating anti-christian claims.
When the last Western Emperor was forced to abdicate in 476AD, Rome ceased to be the seat of imperial secular power, and the Bishops of Rome began to put forward claims that exactly correspond with the predictions of Daniel, Paul and John. The legs of iron (Rome) gave way to the feet of iron and clay (Ten Kingdoms under the rule of the anti-christ or the Papacy). Now the restraint was ek mesou- out of the way – of the one who would be king of the seven-hilled city.
Irenaeus who was a disciple of Polycarp, the contemporary of John, said; “he that hinders is the Roman Empire”. All the early church fathers are unanimous in this assertion. Why would Irenaeus and the early fathers make this up? It only brought them further persecution. Would they not have been better off making the Roman Empire the anti-christ, rather than the obstacle to the anti-christ?
“What was the restraint which, in Paul’s day, hindered the manifestation of the Man of the Apostasy? Tertullian, in the second century, said: “What is this restraining Power? What but the Roman State.” Similarly, Irenaeus affirmed that on the dismemberment of the Empire then in existence, the catastrophe would occur. So Cyril, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Augustine, Jerome in the fifth century- this last adding, “Let us therefore say what all ecclesiastical writers have delivered to us, that when the Roman Empire is to be destroyed, ten Kings will divide the Roman world among themselves, and then will be revealed the Man of Sin”; “he who hindereth is taken out of the way, and we consider not that Antichrist is at hand.” So again, Justin Martyr and Hippolytus, the latter saying: “This (Rome) is the Fourth Beast, whose Head was wounded, and healed again; and Antichrist will heal and restore it.” Cyprian, likewise, spoke of the imminent proximity of Antichrist in his day.
It was this early Christian tradition that caused Christians to pray for the continuance of the heathen Roman Empire. Thus Lactantius: “Beseech the God of Heaven that the Roman State might be preserved, lest, more speedily than we supposed, that hateful tyrant should come.” So Chrysostom: “As Rome succeeded Greece, so Antichrist is to succeed Rome.” The Antichrist By Baron Procelli pg 49
Only one person could fill the office of Caesar. Yet there were many who, over time held that office. So it is with anti-christ, over time many have held the position, yet there is only one office of anti-christ, the papacy.
Why didn’t Paul come right out and name the restrainer? If the restrainer were indeed the Holy Spirit Paul would have said so. But the restrainer was not the Holy Spirit, as he well knew, and for him to write, in a public letter, that Rome Eternal would fall from power would have brought the early Christians into immediate conflict with the state, and persecution would have increased.
“In the year AD 595 Bishop Gregory 1st of Rome denounced the title ‘universal Bishop’ – claimed by his rival, John of Constantinople – as Antichristian. Somewhere between AD 606 and 610 Bishop Boniface III of Rome assumed that very title, accepting it from the Eastern Emperor Phocas, who was a usurper, a murderer, and had degraded Cyriacus, Patriarch of Constantinople, for a virtuous deed. The effect of this title upon the minds of ecclesiastics was soon apparent. As Jerome says; ‘When that which is temporal claims eternity, this is a Name of blasphemy.’ Within forty years Theodore I, Bishop of Rome, assumed a fresh title, that of ‘Sovereign Pontiff.’ He was the last Bishop of Rome whom bishops dared to call ‘brother.’ A great and Antichristian change had manifestly been affected. The ‘man of the Apostasy’ had ‘revealed’ himself, in his self-exaltation and pride.
… It is remarkable that 1260 solar years, from AD 606-610, reach to the downfall (1870) of Papal territorial power; and 1260 lunar years, from AD 646 reach to the Vatican Council of 1869, which proclaimed Papal Infallibility.” The Antichrist By Baron Porcellipage 52
The son of perdition is he that opposes God and exalts himself above all that is called God. He shows himself as God. The following is an excerpt from the famous Unum Sanctum written by the Roman Catholic Church. In it the Pope claims to be the ONE head of the church, this making him Christ on earth.
“We are compelled to believe with urgent faith and to hold one holy catholic and apostolic
Church. Therefore, the one and only Church has one body and one head, not two heads like a monster, viz., Christ and the vicar of Christ, Peter and Peter’s successor. We are instructed by the Gospels that there are in his power two swords, viz., the spiritual and the temporal. For when the apostles said ‘Behold here are two swords’ (Luke 22:38), viz., in the Church; when the apostles said so, the Lord did not respond, ‘There are too many’ but ‘Enough.’ Certainly, he who denies that there is in the power of Peter a temporal sword has paid poor attention to the word of the Lord, who said ‘Put up the sword into the sheath’ (John 18:11). Therefore, both are in the power of the Church, both the spiritual and the material sword. But this is to be wielded for the church, that by the church; that by the hand of the priest, this not by the hand of kings and soldiers, but at the nod and patience of the priest. Moreover, sword should be under sword, and the temporal authority should be subject to the spiritual; for when the apostle says, ‘There is no power except from God; the power which are ordained of God’ (Rom. 13:1); they are not ordained except sword be under sword. For on the testimony of truth, the spiritual power has to institute the earthly, and to judge it, if it is not good. Thus, the prophecy of Jeremiah concerning the Church and the ecclesiastical power is verified, ‘Behold, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms,’ etc. (Jer 1:10). Therefore, if the earthly power deviates from the way, it shall be judged by the spiritual power; if the inferior spiritual power deviates, by its superior spiritual; but if the supreme by God alone, since it cannot be judged by man, on the testimony of the apostle, ‘The spiritual man judgeth all things, but is himself judged of no man’ (I Cor 2:15). Whoever, therefore, resists this power, thus ordained by God, resists the ordination of God; unless he feigns that there are two principle, like Manichaeus, which we judge false and heretical, because, on the testimony of Moses, God did not create the heavens and the earth in several principles but in one principle (Gen. 1:1). Then, to be subject to the Roman Pontiff, we declare, say, define, and pronounce to be absolutely necessary to every human creature to salvation.” Excerpts from the Bull of Boniface VIII “UNAM SANCTAM“
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“The Pope enjoys, by divine institution, ‘supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of souls’” Catechism of the Catholic Church number 937
“…and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, that he takes his seat in the temple of God, so proclaiming himself to be God.” II Thess 2:3-4
The word Paul uses here is naos meaning the holy place or dwelling of God. The word for the temple building, hieron, is only used for the literal building in Jerusalem [Mat 24:1]. This word, naos, is used symbolically [II Cor 6:16; I Cor. 3:16-17; Eph 2:21], and in this case refers to that group of people who believe in God both Jewish and Gentile. Therefore, the son of perdition takes his place among God’s people.
This cannot be a literal man sitting in the Holy of Holies within a Temple, rebuilt in Jerusalem. Think about it, where would such a man actually sit? How about on the wings of the cherubim or maybe on the altar of incense? Of course he could always bring in his own folding chair! Sitting in a seat symbolically means that the one ruling takes the position of authority andjudgment. [Mat 23:2].
God sits on a throne and has absolute spiritual and/or temporal authority. He establishes proper authority through His anointed kings, prophets, and appointed apostles. Gods system of hierarchy never appoints just one man over an entire congregation, with the exception of Jesus who alone is head of the Church. [Mat 23:2; 27:19; Acts 25:6,17; Rom 14:10; Rev 2:13; 13:2]
“Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God: ‘Because your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god I sit in the seat of gods, in the heart of the seas,’ yet you are but a man, and no god, though you consider yourself as wise as a god–” Ezek 28:2
The son of perdition however comes in setting himself above all, even above God. [2Thess 2:4]
The Roman Catholic Church says;
“The Pope, bishop of Rome and Peter’s successor, ‘is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful.’ 402 ‘For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered.” 403 Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 882
So figuratively it is the Pope who sits in the hearts and minds of all who claim to be Roman Catholic. The son of perdition can only be one that opposes God, exalts himself above all that is called God and shows himself as God sitting within the church of God
The Lawless One is quite literally, a Torah Breaker. (The Torah is the first five books of the Bible the books of Moses the Lawgiver) How can a future political anti-christ break the Torah? Dispensationalists have wrongly taught that the Torah has passed away. The Bible clearly states that the Torah will not pass away and Jesus himself said He had not come to destroy the Torah [Matt 5:17; 24:35; Luke 16:16-17]. This particular deceit has jeopardized our relationship with the Lord and fostered many other misconceptions concerning obedience to God’s word.
In his second letter to the Thessalonians, Paul writes concerning a rumor that had been circulated, as if coming from the apostles, that the day of the Lord Jesus Christ had come. So that they would not be shaken, upset, or troubled over this rumor, he endeavors to put their minds at rest. So he admonished, let no one deceive you in any way for the day of the Lord had not yet come.Who could deceive them? Certainly not a political figure from the secular world; the 1st century church would not have believed anything from them. No, it could only have been someone out of those professing to be Christians who could upset and deceive the followers of Christ.
Even today, one can find a fondness for this same deceiver in evangelical churches. Carefully watered and nurtured by well meaning, although ignorant Christians, many a pagan / papal tradition has been allowed to grow in the church.
Tertullian lamented: (160 – 230AD)
“By us who are strangers to Sabbaths, and new moons, and festivals, once acceptable to God, the Saturnalia, the feasts of January, the Brumalia, and Matronalia, are now frequented; gifts are carried to and fro,, new year’s day presents are made with din, and sports and banquets are celebrated with uproar; oh, how much more faithful are the heathen to their religion, who take special care to adopt no solemnity from the Christians.” TERTULLIAN, De Idolatria
Some of these pagan influences are:
Christmas is not mentioned until the third century and not until the forth century was it observed very much. So where does this festival come from? Where else, THE BABYLONIAN MYSTERY RELIGION! The pagans celebrated on December 25 the birthday of the son of the Babylonian queen of heaven.
“Such is the history of Easter. The Popular observances that still attend the period of its celebration amply confirm the testimony of history as to its Babylonian character. The hot cross buns of Good Friday, and dyed eggs of Pasch or Easter Sunday, figured in the Chaldean rites just as they do now. The ‘buns,’ known too by that identical name, were used in the worship of the queen of heaven, the goddess Easter, as early as the days of Cecrops, the founder of Athens – that is, 1500 years before the Christian era. ‘one species of sacred bread,’ say Byrant, ‘which used to be offered to the gods, was of great antiquity, and called Boun.’ Diogenes Laertius, speaking of this offering being made by Empedocles, describes the chief ingrediants of which it was composed, saying, ‘He offered one of the sacred cakes called Boun, which was made of fine flour and honey.’ The prophet Jeremiah takes notice of this kind of offering when he says, ‘The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven.’ The hot cross buns are not now offered, but eaten, on the festival of Astarte; but this leaves no doubt as to whence they have been derived. The origin of the Pasch eggs is just as clear. The ancient Druids bore an egg, as the sacred emblem of their order. In the Dionysiaca, or mysteries of Bacchus, as celebrated in Athens, one part of the nocturnal ceremony consisted in the consecration of an egg. The Hindoo fables celebrate their mundane egg as of a golden colour. The people of Japan make their sacred egg to have been brazen. In China, at this hour, dyed or painted eggs are used on sacred festivals, even as in this country. In ancient times eggs were used in the religious rites of the Egyptians and the Greeks, and were hung up for mystic purposes in their temples.
From Egypt these sacred eggs can be distinctly traced to the banks of the Euphrates. The classic poets are full of the fable of the mystic egg of the Babylonians; and thus its tale is told by Hyginus, the Egyptian, the learned keeper of the Palatine library at Rome, in the time of Augustus, who was skilled in all wisdom of his native country: ‘An egg of wondrous size is said to have fallen from heaven into the river Euphrates. The fishes rolled it to the bank, where the doves having settled upon it, and hatched it, out came Venus, who afterwards was called the Syrian Goddess’ – That is, Astarte. Hence the egg became one of the symbols of Astarte or Easter.” THE TWO BAYLONS OR THE PAPAL WORSHIP By Rev Alexander Hislop pg 109
Issachar Venting: Many a Christian teacher, with a straight face, has said that the Church took the Pagan holidays and Christianized them. They have continually replaced the Pagan ideas with Christian ones throughout Europe. This being the case why do Missionaries teach Christianized pagan holidays to the natives of other continents? Why don’t they simply Christianize the native’s own pagan holidays instead of teaching them new ones?
The Roman Catholic Church says;
“Sacred images in our churches and homes are intended to awaken and nourish our faith in the mystery of Christ. Through the icon of Christ and his works of salvation, it is he whom we adore. Through sacred images of the holy Mother of God, of the angels and of the saints, we venerate the persons represented.” Catechism of the Catholic Church no 1192
“You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”Ex 20:4-6
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“And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made for until those days the people of Israel had burned incense to it; it was called Nehushtan.” II Kings 18:4b
Hezekiah did not hesitate to destroy this national treasure when the people were found to be burning incense to it. In light of this and of the commandment set forth by God, should we not wonder and diligently scrutinize our own practices? What is an image in God’s eyes? Are any of our icons or Christian symbols a graven image? Are they an offence in the eyes of God?
“This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation … Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.”510 Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 969
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“One noted Roman Catholic writer, Alphonsus Liguori, wrote at length telling how much more effectual prayers are that are addressed to Mary rather than to Christ. (Liguori, incidentally, was canonized as a ‘saint’ by Pope Gregory XIV in 1839 and was declared a ‘doctor’ of the Catholic Church by Pope Pius IX) In one portion of his writings, he described an imaginary scene in which a sinful man saw two ladders hanging from heaven. Mary was at the top of one, Jesus at the top of the other. When the sinner tried to climb the one ladder, he saw the angry face of Christ and fell defeated, But when he climbed Mary’s ladder, he ascended easily and was openly welcomed by Mary who brought him into heaven and presented him to Christ! Then all was well. The story was supposed to show how much easier and more effective it is to go to Christ through Mary.” Babylon Mystery Religionby Woodrow pg 21
“The earliest law enforcing celibacy was passed by the Council of Elvira (Canon 33) in Spain about the year 300. Bishops, priest and deacons were to be deposed, if they lived with their wives and begot children after their ordination. A similar decree was enacted by a Roman Council under Pope Siricius (384-399), who wrote letters to Spain and Africa insisting upon its observance. A few years later Pope Innocent I (402-417) wrote similar letters to Bishops Victricius of Rouen and Exuperius of Toulouse. By the time Leo the Great (440-461) the law of clerical celibacy was obligatory throughout the West.” Ins and Outs of Romanism by Zacchello page 42
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“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrine of demons, through the pretension of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and enjoin abstinence from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving; for then it is consecrated by the Word of God and prayer.”I Tim 4:1-5
In the De Unitate, Pope Leo XIII states, “What Jesus Christ had said of Himself, we may truly repeat of ourselves.” THE ANTICHRIST by Baron Porcelli pg 55
The little Horn is pretentious in that he speaks arrogantly. This horn is little, and he does not have a kingdom of his own. He does, however, have control over the other horns, and rips three of them out by the roots.
He wears out the saints by making war with them and prevailing over them. Contrary to the view of a short seven-year tribulation (deluded dispensationalist), the little horn must be around for a long time in order to wear out the saints. He wears them out with words, false doctrine, church tradition, and persecution.
In the first century laity led the church. Early in the life of the church the laity began the laying on of hands to ordain Bishops to lead the churches. These Bishops progressively assumed greater ecclesiastical control over the church. As this control progressed they started introducing heresies through edicts and unscriptural traditions.
In 196AD, Victor, the Bishop of Rome, threatened to excommunicate Asian Churches for refusing to replace Passover with an Easter Sunday. The Council of Nicea, 321AD, settled numerous issues including the Easter date. The Council of Laodecia in 364AD, determined that “Churches should not rest on the Sabbath like Jews”, decreeing a Sunday worship.
Persecution of dissenters began in a general way under Pope Alexander III’s Council at Tours in 1163, when the Bible reading Albigenses where denounced as heretics prohibiting them from buying or selling. Then in 1179 the same Pope decreed, through the Third Lateran Council, that all so-called heretics were to be refused Christian burial, and that all were forbidden to harbor them. In 1183 Pope Lucius III issued a bull against all heretics and ordered the Inquisition. Innocent III began a full crusade, in 1198, to destroy all heretics, by sending Legates as Inquisitors to Toulouse. (Remember at this time, anyone who disagreed with the Roman Catholic Church was considered a heretic)
The Fourth Lateran Council, in 1215, urged more zeal in the killing of all heretics. Secular powers were ordered to carry out this new holy war. All subjects, of any prince refusing to join this crusade, were absolved from any allegiance and taxation due their prince. This discouraged all those, in ruling positions, from opposing the Pope’s Inquisition for fear of losing tax revenue and civil authority over their subjects. Princes, priests and secular peoples all joined the Inquisition.
In England from 1360-1380 the followers of Wycliff were hunted down, forty years later the followers of Huss and Jerome were also hunted. Huss was burnt at the stake! In Savonarola Italy the Inquisition carried on from 1464-1498 against the Bohemians, Waldenses, Taborits and United Brethren. Racks, gibbets, fire and sword were thought to be fitting weapons against any and all who were deemed heretics.
The history of the murder of the Waldenses is a list of atrocities that would make anyone’s blood curdle. In 1478 the
Inquisition was reformed to be more efficient. Llorente, the historian says of this reformed period during the Inquisition, between 1478 and 1517, some 13,000 persons were burnt alive and 169,000 were tortured. Far more were killed in the Spanish and Dutch Inquisitions, however Rome has never come clean on the numbers, estimates are in the millions. The teachings of the Church of Rome are clearly not the teachings of Christ and the Apostles, who say love your enemies, not kill anyone who disagrees with you.
“And the king shall do according to his will; he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished; for what is determined shall be done. He shall give no heed to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women; he shall not give heed to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all. He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these; a god whom his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. He shall deal with the strongest fortresses by the help of a foreign god; those who acknowledge him he shall magnify with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price.” Dan 11:36-39
The will of the Sovereign Pontiff was made known in all matters of kingship, both imperial strength and weaknesses of economics and everything spiritual. Disobedience to that will was condemned. On his whim one would live, another would die; one could marry, another could not marry; one could divorce, another could not divorce.
“We define that the Holy Apostolic See and the Roman Pontiff holds the primacy over the whole world, and the Roman Pontiff himself is the successor of the Blessed Peter, prince of the Apostles, and the true vicar of Christ, the head of the whole church, the father of all Christians; and that to him, in the person of Blessed Peter, was given, by Our Lord Jesus Christ, full power to feed, rule, and govern the universal church, as is contained also in the acts of the ecumenical councils, and in the sacred canons.” COUNCIL OF TRENT
GREGORY IX
In the DECRETALS OF GREGORY IX, BOOK 1, TITLE 7, CHAP 3. Pope Gregory IX (1227-1241) states, “Hence he (the pope) is said to have a heavenly power, and hence changes even the nature of things, applying the substantial of one thing to another – can make something out of nothing – a judgment which is null he makes to be real, since in the things which he wills, his will is taken for a reason. Nor is there any one to say to him, ‘Why dost thou do this?’ for he can dispense with the law, he can turn injustice into justice by correcting and changing the law, and he has the fullness of power.” Ins and Outs of Romanism by Zacchello page 19
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“We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.” Pope Leo XIII 1894 in the ENCYCLICAL letter dated June 20, 1894 Ins and Outs of Romanism by Zacchello page 20
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This willful king will exalt and magnify himself above every god. On April 30, 1922, Pope Pius XI spoke from his throne in the Vatican, to a large group of Cardinals, Bishops, Priests, and Nuns. They fell on their knees before him, and he said, “You know that I am the Holy Father, the representative of God on earth, the Vicar of Christ, which means that I am God on earth.” Great Prophecies of the Bible Ralph Woodrow pg. 145
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“Pope Pius X, when he was the Archbishop of Venice, said, “The Pope is not only the representative of Jesus Christ, but he is Jesus Christ himself hidden under the veil of the flesh. Does the Pope speak? It is Jesus Christ who speaks.” Great Prophecies of the Bible Ralph Woodrow pg. 145
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“On the arches raised in honor of Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia) it reads
‘Rome was great under Caesar; now she is greater: Alexander VI reigns. The former was a man this is a god.’ Even the scandalous life of Rodrigo Borgia was not enough to stop the Bishops from calling him a god.” The Antichrist by Baron Porcelli pg 34
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FYI: Alexander VI, originally Rodrigo Borgia (1431-1503) Pope (1492-1503), born in Jativa, Spain, the father of Ceasre and Lucretia Borgia. In 1455 he was made a cardinal by his uncle, Clixtus III, and on the death of Innocent VIII was elevated to the papal chair, which he had previously secured, by bribery. He endeavored to break the power of the Italian princes, and to appropriate their possessions for the benefit of his own family, employing the most execrable (appalling) means to gain this end. During his pontificate, he apportioned the New World between Spain and Portugal, and introduced the censorship of books
The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia pg 19
He shall magnify himself above every god
The priests claim to be able to turn the bread of the Eucharist (communion) into the body of Christ. It is called the host, immolated victim or wafer god. On the ‘Chair of St. Peter’ Porcelli says: “This ‘throne’ is supported by (the four legs) images pretending to be Augustine and Ambrose- the Latin ‘Fathers’, Chrysostom and Athanasius- the Greek ‘Fathers.’ Above it is a Dove, surrounded by angels, boys and nymphs, in the midst of ray’s of light. Angels are gazing down at the Pope’s bronze throne, with the seat inside. Directly under the bronze case is the ‘altar.’ ( where the host is placed) Thus the place of Romish ‘authority’ and ‘teaching’ is above the Sacrifice of the Mass or the Immolated Victim on the altar, i.e., is ‘above God’.” The Antichristby Porcelli pg 35
In Dan 11:38-39 the word says; “He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these; a god whom his fathers did not know………He shall deal with the strongest fortresses by the help of a foreign god.” There is no word for goddess in Hebrew, even Ashteroth in Hebrew is called a god. So the passage could just as well be, he will honor the goddess of fortresses on his stand.
Goddess of Fortresses Cybele
“Who this god of fortifications could be, commentators have found themselves at a loss to determine. In the records of antiquity the existence of any god of fortifications has been commonly overlooked; and it must be confessed that no such god stands forth there with any prominence to the ordinary reader. But of the existence of a goddess of fortifications, everyone knows that there is the amplest evidence. That goddess is Cybele, who is universally represented with a mural or turreted crown, or with a fortification, on her head. Why was Rhea or Cybele thus represented? Ovid asks the question and answers it himself; (in the Opera) and the answer is this: The reason he says, why the statue of Cybele wore a crown of towers was, ‘because she first erected them in cities’. The first city in the world after the flood (from whence the commencement of the world itself was often dated) that had towns and encompassing walls, was Babylon; and Ovid himself tells us that it was Semiramis, the first queen of that city, who was believed to have ‘surrounded Babylon with a wall of brick’. Semiramis, then, the first deified queen of that city and towers whose top was intended to reach to heaven, must have been the prototype of the goddess who; ‘first made tower in cities’. When we look at the Ephesian Diana, we find evidence to the very same effect. In general, Diana was depicted as a virgin, and the patroness of virginity; but the Ephesian Diana was quite different. She was represented with all the attributes of the Mother of the gods, and, as the Mother of the gods, she wore a turreted crown, such as no one can contemplate without being forcibly reminded of the tower of Babel. Now this tower-bearing Diana is by an ancient scholiast expressly identified with Semiramis. When, therefore, we remember that Rhea or Cybele, the tower bearing goddess, was, in point of fact, a Babylonian goddess, and that Semiramis, when deified, was worshipped under the name of Rhea, there will remain, I think, no doubt as to the personal identity of the ‘goddess of fortification’.
Now there is no reason to believe that Semiramis alone (though some have represented the matter so) built the battlements of Babylon. We have the express testimony of the ancient historian, Megasthenes, as preserved by Abydenus, that it was ‘Belus’ who ‘surrounded Babylon with a wall’. As ‘Bel’, the Confounder, who began the city and tower of Babel, had to leave both unfinished; this could not refer to him. It could refer only to his son Ninus, who inherited his father’s title, and who was the first actual king of the Babylonian Empire, and, consequently Nimrod. The real reason that Semiramis, the wife of Ninus, gained the glory of finishing the fortifications of Babylon, was, that she came in the esteem of the ancient idolaters to hold a preponderating position, and to have attributed to her all the different characters that belonged, or were supposed to belong, to her husband. Having ascertained, then, one of the characters in which the deified wife was worshipped, we may from that conclude what was the corresponding character of the deified husband. Layard distinctly indicates his belief that Rhea or Cybele, the ‘tower-crowned’ goddess, was just the female counterpart of the ‘deity presiding over the bulwarks or fortresses;’ and that this deity was Ninus, or Nimrod, we have still further evidence from what the scattered notices of antiquity say of the first deified king of Babylon, under a name that identifies him as the husband of Rhea, the ‘tower-bearing’ goddess. That name is Kronos or Saturn. It is well known that Kronos, or Saturn, was Rhea’s husband; but it is not so well known who was Kronos himself. Traced back to his original, that divinity is proved to have been the first king of Babylon. Theophilus of Antioch shows that Kronos in the east was worshipped under the names of Bel and Bal; and from Eusebius we learn that the first of the Assyrian kings, whose name was Belus, was also by the Assyrians called Kronos. As the genuine copies of Eusebius do not admit of any Belus, as an actual king of Assyria, prior to Ninus, king of Babylon, and distinct from him, that shows that Ninus, the first king of Babylon, was Kronos. But, further we find that Kronos was king of the Cyclops, who were his brethren, and who derived that name from him, and that the Cyclops were known as ‘the inventors of tower-building’. The king of the Cyclops, ‘the inventors of tower-building’, occupied a position exactly correspondent to that of Rhea, who ‘first erected (towers) in cities’. If, therefore, Rhea, the wife of Kronos, was the goddess of fortification, Kronos or Saturn, the husband of Rhea, that is, Ninus or Nimrod, the first king of Babylon, must have been Ala mahozin, ‘the god of fortification’.” THE TWO BABYLONS by Rev. Alexander Hislop pg. 33
see also The pagan origins of Easter
In 1075 the Emperor Henry IV, a headstrong young man fresh from triumphing over rebels and rivals in his own lands, refused to obey Pope Gregory VII over the appointment of bishops and threatened to turn him off the papal throne. The Pope retaliated by excommunicating him and telling his subjects that they no longer needed to obey him. Henry stood firm, but his subjects were horrified and rebelled against his authority, and he was forced to give in. He went to the Castile of Canossa, in northern Italy where the Pope was staying and waited three days outside in the snow before the Pope would see him. He was finally granted absolution from excommunication. However a few years later when Henry IV was in a better position he deposed Pope Gregory and set up another Pope in his stead.
In 1208 John I of England and Pope Innocent III, were in disagreement over the appointment of the Archbishop of 
Canterbury. When the Pope appointed his own choice as Archbishop over John’s choice, John refused to accept Langton as Archbishop. To resolve the matter and bring John under control the Pope placed all of England under an Interdict prohibiting the sacraments and solemn services (marriage, burial, etc.) to take place. This did not endear John I with his people and in the end John had to surrender his crown to the Pope and received it back as a vassal of Rome.
FYI: This John is the Prince John in the historical legend of Robin Hood.
“He will prosper till the indignation is accomplished; for what is determined shall be done.” [Dan 11:36] This sounds rather ominous but there will be an end. Today we can see he is already an old man and no longer lording over all the Roman World. The pope no longer has any temporal power, all he can do is tell Roman Catholics what to do, and they don’t even pay much attention. However, he will be around until God says he is done. Then there will come a time when “Rome the Eternal” will be no more.
“Now when Jesus came in to the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples. ‘Who do men say that the Son of man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him. ‘Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’ Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.” Mat 16:13-20
The Roman Church claims supreme authority based on this passage where Jesus tells Peter he will build His Church upon this rock. According to Catholics, this is Peter himself. Thus, the keys of succession to authority began with Peter. However, Jesus is making a word play with Peter’s name petros or small stone, petraor rock bed. Peter’s confession, that Jesus is the Christ, is the stone that Jesus will build His Church upon. Jesus tells Peter that he is a little rock; this is the foundational truth. Peter is just one of many stones being used to build a spiritual temple. There is only one cornerstone to the foundation of the Church, that cornerstone is Jesus Christ. The Pope of Rome claims to have the keys of St. Peter and with these he can open and close heaven and earth. We should ask where do these keys come from?
In the Catechism of the Catholic Church it says:
“The Lord made St. Peter the visible foundation of his Church. He entrusted the keys of the Church to him. The bishop of the Church of Rome, successor to St. Peter, is ‘head of the college of bishops, the Vicar of Christ and Pastor of the universal Church on earth” no 936
“After his Resurrection, Christ sent his apostles ‘so that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations.’ 524 The apostles and their successors carry out this ‘ministry of reconciliation,’ not only by announcing to men God’s forgiveness merited for us by Christ, and calling them to conversion and faith; but also by communicating to them the forgiveness of sins in Baptism, and reconciling them with God and with the Church through the power of the keys, received from Christ:525
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(The Church) has received the keys for the Kingdom of heaven so that, in her, sins may be forgiven through Christ’s blood and the Holy Spirit’s action. In this Church, the soul dead through sin comes back to life in order to live with Christ, whose grace has saved us.”526 no 981 pg 256
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“… it is not difficult to see how the Pagans would rally round the Pope all the more readily when they heard him found his power on the possession of Peter’s keys. The keys that the Pope bore were the keys of a ‘Peter’ well known to the Pagans initiated in the Chaldean Mysteries. That Peter the apostle was ever Bishop of Rome has been proved again and again to be an arrant fable. That he ever even set foot in Rome is at the best highly doubtful. His visit to that city rests on no better authority than that of a writer at the end of the second century or beginning of the third – viz., the author of the work called The Clementines, who gravely tells us that on the occasion of his visit, finding Simon Magus there, the apostle challenged him to give proof of his miraculous or magical powers, whereupon the sorcerer flew up into the air, and Peter brought him down in such haste that his leg was broken. All historians of repute have at once rejected this story of the apostolic encounter with the magician as being destitute of all contemporary evidence; but as the visit of Peter to Rome rest on the same authority, it must stand or fall along with it, or, at least, it must be admitted to be extremely doubtful. But, while this is the case with Peter the Christian, it can be shown to be by no means doubtful that before the Christian era, and downwards, there was a ‘Peter’ at Rome, who occupied the highest place in the Pagan priesthood. The priest who explained the Mysteries to the initiated was sometimes called by a Greek term, the Hierophant; but in primitive Chaldee, the real language of the Mysteries, his title, as pronounced without the points, was ‘Peter’ – i.e. ‘the interpreter.’ As the revealer of that which was hidden, nothing was more natural than that, while opening up the esoteric doctrine of the Mysteries, he should be decorated with the keys of the two divinities whose mysteries he unfolded. Thus we may see how the keys of Janus and Cybele would come to be known as the keys of Peter, the ‘interpreter’ of the Mysteries. Yea, we have the strongest evidence that, in countries far removed from one another, and far distant from Rome, these keys were known by initiated Pagans not merely as the ‘Keys of Peter,’ but as the keys of a Peter identified with Rome. In the Eleusinian Mysteries at Athens, when the candidates for initiation were instructed in the secret doctrine of Paganism, the explanation of that doctrine was read to them out of a book called by ordinary writers the ‘Book Petroma;’ that is, as we are told, a book formed of stone. But this is evidently just a play upon words, according to the usual spirit of Paganism, intended to amuse the vulgar. The nature of the case, and the history of the Mysteries, alike show that this book could be none other than the ‘book Pet-Roma;’ that is, the ‘Book of the Grand Interpreter,’ in other words, of Hermes Trismegistus, the great ‘Interpreter of the Gods.’ In Egypt from which Athens derived its religion, the books of Hermes were regarded as the divine fountain of all true knowledge of the Mysteries. In Egypt, therefore, Hermes was looked up to in this very character of Grand Interpreter, or ‘Peter- Roma.’ In Athens, Hermes, as is well known, occupied precisely the same place, and, of course, in the sacred language, must have been know by the same title. The priest, therefore, that in the name of Hermes explained the Mysteries, must have been decked not only with the keys of Peter, but with the keys of ‘Peter-Roma.’ Here, then, the famous ‘Book of Stone’ begins to appear in a new light, and not only so, but to shed new light on one of darkest and most puzzling passages of Papal history. It has always been a matter of amazement to candid historical inquirers how it could ever have come to pass that the name of Peter should be associated with Rome in the way in which it is found from the fourth century downwards – how so many in different countries had been led to believe that Peter, who was an ‘apostle of the circumcision,’ had apostatized from his Divine commission, and become bishop of a Gentile Church, and that he should be the spiritual ruler in Rome, when no satisfactory evidence could be found for his ever having been in Rome at all. But the book of ‘Peter-Roma’ accounts for what otherwise is entirely inexplicable. The existence of such a title was too valuable to be overlooked by the Papacy; and, according to its usual policy, it was sure, if it had the opportunity, to turn it to the account of its own aggrandizement. And that opportunity it had. When the Pope came, as he did, into intimate connection with the Pagan priesthood; when they came at last, as we shall see they did, under his control, what more natural than to seek not only to reconcile Paganism and Christianity, but to make it appear that the Pagan ‘Peter-Roma,’ with his keys, meant ‘Peter of Rome,’ and that that ‘Peter of Rome’ was the very apostle to whom the Lord Jesus Christ gave the ‘Keys of the Kingdom of heaven’? Hence, from the mere jungle of words, persons and things essentially different were confounded; and Paganism and Christianity jumbled together, that the towering ambition of a wicked priest might be gratified; and so, to the blinded Christians of the apostasy, the Pope was the representative of Peter the apostle, while to the initiated Pagans, he was only the representative of Peter, the interpreter of their well-known Mysteries. Thus was the Pope the express counterpart of ‘Janus, the double-faced.’ Oh! what an emphasis of meaning in the Scriptural expression, as applied to the Papacy, ‘The Mystery of Iniquity’! “ THE TWO BABYLONS by Rev. Alexander Hisloppage 208
This beast is different from the other beasts. For unlike any other beast in prophecy it comes from the earth, not the sea, as do the kings in Dan 7:17, meaning that they were but ordinary men. However, it does have some of the characteristics of an empire, for it is a beast and not a horn. In Dan 7 he was represented as a horn, so therefore, in some way he must be a kingdom dynasty. Comparing scripture, it is an empire building man, who is also imitating Christ, who will be the fulfillment of the beast that comes out of the earth. This man would be an anti-christ. (I John 2:18-25) However, he cannot be a singular man for a beast represents an empire and must have the lasting character of an empire. The only conclusion possible is that this would have to be a seat of power with a succession of rulers. The only pagan seat of power to be found that meets this description and has lasted for generations is the position of Pontifex Maximus or the Roman Papacy.
“The pontiffs were chosen among the most illustrious of the senators; and the office of Supreme Pontiff was constantly exercised by the emperors themselves. They knew and valued the advantages of religion, as it is connected with civil government.” The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon Vol. 1 page 56
Satan is the father of lies. His first and most telling lie was to misrepresent God. He is a roaring lion trying to devour the children of God with his lies. He tries to represent God as one who is unfair and wrathful, so that no one can approach God safely.
“This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred, sixty-six.”Rev 13:18
“The mysterious number 666 is attached to the beast. We are told throughout the Bible, and especially in the book of The Revelation that the number seven is used of God and the things of God, perfection and completeness. There are seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls. Three sevens. In regards to 666, here there are three six’s in direct contrast to God’s perfection; this number denotes perfect imperfection.
“As this is the number of the Beast, we may expect to find it in various shapes in the chronology of the Beast, and in that of his most conspicuous Old Testament types. And it is there; a fact which has never before, we believe, been noted, but which is surely full of solemn importance. God has,‑ in secret cipher,‑engraven this stigma, this mark of reprobation, on the very brow of the period of the self‑exalting, blaspheming, saint‑persecuting, power; and He has besides, in order that we may not fail to note the contrast, set it in the midst of a series of periods, whose septiform measures, bring out its peculiar and evil character,
There is nothing whatever sacred or septiform about this period, nothing sabbatic, nothing suggestive of rest, or worship, or liberty, as in the sevenfold sabbatic and jubilee series. Like some sounds in music, it is a discord, not a harmony; a symbol of what is imperfect and evil.
1. Twelve hundred and sixty years is, first, as we have seen, eighteen of the 70‑years cycle. It is 6 + 6 + 6 such cycles.
2. And when we examine its lunar cycle measures we find that they similarly present a trine of sixes, for it is– 66 lunar cycles + 6 years.
(60 cycles + 6 cycles + 6 years)
Further; in the lunar cycles of this period, the sun’s gain is 66 weeks of months, and in the 6 years remainder it is 66 days. Sixfold throughout! a clear link of connection between the number of the Beast and his period.
3. The dominion of the typical ancient Babylon over the typical Israel, lasted, as Clinton shows in his Chronology, accurately 66 solar years, for the remaining years of the Captivity were under the Medo‑Persian power. The dominion of the anti-typical modern Babylon, over the anti-typical Israel ‑‑ over captive Christendom‑endures for 66 lunar cycles, and 6 years.
Another link between the number and the period of the Beast dependent on great, and apparent utterly disconnected facts, in the realms of history and astronomy.
4. It has been well said, that “history is prophecy,” for all history has a tendency to repeat itself. But the saying is peculiarly true of Old Testament history. As Paul says of various incidents in the experience of Israel, “All these things happened unto them for ensamples (Tupos, types), and are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come ” (I Cor. 10:11).
The literal Babylon was, as we have seen, a type of the spiritual Babylon‑the Church of Rome; and the great king of Babylon, the destroyer of the holy city and temple, the captor of the children of Judah, who set up a golden image of himself 60 cubits high and 6 broad onthe plains of Dura, and commanded all peoples nations and languages to fall down and worship it, and cast into a burning fiery furnace the faithful witnesses who refused‑Nebuchadnezzar, who was a very incarnation of human pride, is a marvelous type of that Papal dynasty which is symbolized by the “little horn,” and by “the beast.” The Pope is the self‑exalting monarch of the modern Babylon, who on a far wider scale commands all nations, and people, and languages, to bow down and adore him, and condemned to the flames the saints of the Most High, who refused compliance. The type‑portrait is too like to be mistaken; it has had but one anti-type, the man who sits in the temple of God, showing himself as a God on earth, and claiming the infallibility of Deity. We ask then what was the period of this remarkably typical monarch, Nebuchadnezzar?
Josephus tells us it was forty‑three years, and the famous astronomical canon of Ptolemy confirms the statement; as Clinton says, “The reign of Nebuchadnezzar is forty‑three years, in all the copies of the canon of Ptolemy, and that number of years is also assigned to his reign by Berosus.”
Applying the same standard as before, we look eagerly to see what arc the soli‑lunar measures of this singularly typical reign and again the fatal trinity of sixes meets our view! The soli-lunar gain or epact in forty‑three years is sixty‑six weeks, and six days. 66 weeks + 6 days.
5 ‑ In considering the four hundred and ninety years’ period, we observed, that whether regarded as consisting of true solar, or calendar lunar years, it equally afforded septiform results, when measured by soli‑lunar epact. The elements of the calculation being different, the results arc of course different, but both are septiform. (seven)
Similarly, with the period now under consideration, we have this true testimony of two witnesses. The twelve hundred and sixty years may be taken either as true solar, or as calendar lunar years, the epact measurement affords in either case, sixfold, not sevenfold, results. Treating them as true solar and lunar years, they arc, as we have seen, 66 lunar cycles and 6 years. Treating them as prophetic, or calendar years, on the other hand, we find the gain of the true solar year in the whole period is 6606 days.Y
There is a very note worthy circumstance connected with this last measurement, to which we must direct attention. We have in a previous chapter spoken of the Reformation of the calendar affected by Pope Gregory XIII., A.D. 1582. But for the application to the period in question, of the more accurate measures of the solar year introduced by this Papal reformation of the calendar, the above results would have been hidden from view. The use of the old style Julian year, throws them out completely and make the solar gain in the 1260 years 6615 days. This is because the Julian year of 365 ¼ days is slightly in excess of the true solar year, and the error accumulates in this period to about ten days.
Now it will be remembered that Gregory XIII cut off ten days from the year 1582, and commanded Christendom by a special Papal brief to count the 5th of October of that year as. the 15th. In this he legislated back for 1260 years thus changing times and laws for ‘a time, times, and the dividing of time,’ in remarkable agreement with the prophecy about the little born.
This arose in the following way. The first general or Ecumenical Council of Nice, A.D. 325, had legislatedwith reference to the time of the observance of Easter. Gregory XIII assumed this Council as a starting‑point; and as the error of the old Julian year, had, in the interval which had elapsed since the Council, thrown the vernal equinox out, by about nine days and a half, he arbitrarily ordained the removal of ten days from the calendar, at the same time that he introduced regulations to avoid irregularities in future.
Gregory XIII died in A.D. 1585, exactly 1260 years after the Council of Nice, and his reformation of the calendar only came into use three years before his death, and that only in the Catholic countries which accepted it as a matter of course; in Protestant Germany and Switzerland it did not take effect till A.D. 1700, and in England not till A.D. 1752.
It is a singular coincidence, to say the least of it, that this chronological legislation, emanating from the Pope who sanctioned and struck a triumphant medal, in memory of the bloody massacre of the Protestants of France, on St. Bartholomew’s day, should have removed from a period of 1260 years (dating from the first General Council following the rise of Imperial Christianity) the accumulated Julian error which concealed its true epact measures, and that he should thus have unintentionally uncovered, as attached to it, one more form of the triple six, so solemnly linking the period with the number of the Beast.
The downfall of the temporal power of the Papacy is the event marking the close of this period of 1260 years, just as the rise of the Papacy marked its beginning; and it is evident that neither of these events happened in a year, or indeed in a century. ‘Rome was not built in a day,’ it is commonly said; and assuredly the Roman Catholic Church did not burst full‑blown on the world. It rose intopower gradually as the old Roman Empire decayed and passed away; it had various marked crises of rise, and hence its great period of 1260 years, must have analogous successive termini, earlier and later, exactly as in the case of the Captivity era. The earliest possible conclusion of the period is the epoch of the Reformation. Upto that time the saints had been delivered into the hand of this persecuting power without exception, and without appeal, or redress. Then, and thenceforward, a very considerable portion of Christendom was delivered from its spiritual and temporal oppression and tyranny. From the Councilof Nice to the full end of the Reformation movement may therefore, perhaps, be regarded as an initiatory 1260 years.
The chronological legislation of Gregory XIII., took place at the close of this period, and corrected the error that had accumulated since its commencement. Sixtus V, who died five years after Gregory (A.D. 1590), was ‘the last pope who rendered himself formidable to European courts.’ From his time, to the present, Papal power has been passing through its period of decline and fall, just as from the fourth to the end of the sixth centuries; the system of the apostasy was gradually rising and developing into the Papacy.
A second and more evident and accurate measurement, is found by dating the 1260 years from the Edict of Justinian, which constituted the Bishop of Rome ‘the head of all the Churches,’ A.D. 533. This date of the terminus a quo, gives as the terminus ad quem AD 1793, the time of the French Revolution, in the course of which, as we have seen, the Pope was carried captive from Rome, and the Papal power received a tremendous shock, from which it never fully rallied.
But the main reckoning of the period is unquestionably between the chronologic limits A.D. 606 and 1866‑70, the former being the date at which the title of Pope, or universal bishop, was, by the Emperor Phocas, conferred upon Boniface III., and the latter, that of the overthrow of Austria and France, and the consequent loss of the 7 last vestige Of temporal Power, by Pius IX., when Victor Emmanuel moved his court to the Quirinal, and became sole king of united Italy. Then, and never quite till then, the Papacy, as a temporal power‑a horn ‑ceased to exist. As a religion, it is destined to continue till the second advent of Christ, when the Lord will destroy it ‘with the brightness of his coming.’ The Beast is to be cast alive into the lake of fire, and therefore to be still in existence at the Epiphany.
To sum up: 1260 years, the foretold and fulfilled period of Papal domination in Christendom, and of the temporal political power of the Popes of Rome, has the following remarkable astronomic measures.
1260years is 6 + 6 + 6 soli‑lunar 70‑year cycles;
1260years is 66 lunar cycles + 6 years.
1260 years have 6606 days of epact.
The 43‑years type of the period of the Beast‑the reign of
Nebuchadnezzar,‑whose image was 6o cubits high and 6 broad,‑has
66 weeks + 6 days of epact
This period is then bound by multiplied linksto the number of the Beast, 666. And it is thus linked by hidden connections, not obvious ones; by great unobserved soli‑lunar cycles, not by months and years of conspicuous recurrence; linked therefore by the Hand that upholds the stars in their courses, by the Providence that orders all the events of history, and by the Mind that inspired the Apocalypse, and communicated to the man greatly beloved, the secrets of this ‘time of the end.’ ‘Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world’.” THE APPROACHING END OF THE AGE by H. Grattan Guinnesspg. 425
“Edward Bickersteth (1786-1850) Bickersteth holds consistently that “Rome is the Man of Sin and Babylon of Revelation,” basing his opinion upon the common consent of a great galaxy of English and Continental Reformation writers, and their successors- naming some thirty will-known churchmen, Teaching back into the Middle Ages, he sites the strong earlier declarations of Arnulph, Bernard of Clairvaux, Joachim, Dante, and Petrarch. He then adds the supporting witness of the historic Protestant creed, confessions, homilies, and articles.” THE PROPHETIC FAITH OF OUR FATHERS by Leroy Edwin Froom page 650
Many today have forgotten the teaching of the Reformers and the Bible “to come out of her my people” [Rev 18:4] and have begun to fellowship with the Church of Rome. Others, claiming that they do not want strife or divisions in the body, are reaching out to Roman Catholics as brothers in Christ. This does not help any true believers in the Church of Rome who will not leave her and who will in some way face the judgment that is to fall on Rome.
Some even have begun to apologize for the sins of Rome, such as the Crusades and the Inquisition. But Rome does not apologize for herself! Why should Protestants take on the sins of Rome? Rather, we should denounce what happened and explain that they are not of us. From time to time there have been atrocities committed by Protestants, however these have for the most part been small local problems that were stopped when cooler heads were finally acknowledged.
The teachings of the Church of Rome are clearly not the teachings of Christ and the Apostles. Love your enemies, is what they taught, not kill anyone who disagrees with you. Many in the Church of Rome are never taught that to be a believer you must be born again [Jn 3:3], or that the just shall live by faith [Rom 1:17].
The good news is that the breath of the Lord’s mouth will consume the man of sin. This refers to Christ’s word, which is both spirit and life [Jn 6:63]. It is the only weapon by which we may combat or resist him [Eph 6:17; Heb 4:12]. With the publishing of the Bible in many languages of the common people, the power of the papacy has been slowly diminishing and he will be totally destroyed by the brightness of the Lord’s coming.
A ROMAN MIRACLE
A pretty maid, a Protestant, was to a Catholic wed;
To love all Bible truths and tales, quite early she’s been bred.
It sorely grieved her husband’s heart that she would not comply,
And join the Mother Church of Rome and heretics deny.
So day by day he flattered her, but still she saw no good
Would ever come from bowing down to idols made of wood.
The Mass, the host, the miracles, were made but to deceive;
And transubstantiation, too, she never dare believe.
He went to see his clergyman and told him his sad tale,
“My wife is an unbeliever, sir; you can perhaps prevail;
For all your Romish miracles my wife has strong aversion,
To really work a miracle may lead to her conversion.”
The priest went with the gentleman- he thought to gain a prize.
He said, “I will convert her, sir, and open both her eyes.”
So when they came into the house, the husband loudly cried,
“The priest has come to dine with us!” “He’s welcome,” she replied.
And when, at last, the meal was o’er, the priest at once began,
To teach his hostess all about the sinful state of man;
The greatness of our Savior’s love, which Christians can’t deny,
To give Himself a sacrifice and for our sins to die.
“I will return tomorrow, lass, prepare some bread and wine;
The sacramental miracle will stop your soul’s decline.”
“I’ll bake the bread,” the lady said. “You may,” he did reply,
“And when you’ve seen this miracle, convinced you’ll be, say I.”
The priest did come accordingly, the bread and wine did bless.
The lady asked, “Sir, is it changed?” The priest answered, “Yes!
It’s changed from common bread and wine to truly flesh and blood;
Begorra, lass, the power of mine has changed it into God!”
So having blessed the bread and wine, to eat they did prepare.
The lady said unto the priest, “I warn you to take care,
For half an ounce of arsenic was mixed right in the batter,
But since you have its nature changed, it cannot really matter.”
The priest was struck real dumb- he looked as pale as death.
The bread and wine fell from his hands and he did grasp for breath.
“Bring me my horse!” the priest cried. “This is a cursed home!”
The lady replied, “Be gone; tis you who shares the curse of Rome.”
The husband, too he sat surprised, and not a word did say.
At length he spoke, “My dear,” said he, “the priest has run away;
To gulp such mummery and tripe, I’m not for sure, quite able;
I’ll go with you and we’ll renounce this Roman Catholic fable.”
Author unknown
PREVIOUS CHAPTER: THE PROPHETIC CALENDAR
NEXT CHAPTER: MATHEW 24
Mount of Olives from the City of David
The Olivet Discourse |
Run to the hills for there will be seven years of GREAT TRIBULATION and persecution such as never before seen!!! Brother will turn against brother and bread will become so scarce that people will eat the dead. Many will be put to death or led away to captivity for their beliefs!!!
This popular view being taught today, by the Futurists, is, that Matthew 24 is yet future. However, there are compelling arguments that Matthew 24 was fulfilled in 70AD.
Four points that must be considered are:
Immediate Context Matthew 21-23
Like prophetic bookends the proceeding and following chapters in Mathew frame Jesus’ teaching on the destruction of Jerusalem. In Matthew 21-23, that same week, He spoke on the kingdom being taken from the Jews because of their unbelief in His Messiahship. He explained that the Pharisee’s were not righteously ruling in the seat of Moses, and would therefore forfeit the kingdom to another. Later in chapter 25 He spoke regarding the character of this coming kingdom.
The Triumphal Entry of our Lord into Jerusalem beginning in chapter 21 establishes the setting for what is commonly known as the Olivet Discourse. It was the tenth of Nisan [Ex 12:1-20] the day the Jews were to choose their Passover lamb. It is the middle of the last prophetic week of Daniel. [Dan 9:27] The place for this teaching was on the Mount of Olives, directly east of the Temple Mount.
Upon arrival in Jerusalem our Lord first went to the Temple were He was once again dismayed with His people as recorded in Jeremiah, chapter 7. In anger and judgment He proceeded to drive out those who were selling Temple lambs and turned over the tables of the moneychangers. Apparently they were selling lambs at exorbitant prices and providing less then perfect specimens; thus distorting the typology of the Passover Lamb, while at the same time making it difficult for the poor to participate in the most sacred feast which was only four days away.
Jewish wickedness exposed and the kingdom is given to another
The Lord has continually sent prophets to the Jews but they have killed and crucified them. He warns that all the judgment, for the blood of all of his prophets, will fall on this generation. [Matt 23:29-36; 27:25] Your house is forsaken and desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ Matt 23:29-38
John the Baptist said in Matt 3:2 that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. He did not say in the future but indicated that it was eminent. In Matt 13, Jesus explains what this kingdom is like. It is like a sower going out to sow, a grain of mustard seed, leaven. This all shows that the kingdom of heaven is present and partially corrupt.
Jesus pronounced seven woes upon the Pharisees [Mat 23:13-36]:
In unmistakable language, Jesus told the Pharisee’s that their house or Temple worship was being revoked and destroyed. Their sacrifices were no longer going to be accepted. Not until the Jews say, blessed is he who comes or when Christ shows Himself to the Jews will He redeem them to Himself.
From that day forward Christ never returned to the temple again.
The Discourse
“As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came and asked, ‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” Matt 24:3
Upon leaving the Temple Mount Christ and His disciples cross the Kidron Valley and ascended the Mount of Olives. From this vantage point the disciples point out the magnificent structure of the Temple. They engaged Him in a discussion concerning His recent teaching on Israel’s loss of the kingdom, which is then given to another. They become curious about the fall of the Jewish polity (political community) and Temple Worship. The Lord informed them, that of this magnificent structure; not one stone would be left upon another. Knowing their present wicked generation, the disciples naturally link the desolation of the temple with eminent judgment.
When would this be?
They had just heard seven parables or teachings about how the Kingdom would be taken from the Jews and given to another. The disciples had thought that the days of the Messiah would mean the end of the Roman Empire and the beginning of a glorious Jewish age. Never had they envisioned the possibility that the fall of the Jewish age or the Olam hazzeh (the world that is) would look the way that Christ had just described it. Naturally, they wanted to know when this was going to happen. [Luke 19:41-44] When was Christ going to come to destroy the temple and the Jewish age? Jesus spoke of only one event; one event that would include the destruction of the Temple and the kingdom being given to another. [Micah 3:12]
He gave them signs. “the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel” [Matt 24:15]
When you see:
First – This generation; He was saying you to those who are there with Him, you (the disciples) will see desolating sacrilege.
Second – This is the event spoken of by Daniel.
Third - The event will follow Jerusalem being surrounded by armies. (68-70AD)
“When you see the desolating sacrilege set up where it ought not to be (let the reader understand)” Mark 13:14
The passages in Mark and Luke further clarify what Jesus said.
“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.” Luke 21:20
First: This Generation
When Jesus says this generation,he is speaking to the men who are standing in front of Him, not some group of Christians, 2000 years in the future. The literal interpretation is that it is for the people of that generation. Some of the disciples were to live to see the close of this age. [John 21:21-24] This was also to happen within the lifetime of the current Sanhedrin.[Matt 26:64]
“Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will not pass away.” Matt 24:34
“Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away before all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Mark 13:30
“Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Luke 21:32
Second: The book of Daniel mentions three abominations
| “And after sixty-two weeks an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing.” | Jesus Christ, an anointed one, is Crucified. |
| “And the people of the prince who is to come” | Titus (as a servant of Messiah) |
| “Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary” | Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed. |
| “It’s end shall come with a flood-” | Flood is used here symbolically to mean an overwhelming army. |
| “And to the end desolation’s are decreed” | Jerusalem was made desolate over and over from 70 AD to 1968 |
| “And he shall confirm a strong covenant with many for one week” | This is the new covenant in My blood…”Matt 26:28 |
| “And for half of the week he shall cause sacrifice and offering to cease;” Some translations say, ‘in the middle of the week.’ | Sacrifices stopped being accepted around 30 AD. See Temple Omens |
| “And upon the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate,” | Titus (from the north toward Jerusalem) |
| “Until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” | Jerusalem shall remain in non-Jewish hands until Rome is judged. |
The intended use of the phrase abomination of desolation is not meant to be as a singular phrase with one distinct meaning but as two distinct and separate descriptive words. In the Luke passage, the word desolation is clearly identified as the armies surrounding Jerusalem intent on its destruction. Desolation in itself is a word used to describe complete destruction.
Abomination is often used of any sacrilege against God, His people, the nation of Israel, the city of Jerusalem, the temple, the ordained ritual sacrifices or the priesthood. In some other cases where abomination is used alone it pertains to idols or shrines. I King 11:7; II Kings 23:13; Jer 4:1; 13:27; Ezek 5:11]
FYI: It is not exclusively an idol or idolatry.
Abomination – shiqquts: detested thing
Desolation - shamen: be desolate, appalled; devastation, ruin
Third: Historical Fulfillment
In fact, this is exactly what happened in 70 AD, less than 40 years after the Olivet Discourse, when the Tenth Roman Legion surrounded the city of Jerusalem ultimately destroying the city and the Temple.
“And now the Romans, upon the flight of the seditious into the city, and upon the burning of the holy house itself, and of all the buildings lying round about it, brought their ensigns to the temple,* and set them over against its eastern gate; and there did they offer sacrifices to them, and there did they make Titus imperator, with the greatest acclamations of joy War book 6, chap 6, sec 1 by Josephus
Tenth Legion Ensignia
It was mentioned by Tertullian that the Tenth Roman Legion preferred their ensign above all other gods.
It can only be concluded
This discourse explains the signs that would precede the desolation of the Temple. Jesus told them that the Temple would end in ruins with not one stone left “standing”. It could only be an event that took place within a generation or 40 years. The destruction of the Temple in 70AD clearly satisfied the criteria of this prophecy. This event left no doubt that God in effect had given the Kingdom to the gentiles and eliminated any possibility for a continuing Priesthood and sacrificial system of worship. There remained only one why to approach God and that was through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. [Phil 2:10-11]
SIGNS AND WARNINGS
Jesus told them to look for the following as signs to discern that the end of the age is eminent: false-christs, wars and rumors of wars, nation against nation, famines, earthquakes and pestilence. Jesus made the point that the new age was about to appear with the figure of speech the beginning of birth pangs. The change would be somewhat gradual as in the transition associated with labor. The hard labor is yet to come. He then declared that you (the disciples) would be persecuted and put to death this then is the hard labor. Many would turn away from the faith; wickedness would increase; yet the gospel would be preached to all nations.
It was understood from previous teachings that Israel’s house (temple) would be left desolate. [Matt 23:38] The disciples would have anticipated the desolation of Jerusalem: as disobedience always brings judgment from the Lord. [Jer 22:5-9] They understood that Jesus would bring judgment on Jerusalem; but they wanted to know when it would happen. In asking what the signs would be, they indicated they knew he would not be literally present. There would be no need to ask for a sign if they thought Jesus himself would be physically present. [Matt 16: 28, Mark 9:1, Luke 21:31]
The Signs of His Coming In Judgment
God’s coming is frequently used for judgment in the Old Testament:
The End of the Age
Today our Christian teachers argue about the Great Tribulation, the Millennium, and the future. We who are living in this time period know what is meant by these terms. However, someone two thousand years from now might have difficulty piecing it all together. Likewise we today have trouble correctly interpreting the language of the apostolic writers. The meaning of the end of the age must be placed in a first century context reflecting their language and culture in order to correctly interpret their meaning.
In Greek aion is the word used for Age. Kosmos is world, and oikoumene is earth. This word aion, is used in I Cor 10:11, as this age, and in Matt 12:32 as, age to come. This age is not implying the end of the world nor of the earth.
The book of Mathew was originally written in Hebrew and very early on translated into the Greek. It is nonetheless full of Hebrew idioms. One must therefore look to the language and culture of the Jewish people of that time period to obtain full understanding of this writing.
The rabbis in the Talmud argued passionately about the exact meaning of the Olam hazzeh (the world that is), Yamot Hamasheach (the days of the Messiah), the Athid labho (the age to come) and the Olam habba (the world to come). They debated just what would be the nature of these periods, and how long they would last.
Matt 12:32 uses the phrase the age to come (Athid labho). The end of the age here is associated with the destruction of Jerusalem in Matt 22:1-14. In this parable Jesus taught about a king sending armies to destroy the city.
It is unfortunate for the twentieth century reader that this was translated the end of the world. This translation suggests the close of human history, the end of our time and the destruction of our earth. Scripture does not historically, grammatically, or hermeneutically support this understanding of the words.
Both Peter and Paul talked about the Last Days [I Cor 10:11; Acts 2:16-17; Joel 2:28-32; Heb 1:2; Heb 9:26 the end of the age, I Pet 1:20] as if they were currently living in them. To them, this phraseology meant the last days of Jewish polity. They understood from The Olivet Discourse that the time of Temple worship would soon be terminated [Jn 4:21] and the age they knew would be over. The Mosaic dispensation was to end not human history. [Heb 8:10-13] The destruction of the Temple would bring about the end of the theocratic nation; and bring in the kingdom of God (a new age, or the age to come).
Jesus specifically told them how the end would come about. When they saw the abomination that causes desolation standing in the holy place; a great tribulation would occur, that would cost many lives. The Lord’s purpose was to warn believers. In Luke’s narration he enumerates that the desolation would come through armies.
LET NO MAN LEAD YOU ASTRAY
In verses 4-8 Jesus begins by explaining that false-christs will appear and lead many astray. To be led astray by a false-christ, one has to be looking for a christ. No other people but the Jews look for a messiah. Pagans do not look for a deliverer, as they almost always have a god or demigod, who takes on the character of a redeemer. Therefore they have no need or desire to look for another. We know from Josephus and the Bible that there were indeed many false messiahs at that very time. [War 2.13.4,5, Antiq. 20.5.1;20.8.10; Acts 5:36-37; 8:9 Simon the Sorcerer; 21:38, 2 Cor 11:13, 2 Cor 11:26, Gal 2:4, 2 Pet 2:1, Jude 4, Acts 13:6 Bar Jesus a sorcerer and false prophet] Felix, Governor of Judea, put to death imposters daily. Theudas prophesied he would part the River Jordan in 46 AD and an Egyptian prophet led 30,000 men in commanding the walls of Jerusalem to fall.
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS
At the time the prophecy was given, the Roman Empire was experiencing peace. But, between 35 – 70AD there was increasing conflicts within the Roman world and in Judea. Before 70AD, four Roman Emperors came to violent deaths within 18 months of each other: Nero, Galva, Otho, and Vitellius. Emperor Caligula ordered his statue to be placed in the Temple causing great insurrection. Nero’s death caused uproar in the regions of Spain, Gaul, Germany, Illyricum and Syria. A Roman historian wrote that there were disturbances in Germany, commotions in Africa, insurrections in Gaul, intrigues among the Parthian, a war in Britain, and a war in Armenia.
They heard of wars!
A tumult at Jerusalem at the time of Passover resulted in 10,000 deaths. Wars book II; chap12; sec 1
At Caesarea 20,000 Jews were killed. Wars book II; chap 18; sec1
The Syrians destroyed a great multitude Wars book II; chap 18; sec 2
At Scythopolis, over 13,000 Jews were killed Wars book II; chap 18; sec 5
At Joppa 8,400 were killed Wars book II; chap 18; sec 10
In the Galilee over 2000 were slain Wars book II; chap 18; sec 11
At Alexandria 50,000 were killed Wars book II; chap 18 sec 8
At Damascus, 10,000 were killed in an hour’s time Wars book II; chap 20; sec2
FAMINES AND PESTILENCES
One famine happened under Claudius Caesar and is mentioned in Acts 11:28. Josephus (Wars book V, chap10; sec 2), Eusebius, and Tacitus also mention famines.
EARTHQUAKES
“Earthquakes did occur at Crete, at Smyrna, at Miletus, at Chios, at Asmos, at Rome, at Apamea (same region), at Laodicea (in the reign of Nero). So also in Hierapolis and Colosse, at Campania in the year 62 or 63, and at Rome and Judea. These earthquakes did not prove the “end” was imminent; contrariwise, as Jesus said, all of those things proved that “the end was not yet.” Mathew 24 Fulfilled by JohnBray page 28
DISCIPLES TO BE DELIVERED UP AND PUT TO DEATH
Jesus was talking directly to his disciples. Not someone else at the end of the church age. And indeed there was a lot of persecution during the early church by the Jewish leaders and the Roman Empire. The disciples were delivered up; they were brought before various councils, rulers and kings. All of this happened before the fall of Jerusalem, and it continued to some extent until the Bar Kokhba Rebellion in 132-135AD (or the second Jewish Revolt).
After this the Jews no longer had any power to do anything. However, the Romans continued persecuting Christians on and off for the next 200 years, until 313AD, when Constantine made Christianity the state religion. In Acts chapters 4, 6, 18, 24, 25, we read of just such problems. From the Jews to the Romans, all the nations hated the Apostles and the early church. Paul stated that he had endured great tribulation in II Cor 11:24. Particularly heavy persecution occurred between 64-68AD. Nero was famous for his tortuous exploits against Christians. Who can forget the martyrs being thrown to the lions in the Roman Coliseum?
HE WHO ENDURES TILL THE END WILL BE SAVED
Persecution was not only predicted, but also very common for the disciples. Except for John, they all lost their lives as martyrs; so obviously they were not to be saved from persecution. So what were they to be saved from? Not one Christian who listened to Christ’s words was lost in the destruction of Jerusalem. They left for the hills, in plenty of time, to escape the destruction of the city. [Dan 12:1]
While the Christian’s understood and were watching for the signs to appear as Christ had warned, God also allowed a grace period for those who were stubborn and slower than others in recognizing signs. [Matt 24:16-22] Before Vespasian reached Jerusalem Emperor Nero died. Vespasian immediately turned away from Jerusalem, wintered in Alexandria where he proclaimed himself Emperor, thereupon returning to Rome in an endeavor to maintain that claim. This allowed a pause of quite some time in the advance of Rome onto Jerusalem. At the end of the winter when Vespasian was leaving for Rome he sent his son, Titus, to subdue the Jews. Titus set out from Alexandria with the Tenth Legion along with their entourage. This was a very large group and it took them awhile to get to Jerusalem. Titus being extremely proud of his position, they called him king, preceded with much pomp and ceremony. There was no effort made to conceal their approach, thus adequately heralding their arrival, leaving at least a month for those inside the city to get the message and leave.
THE GOSPEL TO BE PREACHED TO THE WHOLE WORLD
The Apostles said that the Gospel was indeed preached to all nations by 70 AD. [Matt 28:19; Mark 16:15; Rom 1:8; 10:18; 16:25-26, Acts 11:28; Col 1:23] On the day of Pentecost, there were Jews present from every nation under heaven. [Acts 2:5, 9-11] Paul states that the gospel had come to all the world. [Col 1:4-6] We know that the gospel did not go out to the entire global world. So what does Paul mean by this when he says all the world?
Luke 2:1 says that Caesar Augustus, had the whole world taxed. Did he really tax the whole global world? No! In its context we understand that he taxed the Roman Empire. Though Rome’s influence stretched throughout most of the known world, in Paul’s day many countries had not yet received the gospel. So it must be concluded that the common usage of this term meant not the entire physical earth but only that part of the world that was under the control of the Roman Empire.
SO, WHEN YOU SEE THE DESOLATING SACRILEGE: FLEE!
Those living in the countryside would be the first to see the Roman Legion entering northern Palestine. The Roman armies put down insurrection in village after village on their march toward Jerusalem. As Rome advanced on Jerusalem believers fled before them, crossing the Jordan, they spent the war safe in Pella. Now the question arises; if believers where supposed to see an idol of some kind set up in the temple (as taught by those mischievous Futurists) and then flee, why did the believers flee as Rome was advancing onto Jerusalem?
The word eido, to see, is not necessarily the physical action of vision, but can be an action of perceiving. In this case it must be concluded that the believers, eido, understood the words of the Messiah to mean an army surrounding Jerusalem.
Examples of when you see being used as a figure of speech: Gen 11:5, 15; Ex 16:7; Ex 19:20; Ex 34:10; Num 11:25; Num 12:5; Deut 29:17; 2Chr 7:1; 2Chr 20:17; Ps 34:8, 37:34; Isa 35:2; Isa 40:5; Isa 41:20; Isa 62:2; Dan 7:13; Matt 5:8; Matt 16:28; Matt 25:37,44; John 3:3; Heb 11:27
At the trial of Jesus, Caiaphas the High Priest, questioned Jesus as to his being the Messiah, Son of God. Jesus told him that he would “see the Son of Man on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven“. [Matt 26:63-68] The phrase on the right hand of power is an Old Testament idiom for the power and authority of God. Caiaphas understood or saw that Jesus was claiming to be equal to God, for he then rent his clothes claiming Jesus was spouting blasphemy.
Since Caiaphas did not live long enough to physically see the destruction of Jerusalem or the Son of Man coming in the clouds, how was this word spoken by Christ fulfilled? Caiaphas understood the meaning of Christ’s words while yet others would actually visually perceive. The word here “you” is in the plural form. It must then be concluded that He was not just speaking to Caiaphas but to the entire Sanhedrin. As Josephus recorded: some of the Sanhedrin survived to see something in the clouds at the time of the destruction of the city. “for, before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running among the clouds, and surrounding of cities.” War book VI, chapter 5, section 3.
Prodigies had occurred, which this nation, prone to superstition, but hating all religious rites, did not deem it lawful to expiate by offering and sacrifice. There had been seen hosts joining battle in the skies, the fiery gleam of arms, the temple illuminated by a sudden radiance from the clouds. The doors of the inner shrine were suddenly thrown open, and a voice of more than mortal tone was heard to cry that the Gods were departing. At the same instant there was a mighty stir as of departure. Some few put a fearful meaning on these events, but in most there was a firm persuasion, that in the ancient records of their priests was contained a prediction of how at this very time the East was to grow powerful, and rulers, coming from Judaea, were to acquire universal empire. Tacitus Histories Book 5
Additional references:
Pella: Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbons Chapter 15 part 2 page 415
See also: War Book III by Josephus Vespian’s Coming to Subdue the Jews to the Taking of Gamala
BODIES AND EAGLES
Vultures
Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together; one will be taken and the other left.” And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there the vultures will be gathered together.” Luke 17:33-37
This is not an involuntary catching up without a passage of time to gather things that are corruptible. This is not the Rapture. It simply cannot be! The implication here is that there is time to make a decision to gather items from your home and even to make a decision whether to go or not. [Mark 13:14-23]
The disciple’s ask Where Lord? It is obvious that they are not asking where they are to be left but rather where they are to be taken. They would naturally be left in the field and at the mill and in bed. His answer is “Where the body is, there the vultures gather” [Hos 8:1]. This could not possible mean that they are taken to some glorious place or Heaven. Rather they are to be taken to their deaths and destruction. One living in those days would understand that the eagle or vulture was the ensign of Rome and the Tenth Legion and that if one were taken captive in time of war they would be used for sport in the arenas till their deaths.
Josephus wrote that upwards of 1,000,000 Jews were killed in the destruction and capture of Jerusalem under General Titus of the Roman Empire. Titus also took into captivity 95,000 Jews. The fulfillment of Duet 28:47-57and Jer 19:9, where God told them they would eat their own offspring, is recorded in written accounts regarding the siege of Jerusalem.
“And now, since his soldiers were already quite tired with killing men, and yet there appeared to be a vast multitude still remaining alive, Caesar gave orders that they should kill none but those that were in arms, and opposed them, but should take the rest alive. But, together with those whom they had orders to slay, they slew the aged and the infirm; but for those that were in their flourishing age, and who might be useful to them, they drove them together into the temple, and shut them up within the walls of the court of the women; over which Caesar set one of his freedmen, as also Fronto, one of his own friends; which last was to determine every one’s fate, according to his merits. So this Fronto slew all those that had been seditious and robbers, who were impeached one by another; but of the young men, he chose out the tallest and most beautiful, and reserved them for the triumph; and as for the rest of the multitude that were above seventeen years old, he put them into bonds, and sent them to the Egyptian mines. Titus also sent a great number into the provinces, as a present to them, that they might be destroyed upon their theatres, by the sword and by the wild beasts; but those that were under seventeen years of age were sold for slaves. Now during the days wherein Fronto was distinguishing these men, there perished, for want of food, eleven thousand; some of whom did not taste any food, through the hatred their guards bore to them; and others would not take in any when it was given them. The multitude also was so very great, that they were in want even of corn for their sustenance.” War book 6; chap 9; sec 2 by Josephus
AFTER THE TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS
SUN, MOON AND STARS
The moving or shaking of the celestial bodies is a common theme in the Old Testament. It implies some kind of desolation or political change. It describes God’s awful judgment on a wicked people.
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matt 24:29-31
Joseph’s dream [Gen 37:9-11] represented a change in the administration of the family. The description of the fall of the Babylonian Empire [Is 13:10] uses almost exactly the same words. In the lamentation over the demise of Pharaoh [Ezek 32:7] the theme continues. This Matthew passage is simply the fall of Jewish polity. It is not some great literal heavenly catastrophe. [Amos 8:9]
Throughout the Old Testament, the darkening or blotting out of the sun is linked to judgment and destruction as opposed to the end of time. [Is 24.23; Ezek 32:7; Am 8:9; Hag 2:6,21] However, this Matthew passage is more than simply the fall of Jewish polity; it also represents the momentous ushering in of the age to come. Jew and gentile now would be gathered from the four-corners of the earth. God’s kingdom will no longer be just Jews. This is the kingdom that Christ spoke of in Matt 13. A kingdom that is partly righteous and partly corrupt. All will share in the nurturing vine spoken of as the grafting in of the wild branches. [Rom 11:17-27]
SIGN OF HIS COMING
Coming in the clouds of glory
The word translated coming is parousia which means arrival, advent or presence. It does not mean return. It is related to events and duration’s.
The disciples clearly connected His coming with the judgment that would bring about the close of the age. They were thinking about the judgment of the Jewish age and believed that the two would be the same event. They thought the New Kingdom would be Jewish in nature, but Christ said it would be given to another. The new age would look nothing like what they had envisioned but would be totally different. We call it the Church Age for lack of a better term. [Matt 16:28; Mark 9:1; Luke 21:31; Acts 2:29]
In the parallel passages of Mark 13:4 and Luke 21:7 it is clear that the sign is directly related to the fulfillment of the destruction of the temple and the end of Jewish administration of the Mosaic economy. It is also clear that the sign is related to Jesus’ coming in judgment. The disciples clearly connected the coming with the sign of your coming and the close of the age Olam hazzeh (the world that is). Very clearly Luke 21:27 relates the coming of Jesus to the destruction of the Temple, not a Second Coming.
CLOUDS
Coming in the clouds of heaven is a common theme in the Old Testament. The language is a figure of speech.
“In the clouds”: Ex 16:10; Ps 104:3; Isa 19:1; Dan 7:13
[Other passages where God came in the clouds: Ex 16:10; 19:9; 34:5; Ps 18:9-12; 104:3; Isa 19:1-2; Jer 4:13-14; Ezek 30:3-4, 18-19; Dan 7:13; Joel 2:1-2; Nahum 1:3; Zeph 1:14-15; Mark 13:26; 14:62; Rev 1:7; 14:14]
SEND THE ANGELS, SOUND THE TRUMPET, GATHER THE ELECT
These elect are the same ones mention in verse 22. At His Second Coming the nations are separated from each other for judgment, sheep and goats. That means this particular gathering of the elect is about the harvest of the souls of those who would believe.
This is just a simple warning that to stay alive they must pay attentionto the signs of the times. Epiphanius (ca. 315-403) recorded just such vigilance on the part of the early church. They did leave Jerusalem just ahead of the Roman armies. They went across the Jordan and settled in the region around Pella.
“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Matt 24:32-35
There was suddenness in the coming of the flood. It is probable that Noah told his neighbors why [2 Pet 2:5] he was building such a large ship. However, no one really thought that such a thing could happen. They were conducting life as usual partying as they would for a marriage ceremony when the water took them by surprise. This is true of the first century Jews. They could not conceive of an end to the Jewish polity. But end it did, with the rejection of Messiah and the Lord’s Kingdom was given to another.
Jesus then returns to his first subject The Kingdom of Heaven. Ch 25
In Matt 23:39 Jesus told the ruling Pharisees, that they would no longer see Me until you say blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. The implication is one of a long absence. When he comes in judgement of the nations, at his Second Coming, all eyes will see Him [Zech 12:10] and Israel will behold their Messiah.
The Lord gives three parables about the spiritual character of the Kingdom of Heaven, Church Age or what the Rabbi’s called the Athid labho (age to come). Ending with the judgment of the nations, when sheep (nations that are kind to God’s people) and goats are separated.
This age is compared to ten Virgins, five are wise and five are foolish. Like the ten Virgins there will be some who are prepared and some who are not. They are to meet the bridegroom, but He is delayed. When He does show up all the virgins are asleep, not just the foolish ones. The wise virgins are let in and the foolish are turned away.
The parable of the talents (money) is about a man who went on a long journey entrusting his possessions to his slaves. Each slave receives a gift of talents to use and to provide gain for his master. Now after a long time, the master came and settled these accounts. Those who were found to be lazy were cast into outer darkness. This is a final judgment of God’s people according to their faithfulness in doing His work.
At the end of this long absence comes the judgment of the nations. It is important to note that this is not a judgment of individuals but of nations. These Nations are judged as to how they have treated the Least of these my brethren. The true brothers of Christ are those who do the Fathers will. [Matt 12:46-50] Nations shall be separated as the shepherd separates the goats from the sheep. Sheep (those who keep His commandments) will go to His right hand. Who are the goats? Those who do not keep His commandments, those who do not live by love thy neighbors, those her persecute the believers and ignore the needy.
Jerusalem, 70AD Under Siege
Excerpts from War by Josephus
…it was now a miserable case, and a sight that would justly bring tears into our eyes, how men – the more powerful had more than enough, and the weaker were lamenting (for want of it)
…But the famine was too hard for all other passions … the mothers were not ashamed to take from their children their very last drops that might preserve their lives…
…the seditious everywhere came upon them immediately, and snatched food away from them… for when they saw doors closed… they broke open the doors… and took by force… old men beaten… women’s hair torn if they hid food in it… to stop up the passages of the privy parts of the miserable wretches, and to drive sharp stakes up their fundaments!
…that they drank the blood of the populace, and divided the dead bodies of the poor creatures between them…
…the upper rooms were full of women and children that were dying by famine… city streets full of dead bodies…
…the severity of the famine made them bold in thus escaping… forced to defend themselves when caught… first whipped and then tormented with all sorts of tortures before they died, and then crucified before the wall of the city…
…so Titus commanded the hands of many of those caught (escaping Jerusalem’s famine) to be cut off thus not to be considered deserters and sent (back) to John and Simon to entreat for surrender…
…there was found among the Syrian deserters a certain person caught gathering pieces of gold out of the excrements of the Jew’s bellies
…they saw that temple burning from the upper city, they (Jews) were neither troubled at it, nor did they shed any tears on that account while yet these passions were discovered among the Romans themselves…
…that neither did any other city ever suffer such miseries, nor did any age ever breed a generation more fruitful in wickedness that this was, from the beginning of the world… Finally, they brought the Hebrew nation into contempt…
Conclusion:
Who after reading Josephus could say that anything could be worse than the destruction of Jerusalem and the taking of the remaining Jews into captivity in 70AD? All of the atrocities that could ever be perpetrated on humane beings have been done. So many died that there is no accurate accounting. Subsequently, we also need to consider that the full times of the gentiles has in fact ended. [Lk 21:24] It ended with the ingathering of Jews during the mid 1800′s and the recognition of Israel as a nation in 1948.
To suppose that Matthew 24 has not yet happened is to insist on a future temple being built and the subsequent destruction of Jerusalem yet again, along with the captivity of the Jews and yet another regathering back to Israel. [Been there, seen it, hated it!!!] How many times does this need to happen to fulfill the prophecy?
FYI
Signs in the Temple (Yoma 39a)
The last generation that lived from the crucifixion of Messiah in 29AD until the destruction of the Temple in 68AD experienced the withdrawal of the presence of God from the temple. The Priesthood and leading rabbis were greatly troubled by these signs
PREVIOUS CHAPTER: ANTI-CHRIST
NEXT CHAPTER: OUTLINE OF THE REVELATION
“Indeed so basic is the Old Testament to the writer’s mental concepts that out of 404 verses in the entire book there are only 125 which contain no allusion to it”
Survey of the New Testament
speaking on Rev pg. 965 by Guthrie 1965
I Introduction v 1:1-1:8
II Body v 1:9-22:5 The same ground is covered in two parts seen from two different points of view; one being from a Lord’s Day point of view and the second from a weekday point of view. We can see this by the order and corresponding words or ideas used in both points of view.
A Lord’s Day things v 1:9-4-1 “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day”
1 Vision of our Lord Jesus Christ as High Priest focusing on the Spiritual life and witness of Christ’s Church in the world.
2 Seven letters to seven churches
B Weekday things v 4:2-22:5 “in the Spirit”
1 Background vision [chap 4-5] of our Lord Jesus slain, risen, and on the throne as King of kings and Lord of Lords. The focus is on the history of the church.
2 In the form of a story [chap 6]
a Characteristics of the six seals
1 opening of seal
2 opened one by one in sequence
3 written in symbolic language
4 about the decline of the Roman Empire
3 Pause [chap 7] in story form to look back over the same period of time concentrating on the saints. It is a natural place for a pause as we see the end of the old heathen Roman Empire and a start of a new era.
4 Story resumes [chap 8-11] 7th seal opens trumpets
a Characteristics of trumpets
1 blowing trumpet
2 blown one by one in sequence
3 written in symbolic language
4 heralds actual historical event surrounding the Fall of Roman Empire thru to the Reformation
5 Pause [chap 12-14] a look back over ground already covered, from the Reformation point of view - Containing the Seven Mystic figures
6 Story resumes [chap 15-16] 7th trumpet opens 7 bowls
a Characteristics of bowls
1 poured forth
2 each one added to other in sequence
3 written in symbolic language
4 Usher in or herald historical events that effect the decline of the Roman Papacy
7 Pause [chap 17-18] These two chapters explain the apostasy of religion
8 Story resumes [chap 19] From the beginning of chapter 19 onwards all is future. So far as we can gauge, we are living in the middle of the seventh bowl. We shall not be able to explain what chapters 19 and 20 mean until after the fact. We can only ask ourselves questions about them and make suggestions as to what they might mean. The fulfillment alone will tell us.
9 New Heaven and a New Earth [Chap 21 - 22:6] This chapter shows us man redeemed and restored as God’s new creation is completed.
III – Conclusion v 22:6-22:21
“We should expect this final prophecy, sent directly by Christ Himself to his church, through his most spiritually minded apostle, to contain an out line of all that should befall that church, from the time then present, until the lord’s return, with perhaps brief indications of subsequent events. A first perusal of the prophetic part of the book, gives the impression that our expectation is correct. We find a series of symbolic visions, and we observe a perceptible correspondence between some of them, and some of Daniel’s exactly as would be the case supposing these visions to traverse the same ground as his later ones. We find in the Apocalypse no beasts answering to Daniel’s first three, but the fourth reappears very prominently with his ten horns; we find no periods corresponding to the seventy weeks of the 2300 days, but the “time times and a half” is repeated in several forms, and in the same relative connection. We find in the closing visions, features that identify them with the final scenes of Daniel, and it is difficult to resist the conviction, that the intervening apocalyptic visions, must be symbolic predictions of the moral and spiritual aspects, of all that has happened to the church of Christ, from John’s day to the present time, and of all that shall happen, to the close.”
The Approaching End Of The Age
pg122 by H. Grattan Guiness
PREVIOUS CHAPTER: MATHEW 24
NEXT CHAPTER: The Cycle of Levitical Feasts In The Revelation
In The Revelation, John is shown the same celestial temple that Moses saw up on the mountain. Moses was instructed to build a copy of what he had seen. [Ex 25:9; Ex 25:40; Heb 8:5] Every piece of furniture seen in the Temple, every garment and function of the priests are described also in the book of The Revelation. John is in awe of what he sees. Because of the his knowledge of the Mosaic Tabernacle he recognizes that he is seeing what Moses saw, but it is much grander than what any human could have replicated. The celestial temple itself is the throne room; its ornamentation’s is an emerald rainbow. The cherubim are real and not just decoration. The celestial temple has a crystal sea; Moses could only provide a brass sea.
Entering in on Yom Kippur
In the celestial temple the choir of twenty-four elders are dressed all in white and wearing crowns, and carrying golden censers of incense. This is the garb of the high priest on the Day of Atonement, the most solemn day in the festival cycle of the people of Israel [Lev. 16:1:34; 23:26-32]. It is on this day and this day only that the high priest, and the high priest alone dons, white. However this is not the usual Day of Atonement. Instead of carrying the blood of the sacrifice the twenty-four elders carry harps. This is because there is no sacrifice of a bull, a ram, and two goats being made. These sacrifices are no longer needed because of the ultimate sacrifice, the consummation of the ages; the sacrifice that bought mans freedom from sin, our Passover lamb, the Lamb of God, Christ.
The Cycle of the feasts of Israel is a love song given to Israel by God. It is sung in symbolic language that is revealed throughout history a small segment at a time. As each feast brings Israel closer to her God, each prophetic fulfillment brings us closer to understanding Gods ultimate plan for His followers.
Originally this feast was celebrated during the seventh month, however during the Exodus God changed the seventh month to the first month. Ever since, Israel has kept two calendars. (one civil, the other religious) To Israel, Passover is the celebration of the Exodus where God bought Israel’s freedom. But to God Passover is the verse in the love song that speaks to the consummation of eternal freedom for his followers. Freedom from the bondage of sin and claiming back the ground given over to Satan in the garden. After the exodus Israel was taken to the wilderness to be purified and made into a suitable bride. This time allegorically represents the choosing of a woman or bride to be. They then enter the betrothal period. This takes place in the spring, when love is always on people’s minds but is not culminated until the wedding, which is not for seven more months during the Feast of Tabernacles.
Fifty days after First Fruits, Pentecost is celebrated. [Lev 23] This is the celebration of Weeks, the promise of things to come, the looking forward toward the full harvest. Rabbinical tradition says that God gave the Torah to Israel on the very first Pentecost, celebrated in the wilderness [Ec 19-24. Pentecost is also the day that God gave the Holy Spirit to the chosen in the upper room. These gifts are merely shadows and promises of things to come, the second verse of His love song. In Jewish betrothal tradition there is the Mohar or bridal present [Gen 34:12; I Sam 18:25]. At the betrothal a man must give at least a small portion of the agreed upon amount to the bride. When she takes it into her hand she is betrothed. From then on she is treated as if she were actually married. This arrangement cannot be broken except by divorce. At Pentecost when God gave His gifts, first of His Word and later of the Holy Spirit to His own, He was giving the Mohar to His bride.
The sounding of the trumpet is to be a memorial, but the Bible never says what it is a memorial of. Rosh Hashanah is the head of the year or the New Year. It is the silver trumpets that are sounded and not the Shofar (ram’s horn). Only the priests played silver trumpets. They were sounded for battle [Num 10:9; II Chron 13:12-14], at the coronation of kings [II King 11:14; II Chron 23:13] and at the dedication or rededications of the temple [I Chron 13:8; I Chron 16:6,42; II Chron 5:13; II Chron 29:28]. When the silver trumpets were sounded at the coronation of the King, his rightful ownership of all things was secured.
The silver trumpets have long been lost along with the Temple in Jerusalem, but they will sound again. For these will be the first sweet sounds the bride hears announcing the approaching of her bridegroom. For she is no ordinary bride but the wife of the King of Kings. She listens for no other sound but this one, which she longs to hear. She strains with all her strength to hear it for He has promised that the He will come for her. At long last He will call for his beloved. She cleaves to her Mohar, but it is only a shadow of what is yet to come. One more verse in the long sweet song bringing us closer yet to the long awaited wedding feast.
The imagery of the Temple in the book of The Revelation is from the Day of Atonement [Lev 16]. This is the most solemn day in the Levitical cycle. It is the day when God’s grace was available to all. It is a day of fasting and prayer, and restoring relationships.
Now the bride must be prepared for the wedding for she must be clean and spotless for her King. The Jewish bride is ritually bathed before her wedding. The bride in our love story has not been as faithful as she believed she would be. Over the long wait the bride has taken much comfort in the Mohar (the Holy Spirit and The Word) a reminder of the love of her King. Yet, the Holy Spirit is only a shadow of what is to come and the wait has been long and difficult with many temptations. How marvelous that her King has provided all that is needed for her cleansing.
Yom Kippur provides the picture of cleansing for the bride, the necessary ritual bath before the marriage ceremony itself. The Hebrew word for atonement means to cover or conceal. The root word kipher is the ransom of money paid in the case of accidental death [Ex21:10] or the ransom of the half shekel [Ex 30:12].
The preparation and ransom have been paid for the bride. It is during this time of purification that the bride or church will be cleansed of the unfaithful and unbelieving. The bride (church) must be purified before she is finally ready to wed her betrothed. The cleansing fulfills the legal requirements before the marriage ceremony itself can take place.
In the Temple’s day In John’s Vision
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***It is to be further noted that this is not an ordinary Yom Kippur. This particular Yom Kippur in The Revelation is also during a Jubilee year.
This is the most holy year for Jews, yet no kingdom has ever kept it. The nation of Israel never kept it, nor has any Christian nation ever adopted it. Many statutes and laws from Torah have been adopted into our culture and laws, but not the Jubilee year. We are far too selfish and greedy to accept it.
The Jubilee year is every 50 years. It is both the 1st year and the 50th. So they are 49 years apart and always fall on a Sabbatical year (the cycle where every 7th year the land must lay fallow). The Jubilee requires that all debts both public and private be forgiven, all lands are returned to their original owners, and all slaves are set free. [Lev25: 1-24; Num36: 4]
The Jubilee year begins on Yom Kippur, not on Rosh Hashanah. It is announced by the sounding of the Shofar (ram’s horn) the trumpet of the resurrection [Is 27:13; I Cor 15:52; I Th 4:16]. One may note that the silver trumpets of Rosh Hashanah make a nice melodious sound, but the Shofar makes a sound that can wake the dead.
The king has paid the ransom, delivered the bride’s price, and now in the year of Jubilee he will redeem His bride for Himself; her debts have been paid and she has been set free.
Tabernacles the feast of the ingathering is a harvest festival. All build temporary shelters to represent the wilderness wanderings of the children of Israel. Later, during the harvest, harvesters used them for shelter. [Lev 23:33-44; Num 29:12-40] This festival was to last for seven days, with an eighth day added. This is the normal length of the marriage feast. [Gen 29:27; Jud 14:17] An interesting commandment is given that all must rejoice. [Lev 23:40]
Interesting note: The many sacrifices for this festival are always divisible by seven.
All of this is very reminiscent of a Jewish wedding where there is always great rejoicing. The marriage ceremony takes place under a Kuppa or booth made out of the bridegroom’s prayer shawl. (His banner over me is love SoS 2:4) The marriage contract or Ketuvah is read aloud. The bride inspects the bridegroom while walking around him seven times. Then the bride is brought into the house for the consummation of the marriage.
The festival of Booths is a foreshadowing of the “marriage supper of the Lamb” when the king will finally take His bride. The feast will take place and on the eighth day she will go to live with Him forever.
FYI: It would seem that Solomon dedicated the temple on this festival [I King 8:2].
This allegory about a betrothal and a wedding begins when Christ gave his life to redeem those who would be His bride. No longer does chosen Israel consist of a single nation of people but now is comprised of peoples from all nations brought together through the blood of the Lamb. We are neither Jew nor Gentile but we are all heirs with Christ. Fifty days later He gave the Mohar (His Spirit) to His chosen bride. The wait has been long and not all who have waited have remained faithful to the Lord. So once again a choosing will take place as in the allegory of the ten virgins. Only five were ready for the bridegroom, only five would go to be with Him. Historically we have yet to come to the feast of Rosh Hashana where the Bridegroom is declared King so we strain to hear the trumpets for we know the time is near.
We understand the time is near because we know that the “Times of the Gentiles” has ended. What comes next cannot, by definition, be Gentile in nature. As the rabbi’s of the first century looked forward to a time of Jewish domination over the world, we are now in the position of looking forward and thinking that the millennium will be a time of Christian domination over the world with peace and prosperity for all. However, if we look closely at the scriptures we will see our Lord ruling the world with a “rod of iron”. Let us not be so sure of our interpretation of these prophesies that we do not recognize our Lord when he arrives, just as the rabbi’s did not accept Jesus as their King. The King is returning. The Jubilee is about to start. All things will be restored (whatever that might mean).
“Time will be the telling of the Prophecy” Sir Isaac Newton
PREVIOUS CHAPTER: THE REVELATION AN OUTLINE
NEXT CHAPTER: THE REVELATION CHAPTER 1
See Also: Why we keep the Feast
A message to God’s servants
- Patmos
Rev. 1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written therein; for the time is near.
The purpose of this book is to give a blessing to those who read and keep what is written. By showing His servants that God has not abandoned them with no idea of what is to come. He did not leave his servants with 2000 years of silence. He cares for them and those that came after, and did not want them or us to face these trials and tribulation without the fore knowledge of all things future. Trials were soon to come. This prophecy specifically states here that it is “soon to come”; there would be no delay to the beginning of the prophecy unfolding. It does not mean it must be completed “soon”. One simply cannot ignore this admonition or warning to the seven churches to whom the book was addressed. Hence, there was also a blessing added for the readers, hearers and those who keep what is written in mind as they face their trials. That in the end their faithfulness will be rewarded with His perfect rest.
This was not meant to give a foreboding apprehension of the future to us in the 21st century, it was rather a warning for those going into the 2nd century and the centuries that followed.
FYI: Interpreting scripture to be about one people, nation, or time is called egocentric interpretation. It is basically a prideful attitude that my people, my nation, or my time are important, therefor the prophecy must be about us.
They must be prepared for the immediate future, and not be caught unawares by the turn of events, or by false doctrines of men that might take them into idolatry and immorality. So let us remember that the time was near to them and what was written therein must be kept by all who come after.
FYI: In standard hermeneutics the plain statements in the text are to interpret the symbolic hidden or mystical meanings, e.g. soon and near, are plain statements.
Rev. 1:4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
The historical grammatical context of this letter is that it was written to seven churches at the end of the 1st century in Asia Minor, i.e. modern day Turkey. We are literally reading someone else’s mail. When the people of these seven churches read this letter they knew exactly what all the strange symbolic and mystical imagery meant. No one needed to explain to them the imperial beast of Rome. They lived under that political system. They understood that the wounded head meant that the empire was not as eternal as Roman propaganda claimed. That Rome eternal would falter, was common knowledge to all believers at the time. However their belief that Rome would fall, was considered treason by the empire. Stating such a fact out loud and plainly, would more than likely get one sent to the arena to notice what big teeth lions really had. So this treasonable information was buried in symbolic language.
They also would have known what the beast from the earth was. As there was probably an altar to this god of the mystery religions in all of these towns. In Rome he was called Numa or Numa Pampibus, to the Etrurians he was known as Tages, in Babylon he was Nebo, and in Egypt he was Khnum, Num, Nub. There was no need for the I think, I believe, I want it to mean something scary in the far future. They lived it. They may have even given offerings to this pagan deity before coming to Christianity.
4 Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.
Grace and peace is a standard opening greeting. However no ordinary person is sending this greeting.
It is not everyday that one gets a letter direct from the triune Godhead. So for the many who ignore this book because it is too difficult, remember it is the only book that makes the unambiguous claim to come directly from the throne. The information in this book is that important.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom of priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. seven Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, every one who pierced him; and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
First is a reminder that we are now free from our sins and as such are priest free to enter the holy temple, for we are now that spiritual temple. Every believer is now a priest by faith in Christ. In the Old Testament believers were required to go through a priest who would mediate for them. Now Christ is our High Priest [Heb 4:14; 7:27; 9:11] and we have immediate access to God. [ I Pet 2:4-10] The term priest was never applied to an apostle or an ordained elder in the New Testament. We are all called to the priesthood with Christ as the High Priest. [Heb 5:1-10] This is one of the great liberating truths rediscovered during the Reformation but is now quickly disappearing. As the current clergy is once again lording over the servants of God not providing them with sound exegesis. In fact, most of them no longer bother to learn to read Hebrew and Greek. Delivering to God’s servants the opinions of man rather than the whole word of God.
He is coming with the clouds [Acts 1:11] and all peoples will wail on His account. Notice that coming in the clouds is not a happy thing. It never is. Coming in the clouds is symbolic language for judgment, NOT RESCUE. There is no secret coming, no rapture. Every eye shall see and it will not be a pleasant thing, for all will wail. [Zech 12:10:14; Rom 14:10-11]
every one who pierced him, We like to think that it was the Jews and/or the Romans that pierced Him. But He died for our sins. Our sins are what caused Him to go to the cross. We are all guilty. It is as if we did the deed ourselves. If we were the only person on the earth He still would have paid the price. Only then we would actually have to do the deed ourselves. Many of us think that we would be incapable of such an act. We just don’t think that we could do this. Many of us need to take a good look at our souls. We are fooling ourselves on just how wicked we really all are.
Rev. 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and Omega is the last. This is the simplest way for our finite minds to get some kind of handle on God’s omnipresence.
Rev. 1:9 I John, your brother, who share with you in Jesus the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to La-odicea.”
John was staying on the prison island of Patmos, just of the coast of Asia Minor where the seven churches were. The early church fathers put him there between 96-98A.D. during the reign of Emperor Domitian.
The Lord’s day, much has been written as to whether this was the Sabbath or Sunday. The early church was under heavy persecution. They were often forced to hide their meeting places and times. We know that in Rome they went down into the catacombs. Those of Jewish descent could easily continue to meet as Jews do, on the Sabbath. But slaves and wives could usually only slip away unnoticed on the venerable day of the sun, when everyone was given time off to worship the sun god .
The first observance of Sunday — that history records is in the fourth century, when Constantine issued an edict (not requiring its religious observance, but simply abstinence from work) reading, ‘let all the judges and people of the town rest and all the various trades be suspended on the venerable day of the sun.’ At the time of the issue of this edict, Constantine was a sun-worshiper; therefore it could have had no relation whatever to Christianity. Ad 321. Henry Taber’s Faith or Fact.
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Rev. 1:12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden girdle round his breast; 14 his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters; 16 in his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth issued a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
Up until now things have made good since. But starting here, is a full on hit of the symbolic language that the book of The Revelation book is famous for. It’s great distinguishing feature, of the strange, wonderful, and mystical language which makes it stand with only two other books, Daniel and Zechariah.
Now we see the Messiah described as Daniel’s, The Ancient of Days, Where He was a judge about to pass judgment on the little horn. Here He is standing among seven lampstands. He is wearing the garments of the High Priest, no longer is he standing in a physical building with its one lampstand. He is in a fuller more complete spiritual temple where there is not just one menorah, but seven. [Ex 39; c.f. Ezek. 43:2-5; Dan 7:9-14; Matt 17:2; and Heb 4:12].
Rev. 1:17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand upon me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Now write what you see, what is and what is to take place hereafter.
John is overwhelmed by all he saw. He falls to the ground, later he will do this to an angel and be rebuked for such action[Rev. 19:10]. But here he is given reassurance by the all powerful creator of the universe that there is not need to fear. And if the most all inspiring one with the keys to Death and Hades tells you that there is no reason to fear. There is truly no reason to fear [Matt. 10:28 ].
The Apostle is told to write what he sees and what will “take place hereafter“. Not off in the distant future but as in verse 3, something that is to begin soon.
FYI: Sola Scriptorium i.e. the Scriptures are Supreme. If your interpretation does not match the plain reading of the text, there is something wrong with your interpretation. NOT THE SCRIPTURES.
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20 As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Every once in a while throughout the symbolic book of The Revelation, the language will become plain and simple in order to give meaning or definition to the symbols being used. We are plainly told that the seven lampstands are seven churches. And that these churches have seven angels appointed to them. The Messiah’s walk through the lampstands is a lovely way of seeing how much Messiah cares for His churches and is ever watchful over their needs.
Now that we have been introduced to the symbolic nature of the book of The Revelation. We can begin to develop the symbolism needed to interpret what was soon to come, for those to whom the book was sent. There is no need for the dispensationalist speculations, suppositions, guesses. All that is needed is a thorough going through the Old Testament, with special attention given to prophetic passages that are known to be fulfilled. The Author is the same. The Ancient of Days uses the same symbols over and over to mean the same kind of things. The Bible is its own best commentary. All others pale in comparison.
No fantasies need to be created. Just figure out what the symbol indicated then look through the history books.
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 2 Tim. 2:15
PREVIOUS CHAPTER: The Cycle of Levitical Feasts In The Revelation
NEXT CHAPTER: THE SEVEN CHURCHES CHAPTERS 2 and 3
Asia Minor, modern Turkey
These letters all use a similar format. Each letter begins with a description of Christ. His description gives comfort and encouragement to those living in the time described. Then seven things are listed about the spiritual conditions of each church. Each letter then concludes with a statement of warning and/or encouragement for those who persevere.
The statement he who has ears, which is in every letter, means there are hidden meanings. In Luke 8:4-18, Christ teaches parables in which He says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear”. When His disciples asked Him what these parables meant, he said, “to you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand”. If indeed we hear with understanding ears the words of the prophecy we will understand that while these are literal letters to seven literal churches in Asia Minor, they are also prophecies concerning Church History.
Ephesus, Triumphal Arch (100 – 200 AD)
A Christ comes as:
1 He who holds all true believers (stars & lampstands) in his hand and walks among them.
B Seven things about Ephesus:
1 He knows their works and toils: Early missionary work spread the Gospel throughout the known world very quickly. [Col. 1:6]
2 Their patient endurance was great: Roman law held that Christianity was an illegal religion, “religio ilicita” (Philip Schaff vol 2 pg 51). This period of Church History faced great persecution under pagan Rome. They needed to be reminded that they were secure in Christ’s hand.
3 They could not bear evil men: There was a constant struggle with heresy from all sides. The writings of the early church fathers were concerned with the immorality surrounding them and its effect on the congregation.
4 They tested those who claimed to be apostles: There were many false teachers in the early church and a lot of apostate doctrine. The Church had to test those who came. The early Church was quite strict. Many were afraid to go out to dinner for fear of just hearing some heathen gods name mentioned. [Acts 5:1-11; I Cor 5:1-5; II Cor 11:13; I Tim 1:20; I John 4:1]
5 They have not grown weary.
6 They have left their first love: The early Church loved the Lord most of all, but by the second and third century the Church was growing more and more worldly. They were looking for political advantage. The clergy began to acquire personal wealth.
7 They hated the Nicolaitans: (a heretical sect) The Nicolaitans are unknown, but were apparently a heretical sect of the first century. They may have been antinomians, abusing Christian liberty under the guise of adherence to the doctrine of grace. Irenaeus, Clement, and Tertullian wrote of the antinomians.
C Warning and Encouragement:
1 God wants them to repent and return to their 1st works or He will remove their lampstand.
2 To him who conquers is given the Tree of Life (paradise).
Smyrna
A Christ comes as:
1 He who died and rose again.
2 The first and the last.
B Seven things about Smyrna:
1 He knew their tribulation.
2 He knew their poverty.
3 They are rich in spirit.
4 Slander would come from believers: They arereally of the synagogue of Satan. When Constantine made Christianity the state religion many non-believers came into the Church. Old pagan temples became churches, and idols were renamed for saints. Many converted in name only while remaining faithful to their old gods. In 416AD Innocent I required all Western Churches to conform to the customs of the Church of Rome. In 431AD the Pope first claimed to have the Keys of Peter [Matthew 16:19]
5 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. [Mt 10:28] They are told to be faithful unto death, but death did not matter, for Christ has won the victory over death.
6 Persecution: The Devil was about to throw some into prison for ten days. This covers the time of great persecution under Emperor Diocletian from 303 – 313AD. Christians were dying by the thousands. (Lion feedings, crucifixions, Gladiator games)
7 They are commanded to be faithful unto death.
C Warning and Encouragement
1 He who conquers will not die a second death but have eternal life.
2 Christ will give them a crown.
Pergamum
A Christ came as:
1 Him who has the sharp two-edged sword. [Heb 4:12] This is a time when the Church was beginning to depart from the Word. They were making creeds and doctrine, often thinking these to be the end all and be all of Christian teaching; thereby neglecting the whole word. Many strange doctrines came out of this era.
B Seven things about Pergamum:
Altar of Zeus a.k.a. Satan’s Throne
1 They dwell where Satan’s throne is. [Is 34&35; JER 49:33; 51:37; LK 10:18; EPH 2:2] After the defeat of the Chaldeans by the Persians, the Magi fled to the kingdom of Pergamum where they found asylum. In time they established the college of the Mystery Religion in Pergamum. They deified the kings of Pergamum giving them Belshazzar’s vacant seat and the title Pontiff. In 133BC at the death of Attalus III the last king of Pergamum, the title Pontifex Maximus was deeded to Rome later to be inherited by Julius Caesar. Making the Emperor of Rome the true legitimate Babylonian Pontiff.
Later this office was moved to Rome and became the See of Peter, throne of Peter, or the position of Pope. (This refers to the Bishop of Rome who began to usurp Christ’s authority.) The head of this Mystery Religion was phonetically called Peter Roma. In the language, Chaldee, Peter means Interpreter and Roma means Book of Stone.
2 They hold fast; I Thess 5:21; Tit 1:9; II Tim 1:13
3 They don’t deny the faith: Acts 14:22
4 Antipas was killed: No one knows who this was or why he was killed. He most likely was an actual Christian living in first century Pergamum, who is now being used as an allusion to those in the church who opposed the Bishop of Rome. At this time the Bishop began to refer to himself as Pope. Pope is Latin for father. [Mt. 23:9]
5 They hold to the teaching of Balaam: [Num 22-25; Josh 24:9-10; II Pet 2:15; Jude 1:11] Although Balaam appears to be a prophet, in Josh 13:22 he is called a sorcerer. In any event, Balaam turns out to be a greedy prophet believing that he can change God’s mind about cursing Israel. When God allows Balsam’s donkey to speak, Balaam does not in any way act astonished but apparently is used to the strange and paranormal. He continues to try to bribe God to do, as he desires.
The Bible speaks of idolatry with the same language as prostitution. The Church was now prostituting itself for wealth and influence.
6 They have eaten the food sacrificed to idols and practiced immorality: At this time the political leaders and the Bishop of Rome began full-scale heathenization of the church. In 526AD Pope Felix III introduced extreme unction as a sacrament. In 533AD Emperor Justinian decreed that the Bishop of Rome was Head Of All The Holy Churches, And Of All The Holy Priests Of God.
7 They hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans: At this time many heresies appeared, Aryanism, Pelagianism, Donatism, and Nestorianism. The church had begun to neglect the teaching of the Old Testament on how to recognize a false prophet. In Deut 13 &18:9-22, we are told that even if one works miracles, but they teach to worship other gods do not listen to them. If they speak that which does not come true do not fear them.
In 607AD Emperor Phocas decreed that the first Pope Boniface III had Headship Over All The Churches Of Christendom: In 608AD Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon at Rome (built by M. Agrippa, 25BC, as a Temple for Cybele and all the gods) to the Virgin Mary and all the Martyrs.
C Warning and Encouragement:
1 Repent: [Mt 3:2] They did not and in the next church we will see the judgment of God through the Islamic Religion visited first on the eastern church and then on the western.
2 He who conquers will be given some of the hidden manna. (bread of life) Those who remained faithful had to find hidden food. [Jn 6:32-35] Jesus is the manna, who is hidden. As the lights went out all over old Rome, few could read and fewer still could obtain a Bible or even part of one.
3 I will give him a white stone. Stones were used for voting in the first century, white ones meant yea. Black ones meant nay. Christ was voting for the true believers, they had His approval. He will give His conquerors (His people) new names. Names no false deity could call them by.
Thyatira
A Christ comes as:
1 Son of God with eyes like a flame of fire and feet of burnished bronze. (an angry judge)
B Seven things about Thyatira:
1 Their works are love, faith, service, and patient endurance. [Gal 5:22] The church of the Dark Ages had great love and faith. Service to mankind was greatly stressed by men like Francis of Assisi. Their faith was intense, they never doubted the reality of God yet they were untaught, believing in Mary, saints, false miracles, relics, and legends. They endured pilgrimages, uncomfortable penance, monasteries, convents, and the crusades. By the end of the period, they were inundated with rituals of endurance but still no closer to God than at the beginning.
2 They tolerate Jezebel who calls herself a prophetess. Women in prophecy always represent religion. The bride or wife, representing faithfulness, apostasy is represented by the harlot. Jezebel (false religion) was everywhere. She had killed the prophets of God. [I Kings 18:13, 19] So too the Roman church persecuted the true church and called them heretics. Jezebel provided for the prophets of Baal. The Roman church allowed the Pope and Bishops to grow rich with land, simony (the buying or selling of sacred or spiritual things), and indulgences. To the end Jezebel is Babylon and her death is violent and sudden.
“Pierre Jean Agier (1748-1823) a French jurist, of the Jansenist sect and Roman Catholic says “Who is the Jezebel? Alas! the coincidence of the times speaks loud enough. It is that too famous Society organized at the very time when the council of Trent was convened; an infernal Society which was not well-known until about the time of its destruction, and to which nothing in history can be compared. The name of that impious queen Jezebel fits it exactly. A queen, whose goal is a universal monarchy, pretending to serve popes and kings, while, in reality, making them serve her and appropriating their power. She claimed to be a Prophetess, professing lofty ideas about religion, even considering the Fathers as befogged, while reducing faith to mere forms and veiling the essentials. What important truth in morals of doctrine did she not assail when she deemed it expedient? What worthy and useful men in all lands did she not persecute when they were contrary to her? Never, since the beginning of Christianity, did Satan have more zealous sectarians of more efficient instruments of deception.”
The Prophetic faith of our Fathers Vol 3 pg 484 by Froom
The Lord did not expect much of the believers at this time; it was enough that they remained steadfast. It was hard to do much else without the Bible or education.
3 They practice immorality. The custom of kissing the Pope’s toe is introduced by Pope Constantine in 708AD. In 756AD Pepin confers the Exarchate and Pentapoles upon St. Peter (the Pope). This is the origin of the Pope’s temporal sovereignty. In 768AD Charlemagne the Emperor of the west compelled the people he conquered to embrace Christianity, and the payment of tithes was first made compulsory. Pope Adrian I sanctioned images and caused money to be coined with his name in 780AD.
4 They eat food sacrificed to idols. In 787AD the seventh General Council (Nicaea) established the religious adoration of images. In 993AD the first instance of canonization of a saint (Ulric Bishop of Augsburg) by Pope John XV in a Lateran Council is recorded. The Schoolmen establish the doctrine of the SEVEN SACRAMENTS in 1137AD. In 1143AD under Celestin II the Adoration of the Host began.
5 They refuse to repent: A donation of Ina king of West Saxons in 725AD laid the foundation for Peter’s pence the penny tax. In 792AD, Offa, the king of Mercia and East Anglia, to atone for having murdered his son-in-law Ethelbert, imposed an annual tax of one penny on each family in his dominions, to be paid to the Roman See. Under Pope Honorius II the Council of Tourlouse forbade the Laity to read the Old or New Testament, except for the Psalter, and that only in Latin in 1129AD.
6 They are thrown into great tribulation for not repenting: The Saracens swept out of Arabia taking over most of the eastern churches. Then they swept up into Europe though Spain in 712AD. Sylvester II was the first to suggest the idea of a crusade, and all persons were required to pray for souls in PURGATORY. Under Urban II the first crusade began, 1096AD. In 1119AD the Order of Knight Templar was instituted. The second crusade under Emperor Conrad and Louis VII was promoted by Bernard of Clairvaux. The fourth crusade began in 1202AD, the fifth in 1217AD and the sixth in 1228AD.
7 Some don’t hold to her teaching: The Albigenses in the South of France, The Bogomils in Bosnia did not hold to the teachings of Jezabel. The Waldenses in the Arpine Valley of Italy wrote The Noble Lesson in 1100AD, their confession of faith, and a treatise on Antichrist written in 1120AD. One of their leaders, Pierre de Bruis, who labored twenty years for Christ was burned at the stake in Languedoc in 1126AD. In 1170AD Peter Waldo and the poor men of Lyons began preaching:
With the Election of Innocent III, in 1198AD, the wholesale slaughter of the saints had begun. We know of this time as the Inquisition. Interestingly enough, Innocent III’s accession as Pope came in the 666th year after the rise of the Papacy at the Edict of Justinian. Pope Gregory IX furthers the Inquisition by granting full persecuting power to the Dominican Friars on April 12, 1233AD. The Albigenses and Waldenses fled to southern France and took refuge in the Alps.
C Warning and Encouragement:
1 A message of encouragement to the faithful few, he who conquers and keeps my works till the end, I will give power over the nations.
2 They will rule with Christ the Morning Star [Num. 24:7]
Sardis
A Christ comes as:
1 He who has the seven spirits of God and seven stars.
(The giving of the Holy Spirit to Churches, expecting them to shine forth a light)
B Seven things about Sardis the church of the Dark Ages:
C Warning and Encouragement:
1 He who conquers: They will be clad in white garments and their name is in the Book of Life.
2 I will confess your name before my Father. While the inquisitors were busy blotting out their names as well as their bodies, Christ promises that he will claim them as his own.
A Christ comes as:
1 The Holy One. The church at this time returns to Christ through the Reformation. The reformers put the religion of ritualism aside.
2 The True one. The one who comes isnot a figure on a crucifix, the Host, a statue of the Virgin Mary or of a Saint but the genuine article, Christ. The reformed churches broke and burned up the icons of the Church of Rome. They declared them to be idols and the mass blasphemous.
3 Key of David. Please note here these are not the keys of Peter. Christ alone has the right to rule heaven, earth and hell. [Mt. 16:18]
4 He opens door that no one can shut. On Oct 31, 1517 Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of Wittenberg Castle. The door was opened wide as the Gospel was preached and thousands were saved. The Word was put into the common language. As soon as Luther, Zwingli, Calvin and others began to preach, the Reformation spread quickly. Then later Wesley and Whitefield and others carried the message even farther. Missionary societies were formed to go out into all the world. [Acts 14:27]
5 He shuts and no one opens. The Church of Rome was shut off from God. He would no longer call for her repentance. He has given up on her. Though she tries to reform, she will never give up her idolatries, so He calls those who are truly His to come out of her MY PEOPLE! [Rev 18:4]
B Seven things about Philadelphia Revelations 3:7-13
Philadelphia
1 He knows their works. God knows their works; they have kept His word and not denied Him.
2 They have an open door that no one can shut. During this period of time (1620AD) we see the Protestants fleeing the persecution that had been inflicted upon the true Church of Christ for many years. It is amazing, and yet a perfect picture of the sovereignty of God, that in thousands of years the American continents sat with no real migration to their shores.
God promised an open door and escape from the persecution; a way to come out of the Whore of Babylon. It is this North American continent that has been able to remain separated and independent of any state church. This separation was very strong at first but has, unfortunately, diminished throughout the years. Compromise predicted in the Laodicean Church has infected our continent as well as the old Roman Empire of Europe.
“Fuller, Andrew (1754-1815) Baptist in England “If one place was more distinguished than another, as affording shelter for the woman at the time of this her second flight, I suspect it was North America, where the church of Christ has been nourished, and may continue to be nourished during the remainder of the 1260 years.”
The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, Vol III
by LeRoy Edwin Froom pg 353
3 They have little political power: In Calabria the Protestant population was slaughtered in 1560AD. Louis Pascal was martyred in the presence of the Pope at Rome on Sept 9, 1562AD. War with the Huguenot, began in 1562AD. The Secret Tribunal of the Holy Office in Spain (Inquisition) was in full operation. Philip II commissioned The Duke of Alva to exterminate all the Protestants in the Netherlands in 1567AD. In less than six years 18,000 men and women had been put to death by sword, gibbet, rack and the flames while thousands fled to England. The French Massacre of the Huguenot was on St. Bartholomew’s Day, Aug 24, 1572AD where they slaughtered 60,000 in the course of thirty days. There was much rejoicing and public thanksgiving in Rome where the TE DEUM was sung, and Pope Gregory XIII struck a medal to commemorate the slaughter, with the inscription “Strages Hugonotorum” (something to the effect of How we Killed the Hugonots).
4 They have kept His word. During the Reformation, translating the Bible was paramount. Luther completed his translation of the Bible in 1534AD. Tyndale’s translation of the Bible had far greater influence on the people of England than their king, Henry VIII, did. Henry had Tyndale burned at the stake in Holland. Calvin published his Institutes on the Christian Religion in 1535AD.
5 They have not denied His name. Luther, before the Diet of Worms (trial in the city of Worms), believing he is going to the stake, declared; “I cannot recant”,1521AD. With the accession of Mary to the English throne on July 6, 1553AD violent papal persecutions broke out in England. Ridley and Latimer are burnt at the stake in Oxford, Oct. 8, 1555. Seventy-two others are burned that same year. Cranmer suffered the same fate in Oxford, March 21, 1556.
Note: Cranmer recanted while in prison but Mary was so angry with him she had him order to be burned anyway. On hearing this, Cranmer recanted his recant. While burning at the stake he held his hand, with which he signed his recant, out into the flames saying, “This unworthy right hand.” There he held it unflinching, so that it would receive its punishment first, until it was cinders. See Foxes book of Martyrs
6 The synagogue of Satan will bow at their feet, and learn that He loves them. Rome claims to be the only true Church, but she lies. Protestant countries have slowly, quietly taken over the whole world, enabling missionaries to travel to far away places. The Protestant nations have become rich while Catholic nations slid into poverty and want.
7 They have kept His word of patient endurance: He will keep them from the trial that is coming to those who dwell upon the earth. The trial is for the Laodicean Church. (Two world wars, fascism, socialism, evolutionism, humanism, materialism mechanization and rationalism are the trials this church will have to face.)
C Warning and Encouragement:
1 He is coming soon, the church of Philadelphia will not last long. They must hold fast to what they have, and let no one deceive them.
2 He who conquers will be made a pillar in Gods temple forever. Often the great preachers of the Reformation are referred to as pillars of the church.
3 He will write on them the name of God, the name of the city of God, and His own new name. He will make them His own.
Laodicea
“William Cuninghame 1776-1849 English, said that the “voice of prophesy has been, in some measure, quenched by Irvingism and Puseyism” i.e. Futurism ” as we approach the season of midnight, when the Bridegroom comes, deep sleep will pervade the spiritual atmosphere, intermingled only with the croaking of the three frogs. ch.16:15.” The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, Vol III by LeRoy Edwin Froom pg 372
A Christ came as:
1 The faithful:
2 The true witness. The Amen (so be it). What Christ says is true and complete. He is the Faithful and True Witness. His Word will be kept whether some believe it or not. The church stands on His authority. [Ps 2]
3 The beginning of God’s creation. Christ is the architect of God’s creation. [Jn 1:3]
B Seven things about Laodicea:
1 I know your works. Laodicea has compromised her faith by embracing the 3 frogs of deceit:
a Humanism: Man is his own god
b Marxism: There is no god, only the weak believe in a god
c Evolutionism: We are just an accident
Allowing these deceits into the hearts and minds of the masses has created such nonsense in the Church as the gap theory, New Age doctrines, and a social gospel.
2 They are lukewarm and He will spew them out. With broad-minded tolerance, we as Christian, accept those who reject creation, the flood, Moses, and the virgin birth. Even Homosexuals (sodomite) are accepted as Christians who do not need to repent. We preach easy believe-ism with no cost to count or cross to bear thereby trading the simple Gospel for a social gospel.
3 They are wretched. Laodicea is self-indulgent, self-satisfied and proud. Bigger and better churches have been built; yet the church has less and less influence on society at large. The church has gradually forfeited her role in society as mapped out in God’s Word. No longer is she the conscience of the nation and community in which she resides but now allows ruling authorities to assume the right to care for the poor, the orphan and widows, and the education of her children.
4 But the Lord says they are poor. They say they are rich, prosperous and need nothing. This would seem true when looking at Western churches today. It seems there is an unending source of material wealth for those who ask for money in the name of the Lord. However, they lack knowledge and understanding of God’s Word. Individuals ask Jesus into their hearts but never ask what the Lord may require of them. It’s easier to open ones pocket book and give money to another than to roll up your sleeves and do the work.
5 They are pitiable. The church now resembles the poor little rich kid who has no relationship with his father. God promises a strong and constantly renewed relationship with Him as we enter into His Sabbath rest.
6 They are blind. Without knowledge and understanding of scripture they are unable to keep even the Ten Commandments. How dark is their world, as they allow evil to grow unexposed. [Matt 6:23; Lk 11:33-36]
7 They are naked. Because they no longer carry out the work of the Lord they have lost their clothing of righteousness. “For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” Rom 10:3 [Job 29:14; Ps 132:9]
C Warning and Encouragement:
1 Buy from me gold and white garments. Although the Lord gives freely there is a price He says REPENT. There are three things to buy:
a Gold – pureness for Gods service [ Mal 3:3]
b White garments – purity [Is 1:18; Rev 7:9; Rev 19:8]
c Salve to anoint eyes – so that the church can see its true condition
2 I chasten and reprove those I love. Those I love I reprove. [Pro 3:12] Laodicea does not like the idea of a God’s of judgment.
3 “I stand at the door” let me in. He is not even inside this church, but outside waiting to come in. Only individuals can open the door, not the corporate church.
4 He who conquers; sits with Him on His throne.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER: THE REVELATION CHAPTER 1
NEXT CHAPTER: THE REVELATION CHAPTER 4 and 5
Interesting little parable our Lord left us. Its conclusion seems at first glance not to match the illustration.
1 And he told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man; 3 and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Vindicate me against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Luke 18:1 -8
Here is a woman who needs her cause avenged. But the judge doesn’t care. We are not told why he is so heartless. Perhaps he wants a bribe, or her adversary is his friend, what ever the reason he cares nothing for her misery. Powerful men often have no reason to fear, for they truly are above the law. There is no recourse against such men. Yet she persist.
Such men have always looked the other way when God’s people were suffering. They have no interest in helping or saving these bothersome people. So these persecutors have gone unpunished for centuries. The Roman Empire yes it fell but not of judgment but rather their own corruption. The Church of Rome no longer has political power, but she has never paid for the atrocities of the INQUISITION. The Muslim hordes may have lost their empire but the faith they spread continues persecuting God’s people, and neither have the Communist nations paid for the abuse of God’s people.
Our Judge seems to be just as uncaring as this unrighteous one He uses as a parable. For two thousand years His people have not been avenged. We used to remember and pray for vengeance for those brave saints who came before us. They faced fire, dungeons, and swords, to pass the faith on to us. Yet they have received no vindication.
While at the same time we no longer stand up and speak out against false doctrine, corrupt government, and false faith. It has now become, I’m OK you’re OK kind of world. Full of platitudes, All roads lead to heaven. God loves everybody. We are all God’s children. God wouldn’t condemn anyone. We make our own hell here on earth.
Apparently the Lord’s measures of our faith is how well we have remembered the martyrs, and how well we too have continued to fight the good fight.
John Foxe
We have forgotten their cause, we have forgotten their fight.
“I was in the Spirit”, marks the beginning of the second part of the book. Chapters one through three described the throne and the worship surrounding the throne. There is a marked difference in Chapter four with the presence of the lamb on the throne. The main purpose of this part of the vision is to reveal our glorified savior occupying His father’s throne. [Dan 7:9-14]
The day here has changed to an ordinary weekday. The imagery here shows how the church gets along in relation to the world. It covers the same time period as the letters to the Churches with additional information. Historical events, that will happen soon, are now revealed from a different point of view.
“Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter.” [v 1]
These words in their context are self-explanatory to all who read plain English. The very first verse in The Revelation states that God’s purpose in giving this revelation was to show His servants, including “His servant John”, “things which must soon take place”. For this to be of benefit to His servants they must still be on earth. Only those mischievous Futurists change the meaning of the words to mean a future time rather than things that have happened, are happening and about to happen soon. [Rev 1:3, 19]
Christ used the same language in Luke 10:1 and the action was immediately thereafter. It is inconceivable to suppose a gap of almost 2000 years. The word here “shortly” means just that! It is translated elsewhere by the words quickly, speedily, and soon. [Acts 25:4; Phil 2:19; I Tim 3:14; Heb 13:23; 2 Pet 1:14]
The nature of John’s vision is cyclical. The first obvious cycle is that of the Church’s. After that the scroll is opened to reveal the Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls paralleling the same time period as the Churches; only now looking at how the history of the world will unfurl. The interludes are also cycles that repeat the same time period from Christ first coming to His second coming but from a different aspect.
John’s vision brings him into the Throne Room of God; also visited by Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. The glorious picture of the throne room being shown to each man is similar but different in that each one is shown a yet larger picture than the previous. The imagery compiled clearly shows the throne room in continual celebration of the Day of Atonement. John now sees the Lord Jesus Christ is the Ancient of Days on the throne. [Isa 6:1-13; Ezek 1:4-28; Dan 7:9-14;]
The rainbow reminds us of Noah and the covenant God made that He would never destroy the earth again with water. It completely surrounds the throne and no one can approach God without going through the rainbow or a covenantal relationship with God; that of Noah’s covenant [Gen 9:8-18], the Abrahamic covenant [Gen 15:17-21; 17:9-14], Mosaic covenant [Ex 24:3-8], or that of the blood of Jesus Christ [Lk 22:20]. These covenants are always before God, He continually observes and remembers them.
24 elders seated on 24 thrones. Twenty-four elders fall down to worship; each has a harp, and a bowl of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. They worship with a new song, the song of the Lamb.
The four living creatures, sometimes called cherubim [Ezek 10:1], were set to guard the tree of life after man was thrown out of the Garden of Eden. This is probably why Cherubim were fashioned for the mercy seat of the Ark in the temple; they looked down into the ark where Israel’s sins were on display and seem to protect God from those who are not worthy. They are forever singing Handel’s Hallelujah chorus.
Here the four creatures or Cherubim are the personification of the character of Christ Himself. They have authority over the four-corners of the earth.
When John looked for the Lion, he saw the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world [Jn 1:29]. Through the slaying of Messiah, the lamb, final atonement had been made.
It is always the Day of Atonement before the throne of God.
The Day of Atonement is one of the seven feasts of the Lord. It is the only time that a sacrifice was made for intentional sins. All other sacrifices and offerings were for unintentional sins. This is the only time the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies where he made atonement for his own sins, then his family, and then the nation of Israel. The sins were symbolically placed on the head of a goat with a scarlet ribbon and the goat was led out into the wilderness to die. [Lev 16; Num 29:7-11] It is at this time that the rabbi’s believe ones name is written in the book of life.
The Lamb through His once and for all sacrifice has become the High Priest who makes continual atonement for His people and sits at the right hand of God. [Heb 9:11-12; 10:1-10]
The seven eyes also mentions in Zech 4:10 are ranging through the whole earth. It is explained here that the eyes are the seven spirits of God sent out to the whole earth.
Wisdom Knowledge
Understanding Fear of the Lord
Counsel Strength
As seven is the number of completion, it is fitting that Christ as the slain lamb should send the seventh spirit, the:
Comforter
Seven horns indicate His authority over the seven church ages. The Lamb takes the scroll from the right hand of God for He alone has the authority to open the scroll.
The crystal sea is reminiscent of the brass sea in Solomon’s Temple. It is here in the temple that the priest would ceremonially wash. Those who would come before God must be clean. [I Kings 7:23-26] Here John sees with his eye, what those before him could only replicate with brass, a most beautiful sea that looks like crystal. It is noted that there is no sea mentioned in Ezekiel’s instruction for a temple and by chapter 21 in The Revelation the sea is no more. There is no need to ceremonially wash away sins for The Lamb has done away with the stain of sin.
It is sealed. The prophet Daniel was told to seal up the last part of what he wrote. It was not to be revealed until the time of the end. [Dan 12:4, 9] Only the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, Jesus Christ who has conquered, is able to open the scroll. What was hidden in the scroll is now revealed to John and the action is set into place.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER: THE REVELATION CHAPTERS 2 AND 3
NEXT CHAPTER: THE REVELATION CHAPTERS 6 AND 7
Daniel 10-11 and 12
A Historicist look at DANIEL
Chapter 10 & 11
In chapter ten we are shown a picture of the spiritual realm. In the physical, we have kings, princes, and rulers; in the spiritual realm, there are spirit beings, both good and bad, who compete for control over the doings of men. The identity of the being giving Daniel the vision and understanding for what was to befall his people is controversial, at the very least. We will refer to him as The Shiny Dude.
The Shiny Dude explains that he has been on the road for 21 days to bring Daniel his answer but was hindered by the prince of the kingdom of Persia. Now as The Shiny Dude is obviously not a physical human being it is doubtful that a physical human being could have hindered him much. Therefore, the prince of Persia is also of the spiritual realm. He further explains that Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help him and was in fact left to detain the prince of Persia.
Daniel is told that Michael is his prince. In chapter 12, Michael is said to have charge over Daniel’s people. Here is a picture of an entire hierarchy of spirit beings who influence, rule, and contend for the nations of the world.
This is the only vision where Daniel actually says that he understands the vision. [Dan 10:1] This is interesting, for this is the only vision where there is clear affirmation as to who the actual historical layers are.
Chapter 11
V 2 “And now I will show you the truth. Behold, three more kings, shall arise in Persia;”
After Darius I, came
Persian Court of Xerxes
1 – Xerxes I (486-465 BC)
2 – Artaxerxes I (465-424 BC)
3 – Xerxes II (424-423 BC)
“and a fourth shall be far richer than all of them; and when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all of them; against the kingdom of Greece.”
4 – Darius II 9423-404 BC
V 3 “And a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion and do according to his will”.
Alexander the Great (365 – 323 BC)
V 4 “And when he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven,”
The four generals of Alexander:
1 – Ptolemy in Egypt to the south (323-285 BC)
2 – Lysimachus in Thrace to the west
3 – Antigonus Monophthalmus in Phrygia to the north
4 – Seleucus I Nicator in Antioch to the east
“but not to his posterity, nor according to the dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be plucked up and go to others besides these.”
Alexander IV is the son of Alexander the Great, his posterity, who did not inherit the kingdom. The kingdom was divided among his four generals.
V 5 “Then the king of the south shall be strong.”
Ptolemy I (323 – 287 BC)
“but one of his princes shall be stronger than he and his dominion shall be a great dominion.”
Ptolemy II (285 – 246 BC)
V 6 “After some years they shall make an alliance,”
Antiochus II and Ptolemy II made an alliance (265 BC)
“and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make peace; but she shall not retain the strength of her arm, and he and his offspring shall not endure; but she shall be given up, and her attendants, her child, and he who got possession of her.”
The daughter of Ptolemy I, Berenice married Antiochus II to make peace (252 BC) Antiochus, Berenice and their offspring did not survive.
V 7 “In those times a branch from her roots shall arise in his place;”
Ptolemy III, Berenice’s brother (246-221 BC), son of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II who was the daughter of Ptolemy I, arose in Antiochus II’s place.
he shall come against the army and enter the fortress of the king of the north, and he shall deal “with them and shall prevail.”
Ptolemy III went up against the fortress of Seleucus II (246-226 BC) He dealt with the Laodice’s party and won.
V 8 “He shall also carry off to Egypt their gods with their molten images and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold; and for some years he shall refrain from attacking the king of the north.”
Ptolemy III refrained from attacking Seleucus II (246 – 241 BC)
V 9 “Then the latter shall come into the realm of the king of the south but shall return into his own land”.
Seleucus II came into the realm of Ptolemy III but returned to Syria (240 BC)
V 10 “His sons shall wage war and assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall come on and overflow and pass through, and again shall carry the war as far as his fortress.
V 11 “Then the king of the south, moved with anger, shall come out and fight with the king of the north”;
“Seleucus II’s sons Seleucus III (226-223 BC) and Antiochus III, also the Great (223-187 BC) assembled a great force and Antiochus III waged war as far as Ptolemy IV’s (221-205 BC) fortress, when Ptolemy IV came out to fight Antiochus III near Gaza.
“and he shall raise a great multitude, but it shall be given into his hand.
V 12 “And when the multitude is taken, his heart shall be exalted, and he shall cast down tens of thousands but he shall not prevail.”
Ptolemy IV defeated Antiochus III at Raphia (217 BC) but failed to follow up with any more action.
V 13 “For the king of the north shall again raise a multitude, greater than the former; and after some years he shall come on with a great army and abundant supplies.”
Antiochus III rose again (202 BC)
V 14 “In those times many shall rise against the king of the south; and the men of violence among your own people shall lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision; but they shall fail.”
Jewish uprising (201 BC) against Ptolemy V (205-181 BC)
V 15 “Then the king of the north shall come and throw up siege works, and take a well- fortified city. And the forces of the south shall not stand, or even his picked troops, for there shall be no strength to stand.”
Antiochus III took and stood at Panion (200 BC) against Ptolemy V and prevailed. Ptolemy’s General Scopas wasted Jerusalem.
V 16 “But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him; and he shall stand in the glorious land, and all of it shall be in his power.”
V 17 “He shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and he shall bring terms of peace and perform them. He shall give him the daughter of women to destroy the kingdom; but it shall not stand or be to his advantage.”
Antiochus III demands his term for peace and Ptolemy V, his daughter Cleopatra, “the daughter of women” to destroy the kingdom. (c. 193-195 BC)
This was not to his advantage as Ptolemy V allied himself with Rome and Cleopatra turned against her father.
V 18 “Afterward he shall turn his face to the coast lands, and shall take many of them; but a commander shall put an end to his insolence; indeed he shall turn his insolence back upon him.”
Antiochus III turned Ptolemy V back at Magnesia and Sipylum. (190-189 BC)
V 19 “Then he shall turn his face back toward the fortresses of his own land; but he shall stumble and fall, and shall not be found.”
Antiochus III turned back toward his own land but fell at Elymais (187 BC)
V 20 “Then shall arise in his place one who shall send an exactor of tribute through the glory of the kingdom; but within a few days he shall be broken, neither in anger nor in battle.”
The reign of Seleucus IV (187-185 BC)
V 21 “In his place shall arise a contemptible person to whom royal majesty has not been given; he shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.”
Heliodorus (175 BC) who robs the temple and is later assassinated.
V 22 “Armies shall be utterly swept away before him and broken, and the prince of the covenant also.”
In Heliodorus’s place comes Antiochus IV. (175-163 BC)
The prince of the covenant is Joshua and later Jason. Antiochus IV establishes Onius Menelaus as High Priest (Josephus Antiquities XII:V:1)
V 23 “And from the time that an alliance is made with him he shall act deceitfully; and he shall become strong with a small people.”
This is Antiochus IV who is deceitful
V 24 “Without warning he shall come into the richest parts of the province; and he shall do what neither his fathers nor his fathers’ fathers have done, scattering among them plunder, spoil, and goods. He shall devise plans against strongholds, but only for a time.”
V 25 “And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall wage war with an exceedingly great and mighty army; but he shall not stand, for plots shall be devised against him.”
Antiochus IV goes up against Ptolemy VI (c 170 BC)
V 26 “Even those who eat his rich food shall be his undoing; his army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain.”
V 27 “And as for the two kings, their minds shall be bent on mischief; they shall speak lies at the same table, but to no avail; for the end is yet to be at the time appointed.”
Two kings Ptolemy VI and Antiochus IV
V 28 “And he shall return to his land with great substance, but his heart shall be set against the holy covenant. And he shall work his will, and return to his own land”
Antiochus IV returns to his land. (168 BC)
V 29 “At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south; but it shall not be this time as it was before”.
Egypt (168 BC)
V 30 “For ships of Kittem shall come against him, and he shall be afraid and withdraw, and shall turn back and be enraged and take action against the holy covenant. He shall turn back and give heed to those who forsake the holy covenant.”
Antiochus IV
V 31 “Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the continual burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.”
Forces led by Lysias set up a statue of Zeus and a continual daily offering of swine on the alter. (25 Kislev 168 BC).
V 32 “He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant; but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action”.
Lysias seduced with flattery but the Maccabees stood firm against him. Judas Maccabees was victorious.
V 33 “And those among the people who are wise shall make many understand, though they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder, for some days.”
V 34 “When they fall, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery”,
V 35 “and some of those who are wise shall fall, to refine and to cleanse them and to make them white, until the time of the end, for it is yet for the time appointed.”
V 36 “And the king shall do according to his will; he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished; for what is determined shall be done.”
Enter Gaius Julius Caesar (c. 101-44 BC)
V 37 “He shall give no heed to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women (Tammuz); he shall not give heed to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all.”
V 38 “He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these; a god whom his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts”.
That is to say, he worshipped his own strength and military might
V 39 “He shall deal with the strongest fortresses by the help of a foreign god; those who acknowledge him he shall magnify with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price.”
V 40 “At the time of the end (meaning the end of the Jewish age) the king of the south shall attack him; but the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall come into countries and shall overflow and pass through.”
Ptolemy attacked from the south but Julius Caesar rushed in like a whirlwind (c. 48 BC)
Julius Caesar
V 41 “He shall come into the glorious land. And tens of thousands shall fall, but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom and Moab and the main part of the Ammonites.”
V 42 “He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
V 43 “He shall become ruler of the treasures of gold and of silver and all the precious things of
Egypt; and the Libyans and the Ethiopians (“Ethiopia” is a mistranslation it should be Cushiym) shall follow in his train.”
The Libyans and the Cushites or Sudanese follow in Caesar’s wake.
V 44 “But tidings from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he shall go forth with great fury to exterminate and utterly destroy many”.
The defeat of Crassus by the Parthians alarm Caesar (53 BC)
V 45 “And he shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, with none to help him”.
“Et tu Brute?” The death of Julius Caesar. (March 15, 44 BC) Beware the ides of March.
DANIEL CHAPTER 12
“At that time Michael shall stand up”
At that time is a reference to the previous events of chapter eleven, placing that time generally in the first century BC and under the rule of Julius Caesar. Michael the Archangel is the prince and protector of Israel. Michael is coming onto this scene, to intercede for the Messiah and those who are written in the Book of Life (See Daniel 10:13,20 description of Michael and the princes of Persia and Greece).
Distress, never seen before Here is the time of judgment upon the Jews for rejecting their Messiah. With the destruction of Jerusalem, the Temple, and the scattering of Jews among the nations [70AD] the time of Jacob’s trouble commences [Jer 30:7] and will undoubtedly continue until they repent and take as their own the Messiah.
(See Appendix for a description of the incredible distress in Jerusalem as told through the eyewitness account of Josephus)
Only the people who are written in the Book of Life, the believers in Messiah, were to be delivered from the hand of the judgment meted out by the Roman General Titus. Those who lived in Israel at the time escaped to Pella (across the Jordan River) to avoid the destruction of Jerusalem and the surrounding area, and the general extermination of Jews. Those who were believers understood Jesus Christ’s warning that they should flee when they saw the armies encompassing Jerusalem. [Luke 21:20-22]
As an encouragement to the believers there is, a glimpse forward given in the vision of the resurrection at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. This is a hopeful reminder of our final deliverance. Wise are the believers who turn many to righteousness, bringing in the harvest. [Mt 9:37-38; Mk 4:29; Lk 9:2; John 4:35] They shall shine like the firmament, which is so bright that you cannot see the stars in the daytime. However, there is included the warning, others will also arise at the Second Coming who will not partake in the Messiah’s deliverance but live in everlasting contempt. [Rev 20:11-15; see also Matt 13:24-43, Rom 11:17-24: Is 5; Jer 11]
Seal the Scroll until the time of the end
The Apostles knew they were in the end of times and what scholars call the Mosaic economy. [1 Pet 1:20; 1 John 2:18] It is not until The Revelation that the Lamb is seen breaking open this same seal and John is given the understanding for the rest of the prophecy. [Rev 5:5] It is well to note that Daniel was told that understanding was not for him but for the wise for whom the prophecy would be unsealed.
The wicked will not understand! It is important to know where your prophetic interpretation originates. An organization that invented such wickedness as the Inquisition, with its racks and iron maidens, should not be looked to for doctrinal truth. Wickedness can only beget wickedness. This is exactly where the Futurist’s interpretation of prophecy originated, from the Jesuit Priest Ribera. Therefore, any of its doctrines should be suspect. Test all doctrine against scripture. [Acts 17:11; I Jn 4:1-6]
Two others stood on the riverbank
Two witnesses (Jews and Gentiles) were on the banks of the stream, one on each side. The Shiny Dude is above the stream and takes an oath as to the length of time that the Holy people’s power shall be shattered. He says it will last for a time, 2 times and a half time or until 1260 years. The continual burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up for 1290 years thus adding 30 years.Additionally there is a blessing given for those who last until 1335 years, another addition of 45 years.
When the shattering of the power (or strength) of the holy people is ended;this is the hope of God’s people, that there will come an end to the hindrance of the Twin Apostate Powers (the Roman Church and Islam). They have persecuted, deceived, and trampled Gods people with their falsehoods and their duplicity. All this is coming to an end, as their power, day by day, dries up. Christ will overcome, and His people will shine in the everlasting light of freedom, truth, and righteousness.
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