Bible Study Guides – “The Woman Fled into the Wilderness”

June 9, 2001 – June 15, 2001

MEMORY VERSE

“He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.” Isaiah 33:16.

STUDY HELP: The The Great Controversy, 61–78.

Introduction

“Among the leading causes that had led to the separation of the true church from Rome was the hatred of the latter toward the Bible Sabbath. As foretold by prophecy, the papal power cast down the truth to the ground. The law of God was trampled in the dust, while the traditions and customs of men were exalted. The churches that were under the rule of the papacy were early compelled to honor the Sunday as a holy day. Amid the prevailing error and superstition, many, even of the true people of God, became so bewildered that while they observed the Sabbath, they refrained from labor also on the Sunday. But this did not satisfy the papal leaders. They demanded not only that Sunday be hallowed, but that the Sabbath be profaned; and they denounced in the strongest language those who dared to show it honor. It was only by fleeing from the power of Rome that any could obey God’s law in peace.” The The Great Controversy, 65.

“Thou Dwellest Even Where Satan’s Seat Is”

1 How is the persecution of the church by the Roman emperors depicted in prophecy? Revelation 2:8–11.

NOTE: “Thousands of the followers of Christ—men, women, and children—were put to death in the most cruel manner. Some were crucified, some covered with the skins of wild beasts, and torn in pieces by dogs, others were clothed in garments of inflammable material, and set on fire at night to illuminate the circus of the Vatican and the pleasure gardens of Nero. Thus this monster in human form amused the public by exhibiting his victims in their dying agonies, while he himself stood by, taking the keenest delight in their misery. Degraded and hardened as were the Romans, and bitter as was their prejudice against the Christians, the constant repetition of these horrible, heart– sickening scenes excited even their compassion.” Sketches from the Life of Paul, 303, 304.

2 What deterioration in the church’s spiritual state took place in the period following the persecutions? Revelation 2:14–16.

NOTE: “Little by little, at first in stealth and silence, and then more openly as it increased in strength and gained control of the minds of men, ‘the mystery of iniquity’ carried forward its deceptive and blasphemous work. Almost imperceptibly the customs of heathenism found their way into the Christian church. The spirit of compromise and conformity was restrained for a time by the fierce persecutions which the church endured under paganism. But as persecution ceased, and Christianity entered the courts and palaces of kings, she laid aside the humble simplicity of Christ and His apostles for the pomp and pride of pagan priests and rulers; and in place of the requirements of God, she substituted human theories and traditions. The nominal conversion of Constantine, in the early part of the fourth century, caused great rejoicing; and the world, cloaked with a form of righteousness, walked into the church. Now the work of corruption rapidly progressed. Paganism, while appearing to be vanquished, became the conqueror. Her spirit controlled the church. Her doctrines, ceremonies, and superstitions were incorporated into the faith and worship of the professed followers of Christ.” The Great Controversy, 49, 50.

“I Will Put upon you None Other Burden”

3 How did Paul prophesy the emergence of apostate Christianity? II Thessalonians 2:3, 4.

NOTE: “This compromise between paganism and Christianity resulted in the development of ‘the man of sin’ foretold in prophecy as opposing and exalting himself above God. That gigantic system of false religion is a masterpiece of Satan’s power—a monument of his efforts to seat himself upon the throne to rule the earth according to his will. Satan once endeavored to form a compromise with Christ. He came to the Son of God in the wilderness of temptation, and showing Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, offered to give all into His hands if He would but acknowledge the supremacy of the prince of darkness. Christ rebuked the presumptuous tempter and forced him to depart. But Satan meets with greater success in presenting the same temptations to man. To secure worldly gains and honors, the church was led to seek the favor and support of the great men of earth; and having thus rejected Christ, she was induced to yield allegiance to the representative of Satan—the bishop of Rome. It is one of the leading doctrines of Romanism that the pope is the visible head of the universal church of Christ, invested with supreme authority over bishops and pastors in all parts of the world. More than this, the pope has been given the very titles of Deity. He has been styled ‘Lord God the Pope’, and has been declared infallible. He demands the homage of all men. The same claim urged by Satan in the wilderness of temptation is still urged by him through the Church of Rome, and vast numbers are ready to yield him homage.” The Great Controversy, 50.

4 As persecution began again, what was the church obliged to do? Revelation 12:6, 14.

NOTE: “Christians were forced to choose either to yield their integrity and accept the papal ceremonies and worship, or to wear away their lives in dungeons or suffer death by the rack, the fagot, or the headsman’s ax. Now were fulfilled the words of Jesus: ‘Ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake.’ Luke 21:16, 17. Persecution opened upon the faithful with greater fury than ever before, and the world became a vast battlefield. For hundreds of years the church of Christ found refuge in seclusion and obscurity. Thus says the prophet: ‘The woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three–score days.’ Revelation 12:6.” The Great Controversy, 54, 55.

“Hold Fast Till I Come”

5 What words of encouragement did the Lord address to the church of this time of persecution? Revelation 2:24–25.

NOTE: “Amid the gloom that settled upon the earth during the long period of papal supremacy, the light of truth could not be wholly extinguished. In every age there were witnesses for God—men who cherished faith in Christ as the only mediator between God and man, who held the Bible as the only rule of life, and who hallowed the true Sabbath. How much the world owes to these men, posterity will never know. They were branded as heretics, their motives impugned, their characters maligned, their writings suppressed, misrepresented, or mutilated. Yet they stood firm, and from age to age maintained their faith in its purity, as a sacred heritage for the generations to come. The history of God’s people during the ages of darkness that followed upon Rome’s supremacy is written in heaven, but they have little place in human records. Few traces of their existence can be found, except in the accusations of their persecutors. It was the policy of Rome to obliterate every trace of dissent from her doctrines or decrees.” The Great Controversy, 61.

6 How are those who laid down their lives for the truth pictured in prophecy? Revelation 6:9–11.

NOTE: “The cries of the faithful, persecuted ones ascend to heaven. And as the blood of Abel cried from the ground, there are voices also crying to God from martyrs’ graves, from the sepulchers of the sea, from mountain caverns, from convent vaults: ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? When the fifth seal was opened, John the Revelator in vision saw beneath the altar the company that were slain for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Maranatha, 199.

“A Thousand Two Hundred and Three-score Days”

7 How long was this period of persecution to last? Revelation 12:6, 14. Compare Daniel 7:25; Daniel 12:7; Revelation 11:2, 3; Revelation 13:5.

NOTE: This period of persecution is mentioned seven times, far more frequently than any other Bible time prophecy.

“The periods here mentioned—‘forty and two months,’ and ‘a thousand two hundred and threescore days—are the same, alike representing the time in which the church of Christ was to suffer oppression from Rome. The 1260 years of papal supremacy began in A.D. 538, and would therefore terminate in 1798. At that time a French army entered Rome and made the pope a prisoner, and he died in exile. Though a new pope was soon afterward elected, the papal hierarchy has never since been able to wield the power which it before possessed.” The Great Controversy, 266.

8 What events were to usher in this period of papal power? Daniel 7:8, 24.

NOTE: “When he dispatched his letter to Rome, in 533, Justinian commissioned his general Belisarius to exterminate the remnants of the surviving Arian Christians in north Africa and Italy. He wished to eradicate his rivals and support the bishop of Rome politically. This would make it possible for him to act without restraint in establishing his brand of Christianity. . . . The Ostrogoths made a series of blunders and were annihilated by 538 A.D. By these tactics the three Arian Christian Barbarian ‘horn’ kingdoms—Heruli, Vandals and Ostrogoths—were ‘plucked up by their roots.’ The ‘diverse . . . little horn’ then stepped into the religious and political vacuum in the West, and the ‘universal’ pope was created. . . . For the first time in history, the bishop of Rome exercised authority over all Christian churches with power to destroy all heretics.” Hardinge, Jesus is my Judge, 149.

“Those Days Shall be Shortened”

9 How did Jesus speak of this period of persecution? Matthew 24:21.

NOTE: “From the destruction of Jerusalem, Christ passed on rapidly to the greater event, the last link in the chain of this earth’s history,—the coming of the Son of God in majesty and glory. Between these two events, there lay open to Christ’s view long centuries of darkness, centuries for His church marked with blood and tears and agony. Upon these scenes His disciples could not then endure to look, and Jesus passed them by with a brief mention. ‘Then shall be great tribulation,’ He said, ‘such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.’” The Desire of Ages, 630, 631.

10 Why did God bring this persecution to a premature end? Matthew 24:22.

NOTE: “‘And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.’ For more than a thousand years such persecution as the world had never before known was to come upon Christ’s followers. Millions upon millions of His faithful witnesses were to be slain. Had not God’s hand been stretched out to preserve His people, all would have perished. ‘But for the elect’s sake,’ He said, ‘those days shall be shortened.’” The Desire of Ages, 631.

“In the Saviour’s conversation with His disciples upon Olivet, after describing the long period of trial for the church—the 1260 years of papal persecution, concerning which He had promised that the tribulation should be shortened—He thus mentioned certain events to precede His coming, and fixed the time when the first of these should be witnessed: ‘In those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light.’ The 1260 days, or years, terminated in 1798. A quarter of a century earlier, persecution had almost wholly ceased.” Maranatha, 150.

“The Earth Helped the Woman”

11 What factor contributed to the survival of the church? Revelation 12:15, 16.

NOTE: There is little agreement as to the precise interpretation of “the earth” in this passage. Ellen White makes no comment about it. It has been agreed that waters symbolize nations and peoples. (See Revelation 17:15.) Commenting on Revelation 13:11, we read: “The beast with lamblike horns was seen ‘coming up out of the earth.’ Instead of overthrowing other powers to establish itself, the nation thus represented must arise in territory previously unoccupied and grow up gradually and peacefully. It could not, then, arise among the crowded and struggling nationalities of the Old World—that turbulent sea of ‘peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.’ It must be sought in the Western Continent.” The Great Controversy, 440.

It seems reasonable, therefore, to interpret “the earth” in Revelation 12:16 in the same way as in Revelation 13:11. It is a fact of history that only in the United States was religious liberty established as a constitutional right. It is also a fact that it was to America that many of the church in the wilderness fled for refuge. Nowhere in Europe, with its established churches, was safe from religious persecution.

12 What are the identifying features of the true church? Revelation 12:17.

NOTE: “A striking contrast is seen between those who practice the truth and those who have joined the ranks of the apostate. Meek and lowly will those be who follow the Lamb of God. Boastful, denunciatory, and lawless in word and deed will those be who war against the commandments of God. They are thus because they have the spirit and attributes of the dragon, who was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus.” Review and Herald, May 3, 1898.

“We can see from this scripture that it is not the true church of God that makes war with those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. It is the people who make void the law, who place themselves on the side of the dragon, and persecute those who vindicate God’s precepts.” Signs of the Times, April 22, 1889.

Purified and Refined

One of the mysteries of the Bible that is interesting to study is when God swears. The highest form of taking an oath or judicial swearing is when a man swears by God. He swears that God is his witness, and that what he is saying is the truth. There are many instances in the scriptures where holy men swore by God concerning an important issue. (See Genesis 24:3; II Chronicles 36:13; Nehemiah 13:25; Psalm 15:4.)

Although it is awesome when a human being takes an oath with God as his witness, it is much more awesome when the Creator of the heavens and the earth decides to say something under oath. When God swears, He swears by Himself. (See Jeremiah 22:5 and Exodus 32:13.)

Any time God swears, something exceedingly important is being communicated, and especially important when it is recorded that God swore not to a human being, but to another member of the Godhead.

In the latter part of the book of Daniel, God the Son swore something in the name of His Father. This is recorded in Daniel 10:6: “I lifted my eyes and looked and behold a certain man clothed in linen whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz. His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude.” Ellen White says in The Sanctified Life, 49, 50, after she quotes Daniel 10:2–6: “This description is similar to that given by John when Christ was revealed to him upon the isle of Patmos. No less a personage than the Son of God appeared to Daniel.”

Daniel received this great vision which describes and predicts what would happen from the time in which he received the vision up until the time of the end, and even beyond. Daniel 11:32–34 describes the great Papal persecution. In verse 35, he says, “And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end.” This Papal persecution was to go on until the time of the end—the last epochal period in earth’s history. Daniel is told in Daniel 12:4: “Shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end.” Until the time of the end, these prophecies were not going to be comprehended, especially the prophecy in regard to time.

Let us look at this vision more deeply starting with Daniel 12:5, 6: “Then I, Daniel, looked. And there stood two others, one on this riverbank and the other on that riverbank. And one said to the man clothed in linen [Jesus Christ], who was above the waters of the river, ‘How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?’ ” What wonders is he talking about? He is talking about all that has been described in this vision that started clear back in chapter 10 and goes all the way through chapter 11. He wants to know how long it is going to be until the time of the end.

This is an important enough question that the Son of God answered it by taking an oath. “Then I heard the man clothed in linen [Jesus Christ], who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time, and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished.” Daniel 12:7.

Notice what Daniel then says in Daniel 12:8, 9: “Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, ‘My lord, what shall be the end of these things?’ And He said, ‘Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.’ ”

Daniel understood chapters 10 and 11, but he did not understand about the three and a half times or three and a half years. But this period of time was important enough in the plan of salvation and in working out the mystery of God that the Lord Jesus swore in the name of His Father.

If it was that important, then we need to understand this time period, the 1260-day prophecy. In the Jewish calendar, a month had 30 days, and a year had 12 months. So a year was 360 days. Three and a half years would be 1260 days.

This 1260-day period of time is so important that it is mentioned over and over again in the books of Daniel and Revelation. It is even referred to by Jesus Christ himself in Matthew 24 and in Mark 13. Without this time period, many of the prophecies in Daniel and Revelation would be impossible to comprehend or interpret. It is extremely important!

We are going to go over a number of facts concerning the 1260-day prophecy. First of all, this prophecy is in prophetic time because it was to extend until the time of the end. It could not possibly be literal days. This period of time anchors the events in Bible prophecy, and it forces only one type of interpretation of Bible prophecy, the historical interpretation. If you understand the 1260-day prophecy, you cannot be led astray by futurism or by any of these other interpretations of Bible prophecy.

In Daniel 7, Daniel has been enumerating and explaining the characteristics of the little horn power which makes war against the people of God. He says: “He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.” Daniel 7:25.

Notice, this little horn power is going to have the power to persecute for three and a half times, or 1260 literal years. For that period of time, the little horn power is going to have the power to persecute the saints. Other characteristics of the little horn power can be seen in the prophecy of Daniel 7. Daniel has been describing the four world empires in the beginning of the prophecy—Babylon was represented by a lion, Medo-Persia by a bear, Greece by a leopard, and the Pagan Roman Empire by a great and dreadful beast.

These were the four great empires of the world, and the Bible teaches all the way through the Book of Daniel that there is not going to be another world empire. It teaches that the fourth kingdom would be divided or broken up. This is exactly what it teaches in Daniel 7, where this dreadful beast has ten horns. Notice what it says in verse 8: “I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words.”

What does a horn represent? It represents a king or a kingdom. (Daniel 7:17, 24.) So the Western Roman Empire was to be divided up into ten kingdoms. This happened between A.D. 351 and A.D. 476. The Bible also predicted that a little horn was to arise that would uproot three of these ten kingdoms.

This little horn power could not arise until the ten kingdoms were in place, which was not until A.D. 476. It is interesting to note that the little horn power could not possibly be Antiochus Epiphanes, as many believe. He existed 600 years before that time.

Somebody may question, how then do you understand this power applying to the papacy, because it existed long before the sixth century, or long before A.D. 476? That is not hard to explain. What is a horn? A horn is a king, someone who has civil, governmental authority. The papacy existed before these ten horns existed, but it did not exist as a horn; it did not have a civil government.

In the days of the apostle Paul, the bishop of Rome did not have a kingdom. Caesar was the king, and anyone else who claimed to be king would be crucified. The apostle Paul talks about this very thing in II Thessalonians where he talks about the papal power, the man of sin. Notice what he says in II Thessalonians 2:6: “And now you know what is restraining, that he [the papacy] may be revealed in his own time.” What was then restraining? The Pagan Roman Empire. The papacy could not develop its real power until the Caesar was taken out of the way. You see, II Thessalonians 2 agrees perfectly with Daniel 7. The mystery of lawlessness already existed, the antichrist power was already there, but Paul says that he could not really be revealed yet.

Even when the Roman Empire was divided up, and there were no more Caesars, there was still someone who had civil authority in Rome. His name was Odoacer, and he ruled the kingdom of the Heruli, who were Arians. They controlled the whole country of Italy. No one could even be chosen as Pope without his permission. This power kept the papacy in check.

Something had to be done to get Odoacer out of the way. So an alliance was made, and Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, came down with his army and defeated Odoacer in A.D. 493. Actually though, that did not help very much, because Theodoric and the Ostrogoths were Arians too. The Pope still could not have his way, because he was still under the control of the Ostrogoth’s power right there in Rome.

One Down, Two to Go

Now the Ostrogoths were in control. They had enemies in northern Africa called the Vandals. These people built great ships, and every year they would go to one of the port cities in the Roman Empire and loot the city, taking its wealth. One year they looted the city of Rome for 14 days and took all the wealth that they could find and many prisoners. Understandably, this made the people in Rome very unhappy.

The papacy could never exert its power as long as the Vandals and the Ostrogoths were in control of Italy. Something had to be done. The papacy contacted Justinian, the head of the Eastern Roman Empire in Constantinople. They needed help. Justinian sent the armies of the Eastern Roman Empire, and the Vandals were destroyed around A.D. 534.

There was still one kingdom left, and that was the Ostrogoths. They were driven from the city of Rome in A.D. 538. That was the earliest time that the papacy could exert civil power and authority and be called a little horn power. It now had become the little horn that would persecute the saints for 1260 years.

From A.D. 538, if you extend the 1260-year period, you come to 1798. A few decades before that, John Wesley was preaching the gospel, both in America and in England. He realized that something important was about to happen, and he wrote and taught that the time of papal persecution was about to end.

Persecuted and Broken

We learned from Daniel 12:6, 7, that during this period of time, the power of the holy people would be broken, or graphically translated, shattered and destroyed.

This is a mystery that I cannot explain and do not understand. Why would God allow His people to be persecuted, and broken? We will not fully understand this until we get to heaven, but we have been given a few hints in the Spirit of Prophecy as to why and how God allowed this to happen. In The Desire of Ages, in the chapter “It Is Finished,” Ellen White says that Satan was not then (at the cross) totally destroyed. She said that both for the sake of angels and for men the devil must be allowed to live to more fully develop his principles so that both angels and men could understand what his character was like.

That is an incredible statement. The devil must be allowed to develop the true principles of his government, of his character. The 1260-year period of persecution was the period of time when that happened. The Bible says in Nahum 1:9, “What do you imagine against the Lord? affliction will not rise up the second time.” Why will affliction not rise up a second time? Because all humanity will have seen the consequences of sin, and it will be abhorrent to them.

We also cannot explain why it took so long. Daniel could not understand it, neither could Adam and Eve. They thought that the Messiah would come quickly. They did not realize that it was going to take thousands of years. God knew that the people of past ages could not bear to comprehend all of this, so He said, “The words are going to be sealed until the time of the end.”

Measuring the Temple

There is an amazing prophecy in Revelation 11 which some people think is still in the future. Notice, right in the middle of the prophecy, we are given some specifications. “Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, ‘Rise and measure the temple of God.’ ” Revelation 11:1.

What is the temple of God? Paul said over and over that it is the church. You can see that clearly if you study the following chapters: Ephesians 1, 2, 4, and I Corinthians 3, 6.

“Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.” What altar is this? You remember Paul said in Hebrews 13:10: “We have an altar from which those who minister in the temple [that is, in the earthly sanctuary] have no right to eat.” This is the altar of the New Covenant.

“But leave out the court.” Revelation 11:2. In the New Covenant, where is the court? The court is this world, in the New Covenant. The altar was where the sacrifice was slain. Where was the sacrifice slain in the New Covenant? It was slain in this world. And then, after you come to the altar, before you come into the sanctuary, you come to the laver, and the laver is where people are washed and purified.

If you are going to be purified at all, you must be purified in this world. You are not going to be taken up to heaven and be purified there, like some people think. If you are ever going to be purified, you are going to be purified right here. The laver is in the court. Only the pure will see God. (Matthew 5:8.) Only the sanctified, only the holy, will dwell in His presence. (Hebrews 12:14.)

You must be washed, you must be purified. “Everyone who has this hope in him must be purified even as He is pure.” I John 3:3. Friend, do not let anyone talk you out of your birthright. Jesus died on the cross so that you could have eternal life, but He cannot give it to you unless you are purified.

“Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles.” Who are the Gentiles? It is not talking about Jews and Gentiles by blood; it is talking about spiritual Israel versus those who are not part of spiritual Israel.

These Gentiles are professed Christians. They are professed Jews. Remember, a curse is pronounced twice, in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9, against those who say that they are Jews, but they really are not.

“It has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.” Here again you have the 1260-day period. What is the holy city? If you belong to Jesus, if you have given your heart to Him, your name is written down there already. The holy city is a representation of the church. They will tread it down, persecute it, for forty-two months.

“And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” Revelation 11:3. This is a mystery. I cannot tell you why God determined that it was going to take this period of time in order for the whole universe to see the full development of the character of Satan.

This is the period of time also when the woman would have to flee into the wilderness for 1260 days, prophesied in Revelation 12. We cannot explain the mystery of the 1260 days; it is one of the great mysteries of Bible prophecy.

In Daniel 12:9, 10, we are told something about this mystery: “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.” None of the wicked shall understand these things that we are studying. However, there will also be many people who, despite the persecution and tribulation and the treading down of the city, will be purified and made white and tried. Many people will have washed their garments in the blood of the Lamb.

This is a number so great that the Bible says that it will be like the sands of the sea, like the stars of heaven. That number is not yet made up. God wants to use the young people of the present generation to help make up this number that will be as the sand of the sea and as the stars of heaven.

God wants to use you. Do you want to be a part of that group that will be purified and made white and tried? Do you want to receive an eternal inheritance, a birthright where there will not be anymore tribulation or pain? Do you want to be part of that?

[Emphasis supplied.]

Pastor John Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by e-mail at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Bible Study Guides – The “ Little Horn ”

October 10, 2010 – October 16, 2010

Key Text

“I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” Daniel 7:8.

Study Help: The Great Controversy, 444, 445; Life Sketches, 96.

Introduction

“Through half-converted pagans, ambitious prelates, and world-loving churchmen he [Satan] accomplished his purpose.” The Great Controversy, 53.

1 What vision was given to Daniel concerning four beasts and which of the beasts especially left a deep impression on his mind? Daniel 7:1–4, 7, 8.

2 Name at least four of the characteristics mentioned in Daniel 7:7.

3 As Daniel was observing the ten horns, what did he see? Daniel 7:8.

4 How many of the characteristics previously mentioned show that the little horn represents the papal power? Compare Daniel 7:8, 20, 21, 25, 26 and Revelation 13:2, 5–7, 10. See also Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6 for the year/day principle used in calculating prophetic time.

  1. a blasphemous power
  2. makes war against the saints and overcomes them
  3. a mouth which speaks great things
  4. “the little horn power” appears when the three powers remaining from the pagan Roman government are removed
  5. was to continue for the same length of time, 1260 years
  6. this power was to be terminated

Note: “The forty and two months are the same as the ‘time and times and the dividing of time’ [Daniel 7:25], three years and a half, or 1260 days, of Daniel 7—the time during which the papal power was to oppress God’s people. This period … began with the supremacy of the papacy, A.D. 538, and terminated in 1798. At that time the pope was made captive by the French army, the papal power received its deadly wound, and the prediction was fulfilled, ‘He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity’ [Revelation 13:10].” The Great Controversy, 439.

“A French army entered Rome and made the pope a prisoner, and he died in exile. Though a new pope was soon afterward elected, the papal hierarchy has never since been able to wield the power which it before possessed.” Ibid., 266.

5 In what year was the temporal power of the papacy established?

Note: “The 1260 years of papal supremacy began in A.D. 538.” The Great Controversy, 266.

6 Where did the faithful find a refuge when persecuted for not accepting papal heresies? Revelation 12:6.

Note: “The papal power sought to hide from the people the word of truth, and set before them false witnesses to contradict its testimony. When the Bible was proscribed by religious and secular authority; when its testimony was perverted, and every effort made that men and demons could invent to turn the minds of the people from it; when those who dared proclaim its sacred truths were hunted, betrayed, tortured, buried in dungeon cells, martyred for their faith, or compelled to flee to mountain fastnesses, and to dens and caves of the earth—then the faithful witnesses prophesied in sackcloth. Yet they continued their testimony throughout the entire period of 1260 years. In the darkest times there were faithful men who loved God’s word and were jealous for His honor. To these loyal servants were given wisdom, power, and authority to declare His truth during the whole of this time.” The Great Controversy, 267, 268.

7 What was the true nature of the teachers who did not use the Bible? II John 7, 9.

Note: “Satan well knew that the Holy Scriptures would enable men to discern his deceptions and withstand his power. It was by the word that even the Saviour of the world had resisted his attacks. At every assault, Christ presented the shield of eternal truth, saying, ‘It is written.’

“To every suggestion of the adversary, He opposed the wisdom and power of the word. In order for Satan to maintain his sway over men, and establish the authority of the papal usurper, he must keep them in ignorance of the Scriptures. The Bible would exalt God and place finite men in their true position; therefore its sacred truths must be concealed and suppressed. This logic was adopted by the Roman Church. For hundreds of years the circulation of the Bible was prohibited. The people were forbidden to read it or to have it in their houses, and unprincipled priests and prelates interpreted its teachings to sustain their pretensions. Thus the pope came to be almost universally acknowledged as the vicegerent of God on earth, endowed with authority over church and state.” The Great Controversy, 51.

8 What plan did Satan have to gain the allegiance of the whole world, and what institutions did his agents continually attack? II Thessalonians 2:4.

Note: “The archdeceiver had not completed his work. He was resolved to gather the Christian world under his banner and to exercise his power through his vicegerent, the proud pontiff who claimed to be the representative of Christ. Through half-converted pagans, ambitious prelates, and world-loving churchmen he accomplished his purpose. Vast councils were held from time to time, in which the dignitaries of the church were convened from all the world. In nearly every council the Sabbath which God had instituted was pressed down a little lower, while the Sunday was correspondingly exalted. Thus the pagan festival came finally to be honored as a divine institution, while the Bible Sabbath was pronounced a relic of Judaism, and its observers were declared to be accursed.

“The great apostate had succeeded in exalting himself ‘above all that is called God, or that is worshipped.’ II Thessalonians 2:4. He had dared to change the only precept of the divine law that unmistakably points all mankind to the true and living God.” The Great Controversy, 53.

9 What is a sign of the major characteristic of the great deceiver and particularly of his human agent? Revelation 14:9.

Note: “The special characteristic of the beast, and therefore of his image, is the breaking of God’s commandments.” The Great Controversy, 446.

10 What must characterize the children of God, and what is the sign of this? Ezekiel 20:12, 20; II John 6.

Note: “In the fourth commandment, God is revealed as the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and is thereby distinguished from all false gods. It was as a memorial of the work of creation that the seventh day was sanctified as a rest day for man. It was designed to keep the living God ever before the minds of men as the source of being and the object of reverence and worship. Satan strives to turn men from their allegiance to God, and from rendering obedience to His law; therefore he directs his efforts especially against that commandment which points to God as the Creator.” The Great Controversy, 53, 54.

“As the Sabbath was the sign that distinguished Israel when they came out of Egypt to enter the earthly Canaan, so it is the sign that now distinguishes God’s people as they come out from the world to enter the heavenly rest.” Maranatha, 244.

Additional Reading

“But the beast with lamblike horns was seen ‘coming up out of the earth’ [Revelation 13:11]. Instead of overthrowing other powers to establish itself, the nation thus represented must arise in territory preciously unoccupied and grow up gradually and peacefully. It could not, then, arise among the crowded and struggling nationalities of the Old World—that turbulent sea of ‘peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues’ [Revelation 17:15]. It must be sought in the Western Continent.

“What nation of the New World was in 1798 rising into power, giving promise of strength and greatness, and attracting the attention of the world? The application of the symbol admits of no question. One nation, and only one, meets the specifications of this prophecy; it points unmistakably to the United States of America. Again and again the thought, almost the exact words, of the sacred writer has been unconsciously employed by the orator and the historian in describing the rise and growth of this nation. The beast was seen ‘coming up out of the earth;’ and, according to the translators, the word here rendered ‘coming up’ literally signifies ‘to grow or spring up as a plant.’ And, as we have seen, the nation must arise in territory previously unoccupied. A prominent writer, describing the rise of the United States, speaks of ‘the mystery of her coming forth from vacancy,’ and says: ‘Like a silent seed we grew into empire.’—G. A. Townsend, The New World Compared With the Old, 462. A European journal in 1850 spoke of the United States as a wonderful empire, which was ‘emerging,’ and ‘amid the silence of the earth daily adding to its power and pride.’ ”—The Dublin Nation. Edward Everett, in an oration on the Pilgrim founders of this nation, said: “Did they look for a retired spot, inoffensive for its obscurity, and safe in its remoteness, where the little church of Leyden might enjoy the freedom of conscience? Behold the mighty regions over which, in peaceful conquest, … they have borne the banners of the cross!”—Speech delivered at Plymouth, Massachusetts, December 22, 1824, page 11.

“ ‘And he had two horns like a lamb’ [Revelation 13:11]. The lamblike horns indicate youth, innocence, and gentleness, fitly representing the character of the United States when presented to the prophet as ‘coming up’ in 1798. Among the Christian exiles who first fled to America and sought an asylum from royal oppression and priestly intolerance were many who determined to establish a government upon the broad foundation of civil and religious liberty. Their views found place in the Declaration of Independence, which sets forth the great truth that ‘all men are created equal’ and endowed with the inalienable right to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ And the Constitution guarantees to the people the right of self-government, providing that representatives elected by the popular vote shall enact and administer the laws. Freedom of religious faith was also granted, every man being permitted to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience. Republicanism and Protestantism became the fundamental principles of the nation. These principles are the secret of its power and prosperity. The oppressed and downtrodden throughout Christendom have turned to this land with interest and hope. Millions have sought its shores, and the United States has risen to a place among the most powerful nations of the earth.

“But the beast with lamblike horns ‘spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed;… saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.’ Revelation 13:11–14.” The Great Controversy, 440–442.

©2005 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, Roanoke, Virginia. Reprinted by permission.

Bible Study Guides – The Dark Ages

October 3, 2010 – October 9, 2010

Key Text

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12.

Study Help: The Great Controversy, 55–60. The Acts of the Apostles, 265–268.

Introduction

“ ‘There is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.’ Hosea 4:1.” The Great Controversy, 60.

1 What special truth is laid aside by the papal teaching that exalts Mary and the so-called “saints”? I Timothy 2:5.

Note: “The accession of the Roman Church to power marked the beginning of the Dark Ages. As her power increased, the darkness deepened. Faith was transferred from Christ, the true foundation, to the pope of Rome. Instead of trusting in the Son of God for forgiveness of sins and for eternal salvation, the people looked to the pope, and to the priests and prelates to whom he delegated authority. They were taught that the pope was their earthly mediator and that none could approach God except through him; and, further, that he stood in the place of God to them and was therefore to be implicitly obeyed.” The Great Controversy, 55.

2 What does the papacy use to create new unscriptural doctrines, and what does God’s Word say of such things? Matthew 15:1–3, 7–9.

Note: “When the Scriptures are suppressed, and man comes to regard himself as supreme, we need look only for fraud, deception, and debasing iniquity. With the elevation of human laws and traditions was manifest the corruption that ever results from setting aside the law of God.” The Great Controversy, 55.

3 What did Jesus say concerning the experience of those who choose to obey God’s Word rather than human teachings? Luke 21:16, 17.

Note: “Christians were forced to choose either to yield their integrity and accept the papal ceremonies and worship, or to wear away their lives in dungeons or suffer death by the rack, the fagot, or the headsman’s ax. Now were fulfilled the words of Jesus: ‘Ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake.’ Luke 21:16, 17. Persecution opened upon the faithful with greater fury than ever before, and the world became a vast battlefield.” The Great Controversy, 54, 55.

“Often those who suffer reproach or persecution for their faith are tempted to think themselves forsaken by God. In the eyes of men they are in the minority. To all appearance their enemies triumph over them. But let them not violate their conscience. He who has suffered in their behalf, and has borne their sorrows and afflictions, has not forsaken them.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 172.

“The servants of God must expect that they will be reviled, misrepresented, maligned, persecuted, and oppressed; for all who ‘will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution’ [II Timothy 3:12]. The people of God will stand firm to the faith only through the grace of God.” The Signs of the Times, November 14, 1895.

4 What event established the power of the papacy and marks the beginning of the Dark Ages? Revelation 13:2, last part, 5–7; Daniel 7:25.

Note: “In the sixth century the papacy had become firmly established. Its seat of power was fixed in the imperial city, and the bishop of Rome was declared to be the head over the entire church. Paganism had given place to the papacy. The dragon had given to the beast ‘his power, and his seat, and great authority.’ Revelation 13:2. And now began the 1260 years of papal oppression foretold in the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation. Daniel 7:25; Revelation 13:5–7.

“The accession of the Roman Church to power marked the beginning of the Dark Ages. As her power increased, the darkness deepened.” The Great Controversy, 54, 55.

5 What means were used by the teachers of Rome to uphold the spiritual power of the bishops and the authority of the church? John 8:44.

Note: “Notwithstanding that vice prevailed, even among the leaders of the Roman Church, her influence seemed steadily to increase. About the close of the eighth century, papists put forth the claim that in the first ages of the church the bishops of Rome had possessed the same spiritual power which they now assumed. To establish this claim, some means must be employed to give it a show of authority; and this was readily suggested by the father of lies. Ancient writings were forged by monks. Decrees of councils before unheard of were discovered, establishing the universal supremacy of the pope from the earliest times. And a church that had rejected the truth greedily accepted these deceptions.” The Great Controversy, 56.

6 What kinds of workers were raised up by God during this period of time when false teachings and persecution prevailed? II Timothy 2:3; II Corinthians 4:16–18.

Note: “Workers were raised up who ably defended the faith once delivered to the saints. History bears record to the fortitude and heroism of these men. Like the apostles, many of them fell at their post, but the building of the temple went steadily forward. The workmen were slain, but the work advanced. The Waldenses, John Wycliffe, Huss and Jerome, Martin Luther and Zwingli, Cranmer, Latimer, and Knox, the Huguenots, John and Charles Wesley, and a host of others brought to the foundation material that will endure throughout eternity.” The Acts of the Apostles, 598.

7 What is needed today if we will withstand the hour of temptation? Revelation 14:12; Matthew 24:12, 13.

Note: “The greatest want of the world is the want of men—men who will not be bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.” Education, 57.

8 During the period of papal persecution from 538–1798 (1260-day prophecy of Daniel 7:25 and Revelation 12:6), millions were martyred for their faith in the Word of God. In the thirteenth century, following the description given by Christ in Matthew 24:22, 23, what institution was created by the papacy?

Note: “In the thirteenth century was established that most terrible of all the engines of the papacy—the Inquisition. The prince of darkness wrought with the leaders of the papal hierarchy. In their secret councils Satan and his angels controlled the minds of evil men, while unseen in the midst stood an angel of God, taking the fearful record of their iniquitous decrees and writing the history of deeds too horrible to appear to human eyes. ‘Babylon the great’ was ‘drunken with the blood of the saints’ [Revelation 17:5, 6]. The mangled forms of millions of martyrs cried to God for vengeance upon that apostate power.

“Popery had become the world’s despot. Kings and emperors bowed to the decrees of the Roman pontiff. The destinies of men, both for time and for eternity, seemed under his control. For hundreds of years the doctrines of Rome had been extensively and implicitly received, its rites reverently performed, its festivals generally observed. Its clergy were honored and liberally sustained. Never since has the Roman Church attained to greater dignity, magnificence, or power.” The Great Controversy, 59, 60.

“Every indignity, reproach, and cruelty that Satan could instigate human hearts to devise, has been visited upon the followers of Jesus. And it will be again fulfilled in a marked manner; for the carnal heart is still at enmity with the law of God, and will not be subject to its commands. The world is no more in harmony with the principles of Christ today than it was in the days of the apostles. The same hatred that prompted the cry, ‘Crucify Him! crucify Him!’ [Luke 23:21] the same hatred that led to the persecution of the disciples, still works in the children of disobedience. The same spirit which in the Dark Ages consigned men and women to prison, to exile, and to death, which conceived the exquisite torture of the Inquisition, which planned and executed the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, and which kindled the fires of Smithfield, is still at work with malignant energy in unregenerate hearts. The history of truth has ever been the record of a struggle between right and wrong. The proclamation of the gospel has ever been carried forward in this world in the face of opposition, peril, loss, and suffering.” The Acts of the Apostles, 84, 85.

9 While the papacy claims to represent Christ on earth, what contrast exists between them? Matthew 20:25–28.

Note: “The Lord Jesus came to our world full of mercy, life, and light, ready to save those who should come unto him. But he can save no one against his will. God does not force the conscience; he does not torture the body that he may compel men to compliance with his law. All this work is after the order of Satan. Through the papacy Satan has carried out his decree by compelling men to acquiesce to his will, and in this way will seek to restrict religious liberty. But God deals with men after a different plan. He will give the sinner sufficient evidence to convict his conscience, and then if, of his own free will, he yields to the winning invitation of Jesus, he will receive the Spirit of God.” The Youth’s Instructor, August 17, 1893.

10 Even before the time of Martin Luther, whom did God raise up to bring light to the people?

Note: “In the Netherlands the papal tyranny very early called forth resolute protest. Seven hundred years before Luther’s time the Roman pontiff was thus fearlessly impeached by two bishops, who, having been sent on an embassy to Rome, had learned the true character of the ‘holy see’: God ‘has made His queen and spouse, the church, a noble and everlasting provision for her family, with a dowry that is neither fading nor corruptible, and given her an eternal crown and scepter; … all which benefits you like a thief intercept. You set up yourself in the temple of God; instead of a pastor, you are become a wolf to the sheep.’ Gerard Brandt, History of the Reformation in and About the Low Countries, b. 1, p. 6.” The Great Controversy, 237.

Additional Reading

“The accession of the Roman Church to power marked the beginning of the Dark Ages. As her power increased, the darkness deepened. Faith was transferred from Christ, the true foundation, to the pope of Rome. Instead of trusting in the Son of God for forgiveness of sins and for eternal salvation, the people looked to the pope, and to the priests and prelates to whom he delegated authority. They were taught that the pope was their earthly mediator and that none could approach God except through him; and, further, that he stood in the place of God to them and was therefore to be implicitly obeyed. A deviation from his requirements was sufficient cause for the severest punishment to be visited upon the bodies and souls of the offenders. Thus the minds of the people were turned away from God to fallible, erring, and cruel men, nay, more, to the prince of darkness himself, who exercised his power through them. Sin was disguised in a garb of sanctity. When the Scriptures are suppressed, and man comes to regard himself as supreme, we need look only for fraud, deception, and debasing iniquity. With the elevation of human laws and traditions was manifest the corruption that ever results from setting aside the law of God.

“Those were days of peril for the church of Christ. The faithful standard-bearers were few indeed. Though the truth was not left without witnesses, yet at times it seemed that error and superstition would wholly prevail, and true religion would be banished from the earth. The gospel was lost sight of, but the forms of religion were multiplied, and the people were burdened with rigorous exactions.

“They were taught not only to look to the pope as their mediator, but to trust to works of their own to atone for sin. Long pilgrimages, acts of penance, the worship of relics, the erection of churches, shrines, and altars, the payment of large sums to the church—these and many similar acts were enjoined to appease the wrath of God or to secure His favor; as if God were like men, to be angered at trifles, or pacified by gifts or acts of penance!” The Great Controversy, 55.

©2005 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, Roanoke, Virginia. Reprinted by permission.

Bible Study Guides – The Failure of a Ghastly Experiment

December 12, 2010 – December 18, 2010

Key Text

“And when they [the two witnesses] shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.” Revelation 11:7.

Study Help: The Great Controversy, 275–288.

Introduction

“It had been Rome’s policy, under a profession of reverence for the Bible, to keep it locked up in an unknown tongue and hidden away from the people. Under her rule the witnesses prophesied ‘clothed in sackcloth’ [Revelation 11:3]. But another power—the beast from the bottomless pit—was to arise to make open, avowed war upon the word of God.” The Great Controversy, 269.

1 What had God declared of His two witnesses—the Old and New Testaments—during the 1260-year period of papal persecution? Revelation 11:2–6. What was to occur just as they were finishing their testimony? Revelation 11:7.

Note: “[Revelation 11:7 quoted.] The period when the two witnesses were to prophesy clothed in sackcloth, ended in 1798. As they were approaching the termination of their work in obscurity, war was to be made upon them by the power represented as ‘the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit’ [Revelation 11:7].” The Great Controversy, 268.

2 As a nation which had long been a stronghold of papal power and total suppression of God’s Word, why was France ripe for revolution? John 3:19.

Note: “The war against the Bible, carried forward for so many centuries in France, culminated in the scenes of the Revolution. That terrible outbreaking was but the legitimate result of Rome’s suppression of the Scriptures.” The Great Controversy, 265.

3 How did the prophecy of Revelation 11:7 meet its fulfillment?

Note: “The atheistical power that ruled in France during the Revolution and the Reign of Terror, did wage such a war against God and His holy word as the world had never witnessed. The worship of the Deity was abolished by the National Assembly. Bibles were collected and publicly burned with every possible manifestation of scorn. The law of God was trampled underfoot. The institutions of the Bible were abolished. The weekly rest day was set aside, and in its stead every tenth day was devoted to reveling and blasphemy. Baptism and the Communion were prohibited. And announcements posted conspicuously over the burial places declared death to be an eternal sleep.” The Great Controversy, 273, 274.

4 In a spiritual sense, what two characteristics—one of Egypt and one of Sodom—were found in France during the revolution? Revelation 11:8; Exodus 5:1, 2; Ezekiel 16:49.

Note: “ ‘The great city’ in whose streets the witnesses are slain, and where their dead bodies lie, is ‘spiritually’ Egypt. Of all nations presented in Bible history, Egypt most boldly denied the existence of the living God and resisted His commands. No monarch ever ventured upon more open and highhanded rebellion against the authority of Heaven than did the king of Egypt. When the message was brought him by Moses, in the name of the Lord, Pharaoh proudly answered: ‘Who is Jehovah, that I should hearken unto His voice to let Israel go? I know not Jehovah, and moreover I will not let Israel go.’ Exodus 5:2, A.R.V. This is atheism, and the nation represented by Egypt would give voice to a similar denial of the claims of the living God and would manifest a like spirit of unbelief and defiance. ‘The great city’ is also compared, ‘spiritually,’ to Sodom. The corruption of Sodom in breaking the law of God was especially manifested in licentiousness. And this sin was also to be a pre-eminent characteristic of the nation that should fulfill the specifications of this scripture.

“According to the words of the prophet, then, a little before the year 1798 some power of satanic origin and character would rise to make war upon the Bible. And in the land where the testimony of God’s two witnesses should thus be silenced, there would be manifest the atheism of the Pharaoh and the licentiousness of Sodom.” The Great Controversy, 269.

5 How had Rome inflamed the kings against Protestantism at the beginning of the sixteenth century? What scriptural law was now being fulfilled in France? Galatians 6:7.

Note: “It was popery that had begun the work which atheism was completing. The policy of Rome had wrought out those conditions, social, political, and religious, that were hurrying France on to ruin. Writers, in referring to the horrors of the Revolution, say that these excesses are to be charged upon the throne and the church. In strict justice they are to be charged upon the church. Popery had poisoned the minds of kings against the Reformation, as an enemy to the crown, an element of discord that would be fatal to the peace and harmony of the nation. It was the genius of Rome that by this means inspired the direst cruelty and the most galling oppression which proceeded from the throne.” The Great Controversy, 276, 277.

“Unhappy France reaped in blood the harvest she had sown. Terrible were the results of her submission to the controlling power of Rome. Where France, under the influence of Romanism, had set up the first stake at the opening of the Reformation, there the Revolution set up its first guillotine. On the very spot where the first martyrs to the Protestant faith were burned in the sixteenth century, the first victims were guillotined in the eighteenth. In repelling the gospel, which would have brought her healing, France had opened the door to infidelity and ruin.” Ibid., 282.

6 How did Scripture prophesy of the massacre of St. Bartholomew? Revelation 11:9, 10. Into what category will those who lost their lives in this darkest crime of the dark period be reckoned? Hebrews 11:36–38. How many were slain?

Note: “Blackest in the black catalogue of crime, most horrible among the fiendish deeds of all the dreadful centuries, was the St. Bartholomew Massacre. The world still recalls with shuddering horror the scenes of that most cowardly and cruel onslaught. The king of France, urged on by Romish priests and prelates, lent his sanction to the dreadful work. …

“Throughout France the butchery continued for two months. Seventy thousand of the very flower of the nation perished.” The Great Controversy, 272.

7 What are we all to learn from the real cause of the shame and reproach that came upon France? Proverbs 14:34.

Note: “The fatal error which wrought such woe for the inhabitants of France was the ignoring of this one great truth: that true freedom lies within the proscriptions of the law of God. …

“Atheists, infidels, and apostates oppose and denounce God’s law; but the results of their influence prove that the well-being of man is bound up with his obedience of the divine statutes. Those who will not read the lesson from the book of God are bidden to read it in the history of nations.” The Great Controversy, 285.

8 Upon what does the welfare of the family, the church, and the nation depend? Proverbs 1:33; Isaiah 48:18, 22.

9 What does God declare in the midst of crises such as happened in France? Jeremiah 16:20, 21. How did His two witnesses vindicate His name in that nation—and touch the lives of people all over the world? Revelation 11:11, 12.

Note: “God’s faithful witnesses, slain by the blasphemous power that ‘ascendeth out of the bottomless pit,’ were not long to remain silent. ‘After three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.’ Revelation 11:11. It was in 1793 that the decrees which abolished the Christian religion and set aside the Bible passed the French Assembly. Three years and a half later a resolution rescinding these decrees, thus granting toleration to the Scriptures, was adopted by the same body. The world stood aghast at the enormity of guilt which had resulted from a rejection of the Sacred Oracles, and men recognized the necessity of faith in God and His word as the foundation of virtue and morality. Saith the Lord: ‘Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.’ Isaiah 37:23. …

“Since France made war upon God’s two witnesses, they have been honored as never before.” The Great Controversy, 287.

10 When was the period of papal domination to end? Daniel 7:25; Revelation 12:4–6.

Note: “The periods here mentioned—‘forty and two months,’ and ‘a thousand two hundred and threescore days’—are the same, alike representing the time in which the church of Christ was to suffer oppression from Rome. The 1260 years of papal supremacy began in A.D. 538, and would therefore terminate in 1798. At that time a French army entered Rome and made the pope a prisoner, and he died in exile. Though a new pope was soon afterward elected, the papal hierarchy has never since been able to wield the power which it before possessed.” The Great Controversy, 266.

11 What prophecy of Jesus indicated that the Lord in His mercy would cut short the tribulation within that period? Mark 13:19, 20.

Note: “The persecution of the church did not continue throughout the entire period of the 1260 years. God in mercy to His people cut short the time of their fiery trial. In foretelling the ‘great tribulation’ to befall the church, the Saviour said: ‘Except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.’ Matthew 24:22. Through the influence of the Reformation the persecution was brought to an end prior to 1798.” The Great Controversy, 266, 267.

Personal Review Questions

1 What were the seeds of the French Revolution?

2 What was the blackest blot in the Dark Ages and how many were directly affected?

3 What restrained the tyranny even before the time had fully elapsed?

4 How were the persecutors finally rewarded?

5 What is given men to keep them from falling into such traps?

Additional Reading

“Then came those days when the most barbarous of all codes was administered by the most barbarous of all tribunals; when no man could greet his neighbors or say his prayers … without danger of committing a capital crime; when spies lurked in every corner; when the guillotine was long and hard at work every morning; when the jails were filled as close as the holds of a slave ship; when the gutters ran foaming with blood into the Seine. … While the daily wagonloads of victims were carried to their doom through the streets of Paris, the proconsuls, whom the sovereign committee had sent forth to the departments, reveled in an extravagance of cruelty unknown even in the capital. …

“All this was as Satan would have it. This was what for ages he had been working to secure. His policy is deception from first to last, and his steadfast purpose is to bring woe and wretchedness upon men, to deface and defile the workmanship of God, to mar the divine purposes of benevolence and love, and thus cause grief in heaven. Then by his deceptive arts he blinds the minds of men, and leads them to throw back the blame of his work upon God, as if all this misery were the result of the Creator’s plan. In like manner, when those who have been degraded and brutalized through his cruel power achieve their freedom, he urges them on to excesses and atrocities. Then this picture of unbridled license is pointed out by tyrants and oppressors as an illustration of the results of liberty. …

“The fatal error which wrought such woe for the inhabitants of France was the ignoring of this one great truth: that true freedom lies within the proscriptions of the law of God. ‘O that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.’ ‘There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.’ ‘But whoso hearkeneth unto Me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.’ Isaiah 48:18, 22; Proverbs 1:33.” The Great Controversy, 284, 285.

©2005 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, Roanoke, Virginia. Reprinted by permission

Wrong Expectations End in Disappointment

There is a common saying that there are no disappointments in heaven, but in this world everyone will meet with them at some time. This is one of the major causes of mental depression, which is a big problem today.

As Jesus left the temple for the last time, He said to the Jews, “See! Your house is left to you desolate.” Matthew 23:38.

As Jesus departed from the temple that day, His disciples were astounded at this and pointed out to Him the massive stones in the walls. We understand that these stones were so huge that we do not even understand how the builders in ancient times managed to deal with stones so big. They must have weighed hundreds of tons and were cut so precisely that they fitted together without the need of any mortar. Seen from a distance, it looked like one solid, white wall of marble.

The temple was considered by many people in ancient times to be one of the wonders of the world. The Bible records that Herod spent an additional 46 years beautifying it. The disciples thought that by pointing out to Jesus the massive stones, He would admire them, but instead, He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down.” Matthew 24:2. His disciples believed that He could only mean that the temple would be overthrown at the end of the world (Matthew 24:3), not comprehending that such an awful thing could happen.

A study of history shows that the prophecy of Jesus was fulfilled exactly to the letter in the destruction of Jerusalem that took place less than 40 years later when the temple was destroyed and burned with fire. As the fire spread, it got so hot that the gold melted, causing it to run down the stones. Later, to retrieve all of the gold, the stones were knocked down until there was not a single stone upon another, literally fulfilling Jesus’ prophecy.

Today, there are many ancient artifacts and various ancient buildings around the Mediterranean, but there is no part of the wall of the temple, because nothing of it was left standing. It was completely demolished.

It was only a few days before His crucifixion and His disciples were perplexed by what Jesus had predicted. They approached Him on the Mount of Olives with the questions, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and the end of the age?” Matthew 24:3.

They wanted to know when the temple would be destroyed, when Jerusalem would be destroyed and what sign they would have of His coming and the end of the world. They thought that they were just asking one question, but they were actually asking two. Though Jesus did not tell them everything at that time, He did answer both questions, leaving them enough to figure out, as time passed.

He first pointed out the events leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem (Matthew 24:4–14). History proves that His predictions were accurate and precisely fulfilled.

After the destruction of Jerusalem, Jesus pointed out major events that would take place in earth’s history, before His return again to this world. He predicted a great tribulation for the church (Matthew 24:16).

This was not referring to the tribulation for the world. The great time of trouble for the world is still future, but the great tribulation for the church is in the past. Jesus made this very clear that after the destruction of Jerusalem there would be great tribulation for the church. He said it would be so great for His followers that there had not been anything like it in the past, nor would there be anything like it in the future for His church, or His people.

This prophecy, again, was exactly and precisely fulfilled. For well over one thousand years, Christians suffered persecution such as had never been before. History books tell about the massacre of Saint Bartholomew in France when it is estimated that around thirty thousand lost their lives. We will never know for sure until the Day of Judgment. You can read about the time when the whole nation of the Netherlands was sentenced to death, or the time when in the space of about one year a million people were martyred for their faith in Northern Italy. There are many other accounts of massacres of the faithful during this time. The Society of Friends estimated that fifty, or perhaps even seventy million Christians lost their lives during the Dark Ages because of their faith.

This great tribulation that Jesus predicted, such as had never been and never would be again, specifically referred to the persecution of His followers. Remember, that this does not refer to the great time of trouble such as never was. The great time of trouble for the world is still in the future, but the great tribulation for the church, the greatest tribulation that there has ever been, is already in the past.

Daniel, in his book, and John, in the book of Revelation, have also extensively spoken about these predictions, spoken of by Jesus. These books describe how long the tribulation will last—over a thousand years, twelve hundred and sixty years to be exact. Jesus said it would be cut short for the saints’ sake. As this persecution was to draw to a close, Jesus said there would be a dark day (Matthew 24; Mark 13).

As the 18th century came to a close, so did this period of persecution. Jesus, describing the dark day that would come at that time, said that the sun would not give its light, neither the moon. On May 19, 1780, that was fulfilled.

Jesus also said that the stars would fall from heaven. I am always interested in the order of things in Bible prophecy; it is one of the most intriguing things to study. If the order of things given in Bible prophecy should ever prove to be incorrect, then every skeptic and every scoffer in the world would point that out and say, “See, the Bible predicted this, but it didn’t happen that way; it happened this way.” But they cannot do that. Bible prophecy always turns out to be fulfilled just in the order that the prophets gave it. Jesus said there would be a dark day, and after that, the stars would fall from heaven.

It happened! The stars fell from heaven in November 1833. It was the greatest shower of meteors and meteorites that has ever been recorded. We do not know the exact number, but it has been estimated at 240,000. The shower was so great that night was turned into day on that November evening. The prophecy of Jesus was fulfilled exactly as He predicted.

When they saw these things, Bible students all over the world studied to find out what these signs in the heavens were all about. Looking at the prophecy of Jesus and comparing it with the prophecies in Daniel and in Revelation they concluded that things had been fulfilled right in order, and the next thing to expect would be the second coming of Christ.

These Bible students did not understand everything, but what they did understand they began to preach and the result of this proclamation was that there was a second advent awakening that took place all over the world. People from all different faiths—Protestants, Catholics and other people not connected to any church saw the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. They realized that the next thing to happen was the judgment. This was the beginning of the judgment hour message that was preached.

In those days the believers did not understand exactly what the hour of God’s judgment was. They preached the 2,300 day prophecy from Daniel 8:14 that the hour of judgment would begin in 1843 and 1844.

Actually they were right about the time, but they just did not yet have a correct understanding of the event or what the hour of God’s judgment involved. It was thought that the hour of God’s judgment and the cleansing of the sanctuary meant that Christ would return for the saints, taking them out of this world before destroying the rest of the world with fire.

When 1844 came and Jesus did not come, those expecting Him were extremely disappointed. This was not the first time a disappointment is recorded in Scripture. It happened just six days before the crucifixion and the disciples had proclaimed Jesus to be the Messiah. People were coming down from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem witnessing to many miracles Jesus had performed there, proclaiming Him to be the Messiah, just as is predicted in the book of Zechariah. It says that the Messiah would come riding on a donkey and the people would say to the daughter of Jerusalem, “Shout! … Your King is coming to you.” Zechariah 9:9. They quoted the Scripture and told about the miracles. There were so many in that crowd and they were so happy. There were some people who could say, “I was blind until Jesus came and now I can see.” There were others who could say, “I was deaf until Jesus came, and now I can hear.” There were yet others who could say, “I was paralyzed and couldn’t walk until Jesus came, and now I can walk.” Lazarus was in that crowd and he could say, “I was dead; I was in a cave tomb for four days and Jesus came, and now here I am alive.”

As the people related all the wonderful things that Jesus had done, they became very, very excited. Even the disciples thought that Jesus would reign as a king in Jerusalem, but instead of that, in less than a week from that happy occasion, they were sorely disappointed as their hopes vanished and they saw Jesus being lifted up on the cross of Calvary.

They did not yet understand the plan of salvation and that sin cannot be taken away unless someone pays the price. The only person able to pay the price was someone who was above the law. You and I are not above the law. The Bible says we are beneath the law; we are below the law. Even the angels are made under the law. Only Jesus is above the law and for that reason He was the only One who could pay the price for sin. The disciples, not understanding, were disappointed. In the same way, those who were expecting Jesus to come in 1844 were disappointed, because it did not happen the way they had thought. They did not perfectly understand the prophecies.

Interestingly, when we study Matthew 24 and 25, we find that Jesus anticipated this. Notice what He says in Matthew 24: Jesus says, “But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 24:48–51. Then Jesus, talking about the time when He would return said, “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom.” Matthew 25:1.

Jesus told them a story about a wedding. He described an Eastern marriage. I have never heard of a marriage that took place at midnight, but this is a marriage that didn’t take place until midnight.

The story in Matthew 25 is especially about Christ’s followers—His church, His people, those who will be living in the last days in the evening of this world’s history.

Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom.” The bridegroom is Jesus Christ and the people who went out to meet Him are His followers. They are described as ten virgins.

“They all took their lamps.” Matthew 25:3. These are people who have a pure faith, because they are described as virgins. The meaning of lamp, when we are talking spiritually is found in Psalm 119:105. It says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

The Bible is a lamp, but it does not do any good if it is not lit—if there is no fire coming out of it. Anciently, in order to keep the lamp lit, there was need of oil in the base. Oil is the symbol of the Holy Spirit. Even the Bible will not do you any good if the Holy Spirit does not do its work on your mind. In fact, the apostle Paul says, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14. It is the Holy Spirit that inspired the Bible, and it is also necessary that the Spirit interpret to the reader the things of God.

Without the Holy Spirit working on your mind, you cannot understand the Bible. People often want the church, the theologian or the minister to explain Scripture because they can’t understand it. But what we really need to do is pray and say, “Lord, You have promised!” Jesus promised that if you ask, you will be given the Holy Spirit and you will be enabled to understand God’s word (Luke 11:9).

The main reason people do not want to receive the Holy Spirit is because the first thing that happens when the Holy Spirit starts working on a person’s mind is that person becomes convicted of sin (John 16). People generally do not want to be convicted of sin, but they want some other way out. They want to go to heaven without being convicted of their sins.

Many believe that they do want the Holy Spirit until their hearts become convicted of sin; then they say, “No, go away!” But, if you are willing, as you read God’s Word, to accept the conviction by the Holy Spirit of sin you can then confess, repent and forsake your sins and be ready for heaven.

All of the virgins had lamps—the Bible. They all had oil, the Holy Spirit enabling them to understand it, but notice what happened. Some of the virgins took extra oil. Jesus said five of them were wise and five were foolish. Those who were foolish had their lamps, but no extra oil with them. The wise took extra oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the Bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

They were expecting the Bridegroom to return, but they didn’t realize there would be such a long delay. They thought it would be 7 o’clock, but it wasn’t. They thought the Lord would return at 8 o’clock but He didn’t. And then they thought 9 o’clock, but He still didn’t come. And then at midnight they heard the cry, “Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet Him” (Matthew 25:6). Then all those virgins awoke and trimmed their lamps.

Notice, according to this story, it will be in the darkest period of earth’s history that the Bridegroom returns. This does not mean the darkest period intellectually, but the darkest period spiritually and morally. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” But the wise answered, saying, “No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.” And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, “Lord, Lord, open to us!” But he answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you. Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming” (Matthew 25:8–10).

This is a very solemn story indeed. It tells us that there will be many Christians at the end of the world who will find out they are not ready to meet the Bridegroom.

The people who expected the Bridegroom to come in 1844 were disappointed. They had to go back and study their Bibles to find out what had happened, where they had made their mistake. As they continued to study the Word of God they found out a great deal about why they had been disappointed, what was going to happen and what they needed to do.

In the parable of the virgins is seen a delay. The Bridegroom tarried; the Bridegroom delayed his coming. The Bridegroom is not going to tarry forever and when He comes back at the darkest hour of earth’s history, are you going to be ready?

The story teaches us that a large percentage (50 percent) of people who call themselves Christians will not be ready for the Lord’s return. When the Bridegroom returns in the clouds of heaven they will not be ready with their lamps trimmed; they will be out of oil. It will then be too late to make preparation, for just before the Bridegroom returns, the proclamation is made, “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still. And behold, I am coming quickly and my reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work.” Revelation 22:11, 12.

Christ believes in lawfulness and hates lawlessness. It means that each person is to choose which side of the great controversy he/she is on and that decision involves the law of God.

Whoever sins breaks God’s law and puts himself/herself on the devil’s side (1 John 3:4–8).

While this great controversy is going on it is still possible to change sides. If you find yourself today on the devil’s side, you could decide to change by surrendering your heart and life over to the sovereignty of Jesus Christ and be on His side.

The opposite is also true. If you decide to live a lawless life, breaking God’s law as you please, you will be on the devil’s side of the great controversy (1 John 3).

Right now while there is an opportunity you can change sides, but midnight is coming; the Bridegroom is going to come back and then it will be too late to change. The door of mercy will be shut. At that time you will either be saved already, or you will never be saved.

Make a decision today while there is still time.

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by e-mail at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Question & answer – Who are the two witnesses in Revelation 11:3, 4?

The two witnesses refer to the Old and New Testaments—the Bible.

“Concerning the two witnesses the prophet declares further: ‘These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.’ ‘Thy word,’ said the psalmist, ‘is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path’ (Revelation 11:4; Psalm 119:105). The two witnesses represent the Scriptures of the Old and the New Testament. Both are important testimonies to the origin and perpetuity of the law of God. Both are witnesses also to the plan of salvation. The types, sacrifices, and prophecies of the Old Testament point forward to a Saviour to come. The Gospels and Epistles of the New Testament tell of a Saviour Who has come in the exact manner foretold by type and prophecy.

“ ‘They shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three-score days, clothed in sackcloth’ (Revelation 11:3). During the greater part of this period, God’s witnesses remained in a state of obscurity. The papal power sought to hide from the people the word of truth, and set before them false witnesses to contradict its testimony. When the Bible was proscribed by religious and secular authority; when its testimony was perverted, and every effort made that men and demons could invent to turn the minds of the people from it; when those who dared proclaim its sacred truths were hunted, betrayed, tortured, buried in dungeon cells, martyred for their faith, or compelled to flee to mountain fastnesses, and to dens and caves of the earth—then the faithful witnesses prophesied in sackcloth. Yet they continued their testimony throughout the entire period of 1260 years. In the darkest times there were faithful men who loved God’s word and were jealous for His honor. To these loyal servants were given wisdom, power, and authority to declare His truth during the whole of this time.” The Great Controversy, 267, 268.

“According to the words of the prophet, then, a little before the year 1798 some power of Satanic origin and character would rise to make war upon the Bible. And in the land where the testimony of God’s two witnesses should thus be silenced, there would be manifest the atheism of the Pharaoh, and the licentiousness of Sodom.” Ibid., 269.

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive? Chapter 7

by Danny Vierra

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive booklChapter 7 – The Deadly Wound Was Healed

Even though the Roman Church flourished during the 1260- year period, Revelation 13: 3 tells us that the beast would indeed suffer a deadly wound, and this prophecy was exactly fulfilled in the year of 1798. “In 1798, 1260 years later [from 538], the pope was taken into captivity and the Catholic Church was dealt a mortal blow. It happened just as Revelation had foretold, with remarkable accuracy…. During the French Revolution and under orders from the revolutionary French government, General Alexander Berthier [one of Napoleon’s generals] issued a proclamation in Rome on February 15, 1798, informing Pope Pius VI and the people of Rome that the pope should no longer ‘exercise any function. ’ ” (God Cares, p. 328). “Napoleon had dethroned the Pope, because the Pontiffs found themselves alone, the sole fountains of order, peace, law, and safety” in Western Europe. (The Temporal Power of the Vicar of Christ, p. 27). In 1798, Napoleon intended that there would never be another pope. “The Papacy was extinct: not a vestige of its existence remained; and among all the Roman Catholic powers not a finger was stirred in its defense. The Eternal City had no longer prince or Pontiff, its bishop was a dying captive in foreign lands; and the decree was already announced that no successor would be allowed in his place.” (Rome: From the Fall of the Western Empire, p. 440). In other words, a deadly wound was inflicted upon the beast power, just as the Bible prophesied: “And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death.” (Rev. 13: 3a). But, that was not the end of the story, for the second part of the Scripture prophesied: “and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast .” (Rev. 13: 3b).

But even during the 1260- year papal oppression, when the “woman,” God’s true church, suffered tremendous persecution, God “nourished,” or cared for His children. “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.” (Rev. 12: 14- 16).

In Revelation 12: 14, God preserves the woman from being swept away by providing her with “two wings of a great eagle”— an appropriate symbol of God’s paternal care for His children. When the Israelites escaped from Egyptian slavery, Moses said that God had carried them on “eagles’ wings.” (Exodus 19: 4). In Psalm 91: 4, we read: “He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust.” And in Deuteronomy 32: 9- 12: “The Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; He led him about, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.” Many Christians suffered under the “flood” of persecution that was cast out of the serpent’s mouth, but the “earth helped the woman,” by providing naturally protected and uninhabited areas for her safety. Many Christians fled to such places as the mountain valleys of the Alps, to the mountains themselves, and to the sparsely populated British colonies in North America. And, besides, this raises an important question: Why would Mary, during the 1260 years, flee into the wilderness from the papacy, when the Roman Catholic Church is the one who had set her up as one to be worshipped? Why would they want to destroy her— a pillar in their system of worship? How, then, could the Virgin Mary be the “woman,” who had fled for 1260 years into the wilderness for her safety? Furthermore, when did the literal Mary have any experience of being persecuted and driven into the wilderness by the dragon in the period of her life after the ascension of her Son Jesus? The Virgin Mary simply does not fit!

On the other hand, Satan is relentless in his fury to destroy God’s true church, and will not cease his attempt to annihilate every true Christian. Frantic with frustration for failing to destroy the true church during the 1260 years, Satan, in these end times, directs his bitter attacks against the “remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus.” (Revelation 12: 17). Friends, Satan will use any means he can to accomplish his goal to deceive the very elect— be it the Roman Empire, the Roman Catholic Church, or even the spiritualistic appearances of the “Virgin Mary .”

“The Catholic Church is avowedly Roman. Its official name today, as it has been throughout most of its long history, is The Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of Rome.” (God Cares, Vol. 2, p. 327). Again, Revelation 13: 2 says that “the dragon [in this case, the Roman Empire through whom Satan was working] gave him [the Roman Catholic Church with the pope at the head] his power, and his seat [or throne], and great authority.”

“A throne is a symbol of authority. But because this passage already contains the words ‘power’ and ‘authority, ’ we expect ‘throne’ here to convey a more literal meaning. Basically, a throne is a place where an important person sits. Other words for throne are the Greek cathedra , and the Latin sedes, which shows up in the English as see. In the Catholic Church, the building in which a bishop’s throne (or cathedra) is located is called his ‘cathedral .’ The city in which his throne is located is called his ‘see. ’ The ultimate see in Catholicism is the Holy See, the city where the Pope’s throne is located. This city is Rome.” (Ibid.). “Specifically, since the Treaty of the Lateran with Italy, the Holy See has been Vatican City, a 108.7- acre tract on Vatican Hill, lying wholly within the city of Rome.” (Ibid., footnote). Furthermore, Revelation 17: 9 reveals another identifying feature of the great “whore” of Bible prophecy: “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains , on which the woman sitteth.” One Catholic resource acknowledges the following: “It is within the city of Rome, called The City on Seven Hills , that the entire area of Vatican State Proper is now confined.” (The Catholic Encyclopedia, p. 529). It should also be noted that the name Vatican comes from the Latin words Vatis, which means diviner, and can, which means serpent . The name Vatican, therefore, is literally interpreted— The Divining Serpent . In fact, there are serpent door handles on the doors of the new St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco, and a large papal crest in the Vatican museum features a dragon! Serpent crosiers were commonly carried by bishops and high Catholic Church officials during the Middle Ages.

The Book of Isaiah tells us that Satan’s ultimate desire and purpose in life is to usurp God’s throne: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High .” (Isaiah 14: 12- 14). I am so grateful for the next verse that reveals the fate of the devil: “Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell [the grave], to the sides of the pit.” (Isaiah 14: 15). Do you not think that Satan could be working through the Pope of Rome, who claims to have the power of God on earth? Paul knew that this power would arise, and wrote about it in his Second Epistle to the Thessalonians: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come [the second coming of Christ], except there come a falling away first [an apostasy from within God’s church— from the Greek word, apostasia, in this case an outgrowth known as the church of Rome], and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition ; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?” (II Thessalonians 2: 3- 5). If people would only study their Bibles the way it instructs them to, by taking “precept upon precept; line upon line… here a little and there a little” (Isa. 28: 10), in other words, by comparing Scripture with Scripture, they would find the truth through the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

According to the prophecy of Revelation 13: 3, the deadly blow would not kill, but only wound, the Catholic Church, and surely one has to acknowledge that his “deadly wound” is healing. History tells us that in 1801, Napoleon signed a “concordat,” or church- state treaty, with a new Pope. “On the other hand, in 1870 the newly emerging nation of Italy deepened the church’s woes for a while by taking away the Papal States, a considerable portion of the Italian peninsula, which the church had owned for centuries…. But in 1929 Mussolini signed a concordat granting the pope full authority over the State of Vatican City, 108.7 acres in Rome which includes St. Peter’s Cathedral.” (God Cares, p. 346). The Vatican had put Mussolini into power, and now Mussolini reciprocated by making the Roman Catholic Church the sole religion in all Italy and giving her 750 million lire in cash and one billion in state bonds.

Ever since 1929 the wound has been healing rapidly. Protestant America, which was built upon the separation of church and state and which had once loudly protested [the word Protestant originated from the people’s “protest” against Catholicism] the establishment of the papal power in this country, now welcomes her with open arms. Times have certainly changed, and even America is “wondering” after the beast! In 1951 President Harry Truman asked the Senate to approve his nomination of an ambassador to the State of Vatican City, and America was plunged into a vortex of agony and protest. Truman finally withdrew his request after “hardly a Protestant church in the country failed to express its opposition formally and often acrimoniously.” (Church State and Freedom, p. 302). More recently, in 1984, President Ronald Reagan’s nomination of William A. Wilson as ambassador to Vatican City was quickly approved by the Senate, 81- 13. At this critical time, only a few voices were heard worrying about church and state. The next event was unbelievable because of the swiftness with which it happened and the players involved. This event was the demise of Communism in Poland through the conspiring efforts of President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II, as featured on the front cover of Time on Feb. 24, 1992. [Friends, is this a fulfillment of the prophecy that the “whore” would commit “fornication” with the “the kings of the earth”? (See Rev. 17: 1, 2) The Vatican is a religio- political system whose aim is to control the world!] Then, in a Special Double Issue of Time for December 26, 1994/ January 2, 1995, John Paul II was featured once again on its cover as “The Man of the Year.” Unbelievable! How I wondered what the world’s reaction would have been had the number one news weekly printed instead the pope’s true alias as given by the Apostle Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonians—“ The Man of Sin.” (II Thess. 2: 3). This issue of Time was released only two and a half months after the October 9, 1995, issue of U. S. News which also featured Pope John Paul II on its cover. The caption on their cover read: “Honor thy father. ” Here was another blasphemous statement published by another major U. S. periodical in the United States. Has Protestant America forgotten that the Bible clearly says: “Call no man your [spiritual] father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven .” (Matt. 23: 9). Did you know that according to the doctrines of the Catholic Church your spiritual “Father” is the pope of Rome and your spiritual “Mother” is the Virgin Mary? A Catholic Catechism declares: “The Pope is the spiritual Father of all Christians ” and “The Blessed Virgin Mary is our Mother also because, being the brethren of Jesus, we are the children of Mary.” (A Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, pp. 15, 27). I find it quite interesting that the American edition of this book was originally published in 1973 by Marian Publications !

Faithful Protestants, where are the Reformers today? Not only does the Protestant Reformation seem to be a thing of the past, but the churches of the world are uniting on common points of faith , and Mary could be the one to further “heal” the wound of many years . After all, “Pope John Paul II prays every day to the virgin, whom he credits with saving his life.” (Life, Dec., 1996, p. 48). “At a certain moment on May 13, 1981, during an open- air papal audience in St. Peter’s Square, in the presence of some 75,000 people and before the eyes of an estimated 11 million television viewers, Pope John Paul spied a little girl wearing a small picture of Christ’s Mother of Our Lady of Fatima . Just as he bent from his slow moving “popemobile” in a spontaneous gesture to the child, hired assassin Mehmet Ali Agca squeezed off two bullets, aimed precisely where his head had been. As two pilgrims fell wounded to the ground, two more shots rang out, and this time John Paul’s blood stained his white papal cassock.” (The Keys of This Blood, p. 46). “On May 13, 1992 [and again in 1994], John Paul II went to Fatima where he thanked Our Lady of Fatima for sparing his life in the 1981 assassination attempt.” (The Thunder of Justice, p. 151). “Nor is anyone more devoted to Mary. John Paul II, who has ‘dedicated himself and his Pontificate to Our Lady’ bears the M for Mary in his coat of arms; his personal motto, embroidered on the inside of his robes in Latin, is totus tuus sum Maria (Mary, I’m all yours) .” (A Woman Rides the Beast, p. 459).

“Moreover, John Paul is firmly convinced, as are many others, that Mary brought an end to communism throughout Europe. His faith is rooted in the famed prophecies of Mary at Fatima in 1917. According to Sister Lucia, one of the children who claimed to see her, the Virgin predicted the rise of Soviet totalitarianism before it happened. In a subsequent vision, she directed the Pope and his bishops to consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart in order to bring communism to an end.

“According to Lucia, papal attempts to carry out that consecration failed in 1942, ’52, and ’82. John Paul finally carried out Mary’s directive in 1984— and the very next year Mikhail Gorbechev’s rise to power inaugurated the Soviet collapse. Says Father Robert Fox of the Fatima Family Shrine in Alexandria, S. Dak.: ‘The world will recognize in due time that the defeat of communism came at the intercession of the mother of Jesus .’ ” (Time, Dec., 30, 1991, pp. 64, 65). In fact, the former Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbechev, called Pope John Paul II “the highest authority on earth.” Amazing words, coming from the ex- leader of communist Russia!

John Paul II is currently leading the greatest ecumenical movement in history in order to unite all religions under Rome’s leadership. On October 27, 1986, the pope gathered in Assisi, Italy, the leaders of the world’s major religions to pray for peace. Included in the group were snake worshippers, Buddhists, Moslems, Hindus, Spiritists, and North American witch doctors. The pope said they were all praying to the same god, and their prayers were “creating a spiritual energy that was bringing about a new climate for peace.” A prophesied World Religion (see Rev 13: 3, 4, 12; 17: 12- 14) is being formed before our eyes, and the Vatican is the headquarters of the new movement. Is this not “spiritual fornication”?

As stated earlier, the Apostle Paul saw “creeping into the church, errors that would prepare the way for the development of the papacy. Little by little, at first in stealth and silence, and then more openly as it increased in strength and gained control of the minds of men, ‘the mystery of iniquity’ carried forward its deceptive and blasphemous work. Almost imperceptibly the customs of heathenism found their way into the Christian church. The spirit of compromise and conformity was restrained for a time by the fierce persecutions which the church endured under paganism. But as persecution ceased, and Christianity entered the courts and palaces of kings, she laid aside the humble simplicity of Christ and His apostles for the pomp and pride of pagan priests and rulers; and in place of the requirements of God, she substituted human theories and traditions. The nominal conversion of Constantine, in the early part of the fourth century, caused great rejoicing; and the world, cloaked with a form of righteousness, walked into the church. Now the work of corruption rapidly progressed. Paganism, while appearing to be vanquished, became the conqueror. Her spirit controlled the church. Her doctrines, ceremonies, and superstitions were incorporated into the faith and worship of the professed followers of Christ.

“This compromise between paganism and Christianity resulted in the development of ‘the man of sin’ foretold in prophecy as opposing and exalting himself above God. That gigantic system of false religion is a masterpiece of Satan’s power— a monument of his efforts to seat himself upon the throne to rule the earth according to his will.

“… Satan well knew that the Holy Scriptures would enable men to discern his deceptions and withstand his power. It was by the Word that even the Saviour of the world had resisted his attacks. At every assault, Christ presented the shield of eternal truth, saying, ‘It is written. ’ To every suggestion of the adversary, He opposed the wisdom and power of the Word. In order for Satan to maintain his sway over men, and establish the authority of the papal usurper, he must keep them in ignorance of the Scriptures. The Bible would exalt God and place finite men in their true position; therefore its sacred truths must be concealed and suppressed. This logic was adopted by the Roman Church. For hundreds of years the circulation of the Bible was prohibited. The people were forbidden to read it or to have it in their houses, and unprincipled priests and prelates interpreted its teachings to sustain their pretensions. Thus the pope came to be almost universally acknowledged as the vicegerent of God on earth, endowed with authority over church and state…. To afford converts from heathenism a substitute for the worship of idols, and thus to promote their nominal acceptance of Christianity, the adoration of images [statues of the Virgin Mary] and relics was gradually introduced into the Christian worship .” (The Great Controversy, pp. 49- 52).

Go to Chapter 8 ⇒

All emphases in this article are mine.
Published by Modern Manna Ministries