Daniel 7

The Foundation – Daniel 7

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Daniel 7 is one of the foundational chapters in the Bible concerning the investigative judgement and there’s no point in going to chapters 8—10, or 12 or Revelation before you understand this. It’s foundational and exciting information because it reveals that there is a God in heaven who knows thousands of years ahead of time what will happen. And He has shown us these things in the Bible so that we can be ready for the future.

The Fourth Beast and the Ten Kingdoms

There are four beasts. Let us look at the fourth beast. “Thus, he said: ‘The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces.’ ” Daniel 7:23

In his book, The Temporal Power of the Pope, 122, Cardinal Henry Edward Manning wrote regarding verse 23: “The legions of Rome occupied at the circumference of the world. The military roads which sprang from Rome traversed all the earth; the whole world was, as it were, held in peace and in tranquility by the universal presence of this mighty heathen empire. It was ‘exceedingly terrible,’ according to the prophecies of Daniel; it was as it were of iron, beating down and subduing the nations.” Does the Roman Catholic church know who the fourth beast is? Yes, Cardinal Manning tells us very clearly. It is an iron kingdom beating down the nations of earth.

“The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom. and another shall rise after them; he shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings.” Verse 24

These ten kingdoms rose up over hundreds of years. The ten kingdoms were despised by Rome—verse 23’s fourth kingdom—because Rome believed it would last forever. The ten kingdoms grew stronger and stronger. What Rome believed didn’t matter because hundreds of years before it was founded, Daniel had predicted its demise and the rise of the ten kingdoms.

  1. G. Wells says, “No vestige of the Western Empire, the original Roman Empire, remained as a distinct and separate political division.” The Outline of History, 526. They became stronger and stronger and divided it up until those ten kings owned it all. Another writer wrote, “The destruction of the Roman Empire in the West by the German barbarians is one of the most momentous events in history. It marks a turning point in the fortunes of mankind.”

Out of the Ten, Another.

Daniel then writes that after the fourth beast is divided into the ten kingdoms, another kingdom—different from the first ten—would rise up, more than the ten. This 11th kingdom would assume an air of superiority over all the others.

“The downfall of the Roman imperial government in the West was further, an event of immense significance in the political world, for the reason that it rendered possible the growth in western Europe of several nations or states in place of the single empire.

“Another consequence of the fall of the Roman power in the West was the development of the papacy. In the absence of an emperor in the West, the popes rapidly gained influence and power, and soon built up an ecclesiastical empire that in some respects took the place of the old empire, and carried on its civilizing work.” Myers’s General History for Colleges, 316

“If any man consider the original of this great ecclesiastical dominion, he will easily perceive, that the Papacy is no other than the ghost of the deceased Roman Empire, sitting crowned upon the grave thereof.” Thomas Hobbes

“There grew up in Europe a line of rulers far more powerful than any of these, namely the popes at Rome. Moreover, the majesty of Rome helped to raise the bishops above his fellows.” Medieval and Modern Times, James Harvey Robinson, 40, 41

Here we see secular history almost quoting Scripture regarding the characteristics of this new kingdom and its power over the previous ten kingdoms.

It is a well-established, historical fact that “Papal Rome was for all practical purposes the continuation of the Roman Empire … . Whatever Roman elements the barbarians and Arians left were put under the protection of the bishop of Rome who was the chief person there after the emperor’s disappearance. The Roman church in this way privily pushed itself into the place of the Roman world empire of which it is the actual continuation.” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 4, 846, (Adolph Harnack in 1903, What is Christianity?, 269, 270) If we understand that Papal Rome is a mere continuation of the Roman Empire, then we will understand that Rome was established as a world power that would continue until the end of the world.

“The empire has not perished, but has only undergone transformation. … That is no clever remark, but the recognition of the true state of the matter historically, and the most appropriate and fruitful way of describing the character of this church. It still governs the nations.” Ibid. That was in 1903 he recognized that. “It is a political creation, and as imposing as a World-Empire, because the continuation of the Roman Empire, the Pope, who calls himself ‘King’ and ‘Pontifex Maximus,’ is Caesar’s successor.” Ibid.

  1. G. Wells talks about this power. “As the barbarian races settled and became Christian, the pope began to claim an overlordship of their kings. In a few centuries, the Pope had become in theory, and to a certain extent in practice, the high priest, censor, judge, and divine monarch of Christendom.” The Outline of History, 526. This provides a description of the development of the little horn’s power; a power that became greater than any other nation in Europe, and continues to this day.

Joseph Stalin also said, “How big an army does he [the pope] have?” He doesn’t need an army for He can use the armies of any nation he chooses.

He Speaks and Persecutes

The two big subjects of Daniel 7 are the little horn and the judgment. These subjects should be studied together because we cannot understand the judgment without understanding the little horn.

As the little horn’s power grew, prophecy tells us what happens next. “He shall speak pompous [great] words against the Most High.” Daniel 7:25, first part. “The pope is of so great dignity, and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God and the vicar of God. So that whatever the pope does, seems to proceed from the mouth of God. … The pope is as it were God on earth.” Ferraris Ecclesiastical Dictionary.

Pope Leo XIII said, “We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.” Great words, indeed. But notice as we further in verse 25, Daniel says, he “shall persecute [wear out] the saints of the Most High.” Encyclical letter dated June 20, 1894

History says that “the church of Rome has shed more innocent blood than any other institution that has ever existed among mankind, will be questioned by no Protestant who has a competent knowledge of history. The memorials, indeed, of many of her persecutions are now so scanty, that it is impossible to form a complete conception of the multitude of her victims, and it is quite certain that no power of imagination can adequately realize their sufferings.” W.E.H. Lecky, History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe, Vol. 2, 32

A Roman Catholic scholar stated, “The Catholic Church is a respecter of conscience and of liberty. … She has, and she loudly proclaims that she has a ‘horror of blood.’ Nevertheless, when confronted by heresy she does not content herself with persuasion; arguments of an intellectual and moral order appear to her insufficient, and she has recourse to force, to corporal punishment, to torture. She creates tribunals like those of the Inquisition, she calls the laws of the State to her aid, if necessary she encourages a crusade, or a religious war and all her ‘horror of blood’ practically culminates into urging the secular power to shed it, which proceeding is almost more odious—for it is less frank—than shedding it herself. Especially did she act thus in the sixteenth century with regard to Protestants. Not content to reform morally, to preach by example, to convert people by eloquent and holy missionaries, she lit in Italy, in the Low Countries, and above all in Spain, the funeral piles of the Inquisition. In France under Francis I and Henry II, in England under Mary Tudor, she tortured the heretics, whilst both in France and Germany during the second half of the sixteenth and the first half of the seventeenth century if she did not actually begin, at any rate she encouraged and actively aided, the religious wars.” The Catholic Church, the Renaissance, and Protestantism, 182–184

The Thirty Years’ War, fought from 1618 to 1648, resulted from religious conflict within the Holy Roman Empire, sparked by the Reformation. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died in battle, from famine, or disease. Parts of Germany reported a 50% decline in population, this included approximately 98 percent of the Protestant men in Germany. (wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years%27_War)

This was common knowledge in America because it was recent history. Today in America, it is not only acknowledged, but justified and defended. “The church has persecuted. Only a tyro [a beginner] in church history will deny that. … One hundred and fifty years after Constantine, the Donatists were persecuted, sometimes put to death. … Protestants were persecuted in France and Spain with the full approval of the church authorities. We have always defended the persecution of the Huguenots, and the Spanish Inquisition. … Wherever and whenever there is honest Catholicity, there will be a clear distinction drawn between truth and error, and Catholicity and all forms of heresy. When she thinks it good to use physical force she will use it. … But will the Catholic Church give bond that she will not persecute at all? Will she guarantee absolute freedom and equality of all churches and all faiths? The Catholic church gives no bonds for her good behavior.” The Western Watchman, December 24, 1908

The Saints

A saint keeps the law of God (Romans 7:12). A wicked person breaks the law of God. Understanding Daniel 7 is fundamental, foundational to understanding the prophecies regarding the judgment and the end of time found in the book of Revelation. More than any other chapter in the Bible, Daniel 7 provides the different descriptions and identifying marks of the little horn, and the distinguishing mark or sign of its power.

The Distinguishing Mark

The Roman Catholic church is not alone in persecuting God’s saints. Other religions have spoken great things about themselves, but the little horn power has a special distinguishing mark that these other religions do not have. We find that mark in Daniel 7:25. We must understand this to have any comprehension about the investigative judgment.

Daniel 7:25, last part, says that this special distinguishing mark that sets the little horn power apart from other religions and powers, that he “shall intend to change times and laws.” What are these times and laws? The context of the prophecy is speaking about the things of the Most High. So, if the little horn power seeks to change times and laws, then it is seeking to change the times and laws of the Most High.

Can any human being, power, or organization in this world change the law of God? No! Why? Because God has said that He does not change, and we know that the law of God is His character. Changing the law would changing Himself, and this He will not do (Psalm 89).

Jesus said, “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.” Luke 16:17. A tittle is part of a letter, it’s actually a part of a part of a letter. Jesus said heaven and earth cold pass away, but not a single part of a letter of the law to fail. I don’t think you could state it in any stronger language. The apostle Paul says concerning Jesus Christ that it was through Him that God made the worlds, and He is the One who upholds everything by the word of His power, and He says that He would destroy it all before He would allow the smallest part of a letter of the law to fail.

The Protestant Reformation gave man access to the Bible. No longer was the Bible written only in Latin, a language the common man could not read, nor was it chained to the wall in Catholic churches. Reformers translated the Bible into many of the European languages, and the printing press was invented, allowing the Bible to be distributed everywhere.

When men began reading the Bible, they asked, “Why are we keeping Sunday?” Believed to be written in 1545 by Melanchthon, Martin Luther’s associate, in very old English, he says, “He changeth the tymes and lawes that any of the size works days commanded of God will make them unholy and idle days when he listeth or of their own holy days abolished make work days again. When they changed ye Saterday into Sondaye they have changed God’s laws and turned them into their own tradicions to be kept above God’s precepts.” Right away people recognized what was happening.

“Question: Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept? Answer: Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.” From A Doctrinal Catechism, 174. The special, distinguishing mark of the little horn power was an intention to change the times (the Sabbath) and the law (the fourth commandment). This is foundational to understanding the subject of the Investigative Judgment.

How Long, Lord? How Long?

God not only told us when and how the little horn power would develop, providing all the descriptions of who and what it would be so that we would recognize it, but for the first time God gave His children a timeline so that they would know how long this power would be given authority to persecute and overcome God’s saints. This period of time is so important that in Daniel and Revelation, it is mentioned seven times. Seven is a perfect number in the Bible. If something is mentioned seven times in the Bible prophecies, we can be sure it is very important that we understand it, the prophecies regarding the three and a half years, the 42 months, and the 1260 days.

Point 1: The year is called a time in scripture (Daniel 11:13, margin). So, a time is one year, a time dual is two years, the dividing of time is half a year giving you three years and a half.

Point 2: According to ancient history, historians and Jews believed that a year was 360 days.

Point 3: In a symbolic time prophecy, a day equals a year (Ezekiel 4:1–6). The prophecies that foretold Christ’s first coming as the Messiah used the day for a year principle. If a person does not believe in this principle, then they should be looking for a messiah to come around 455 B.C. The day for a year principle is foundational to the Christian religion (Daniel 9:25).

By applying the day for a year principle to Daniel 7, we find that the little horn power is granted the power to persecute and harass God’s saints for 1260 years.

When did the 1260 years begin? When the papacy was given its authority by the civil government. This was done when Justinian made a decree in A.D. 532 against anyone who was called a heretic, and in A.D. 533, Justinian made a decree making the bishop of Rome the lord of all the churches (The Apocalypse of St. John, 172).

However, Italy’s population included Arian powers who did not accept the pope as lord over the churches. In fact, they wanted to decide who would be pope. Not surprisingly, the papacy did not like that idea. So, the sword of the empire cleared the way.

For 16 years, these campaigns caused the city of Rome to be under different masters or rulers five times and suffered three severe sieges. In A.D. 538, at the close of the first siege, the imperial army under Belisarius and the almost the entire nation of the Goths under King Witiges gathered to take control of the city of Rome. The Goths were defeated, digging ‘the grave of the Gothic monarchy’ in Italy.* The resistance of A.D. 538 against Witiges was the crucial hour in history. George Finlay, a secular historian writes, “With the conquest of Rome by Belisarius, the history of the ancient city may be considered as terminating; and with his defense against Witiges commences the history of the Middle Ages.”

First by Decree, then by Force

In A.D. 533, the pope was made ruler over all Christendom by decree, but in A.D. 538, he was made the ruler by force. Now move ahead 1260 years to 1793. “On November 26, 1793, the Convention, of which 17 bishops and some clergy were members, decreed the abolition of all religion.” The Age of Revolution, W.H. Hutton, 156

As far as the France were concerned, the papacy was the only religion, so by decree, it declared the abolition of all other religions. France was then an atheistic socialistic power. The decree was effective in 1793, but it was not enforced until 1798.

In 1798, “General Berthier, by orders of the French government, led his forces into Rome and proclaimed a republic. The pope [Pius VI] was dragged into exile, where he died. The whole papal government was dissolved.”

“ ‘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.’ ” Canon Trevor.

Let’s Summarize

Most of the world thought the papacy was done. However, Daniel 7 says it would continue until the kingdom was given to the saints. The Bible tells us that it would look like the papacy was dead, but it would be healed.

  1. The Roman Empire was the fourth beast.
  2. Ten kings would arise out of the fourth beast (A.D. 351–476).
  3. Another king would arise after A.D. 476.
  4. This other king would be different from the first ten.
  5. He would speak great words and be stronger than his fellows.
  6. He would speak great words against the Most High.
  7. He would wear out the saints of the Most High.
  8. He would attempt or think to change the times and laws of God’s government.
  9. This would continue for 1260 years.

This supremacy was established by decree in A.D. 533. It was established by force in A.D. 538. It was abolished by decree in 1793. It was abolished by force in 1798. When writing about this, Daniel says that this horn had “eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words. ‘I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire; a fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.’ ” Daniel 7:9, 10

Notice, the court, the books, the judgment all have to do with what this little horn has been doing, and what the result of this court session will be.

  1. Jesus Christ will receive a worldwide kingdom that will last forever. “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.” Verses 13, 14
  2. “I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.” Daniel 7:21, 22 The kingdom first given to Christ is now given to His saints.
  3. “But the court shall be seated, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it forever.” Daniel 7:26. God destroys the little horn’s dominion.
  4. “Then the kingdom [when the dominion of the little horn is taken away and destroyed] and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.” Verse 27. The whole world is given to the saints of the Most High. Where do you want to be when that happens?

The Bible tells us that a saint keeps the commandments. Since the law of God is holy, just, and good (Romans 7:12), the person who keeps the law of God, is made holy and is, therefore, a saint.

Our Father controls the future. When there is a transition of rulers in this world, when the true Christ stands up and begins to rule, when the rule of antichrist is over, may we be found among that number who are called the saints of the Most High.

*Thomas Hodgkins wrote a series of books entitled, Italy and Her Invaders. Excerpts from these books are used here.

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

Bible Study Guides – “The Judgment was Set”

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August 11, 2001 – August 17, 2001

MEMORY VERSE: “Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still, when God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth.” Psalm 76:8, 9.

STUDY HELP: Great Controversy, 424–431.

Introduction: “To Daniel was given a vision of fierce beasts, representing thepowers of the earth. But the ensign of the Messiah’s kingdom is a lamb. While earthly kingdoms rule by the ascendancy of physical power, Christ is to banish every carnal weapon, every instrument of coercion. His kingdom was to be established to uplift and ennoble fallen humanity.” God’s Amazing Grace, 15.

“The Four Winds of Heaven Strove Upon the Great Sea”

1 When was Daniel’s dream given to him and what did he first see? Daniel 7:1–3. Compare Revelation 17:15; Isaiah 8:7; Isaiah 17:12; Isaiah 57:20. See also Jeremiah 49:36; Ezekiel 37:9; Daniel 8:8; Daniel 11:4; Zechariah 2:6; Matthew 24:31; Revelation 7:1.

NOTE: It would appear that the four winds are connected with God’s judgments upon mankind.

“The great kingdoms that have ruled the world were presented to the prophet Daniel as beasts of prey, rising when ‘the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.’ Daniel 7:2. In Revelation 17, an angel explained that waters represent ‘peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.’ Revelation 17:15. Winds are a symbol of strife. The four winds of heaven striving upon the great sea represent the terrible scenes of conquest and revolution by which kingdoms have attained to power.” Great Controversy, 439, 440.

2 What did these beasts represent? Daniel 7:16, 17.

NOTE: “Earthly governments prevail by physical force; they maintain their dominion by war; but the founder of the new kingdom is the Prince of Peace. The Holy Spirit represents worldly kingdoms under the symbol of fierce beasts of prey; but Christ is ‘the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ John 1:29. In His plan of government there is no employment of brute force to compel the conscience.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 77.

“Four Great Beasts Came Up from the Sea”

3 How was the first of these beasts described? Daniel 7:4.

NOTE: “At first the lion had eagle’s wings, denoting the rapidity with which Babylon extended its conquests under Nebuchadnezzar. At this point in the vision a change had taken place; its wings had been plucked. It no longer flew like an eagle upon its prey. The boldness and spirit of the lion were gone. A man’s heart, weak, timorous and faint, had taken its place. Such was emphatically the case with the nation during the closing years of its history, when it had become enfeebled and effeminate through wealth and luxury.” Smith, Daniel and the Revelation, 1912 ed., 127.

4 What was the appearance of the second beast? Daniel 7:5.

NOTE: Liberal scholars claim that the second and third beasts represent Media and Persia respectively. Two arguments may be given to disprove this view. First, history does not record a Median empire, which overthrew Babylon and was then overthrown by a Persian empire. Second, the Bible consistently links the two into a joint kingdom. See Esther 1:19, Daniel 5:28, Daniel 6:8, 12, 15.

“The second kingdom is represented by a bear that is raised up on one side. The bear’s bi-form nature is of major importance in properly identifying the kingdom represented because it establishes a parallel with the symbol of the ram in chapter 8. The bear raised up on one side in chapter 7 is mirrored in chapter 8 by the symbol of a ram with two horns, one of which is higher—some Bible versions say ‘ longer’—than the other (verse 3). Verse 20 clearly identifies this ram as representing the dual kingdom of Media and Persia. Thus the bear of chapter 7 also represents the combined Medo-Persian kingdom.” Shea, Daniel 7-12, 37.

“This kingdom was composed of two nationalities, the Medes and the Persians.…It is said…of the bear that it raised itself up on one side; and this was fulfilled by the Persian division of the kingdom, which came up last but attained the higher eminence, becoming the controlling influence in the nation. The three ribs perhaps signify the three provinces of Babylon, Lydia and Egypt, which were especially ground down and oppressed by this power.…The character of this power is well represented by a bear. The Medes and Persians were cruel and rapacious, robbers and spoilers of the people.” Smith, Daniel and the Revelation,1912 ed., 128.

5 What did Daniel notice about the third beast? Daniel 7:6.

NOTE: “To picture the incredible speed of Alexander’s conquests and soaring ambitions, the Spirit added ‘four wings of a bird’ to the spotted feline. The Babylonian lion had one pair of wings, while the Greek leopard had two! With incredible rapidity this small but ferocious marauder seized dominion from the Danube to the Indus and from Persia to Egypt.…The leopard’s ‘four heads’ represent the kingdoms which followed Alexander’s death and the end of his unified control.…The four generals who finally took charge have been identified as Ptolemy who ruled Egypt, Palestine and part of Syria; Cassander who held Macedonia and Greece; Lysimachus who controlled Thrace and part of Asia Minor; and Seleucus who mastered other portions of Asia Minor, northern Syria and Mesopotamia.” Hardinge, Jesus Is My Judge, 141.

“Dreadful and Terrible”

6 What were the characteristics of the fourth beast? Daniel 7:7, 23.

NOTE: The iron teeth should remind us of the iron of the legs and feet of the great image of chapter 2.

“Since there were to be only four empires of worldwide authority (Daniel 2:26–45) and since this fourth beast was to be the fourth kingdom to have worldwide authority (Daniel 7:23), this fourth beast must be the same as the fourth [kingdom] of Daniel 2, which represented the Roman Empire. As in Daniel 2, this fourth empire was not to be followed by another world empire, but ten kings were to develop out of it.” Grosboll, God Predicts Your Future, 22.

7 What did Daniel then see happening to the fourth beast? Daniel 7:8, 24. Compare Daniel 2:41–43.

NOTE: “As the Roman Empire became weaker in the third and fourth centuries, a period of barbarian invasions occurred. The Alamanni coalition invaded Italy in the third century and finally in the fourth century it established itself permanently in central Europe. Then the Franks, the Burgundians, the Suevi, the Vandals, the West Goths (Visigoths), the Saxons, the East Goths (Ostrogoths) and a score or more of barbarian tribes struggled for territory. When we look at the territory of the Western Roman Empire when the empire was completely dissolved in ad 476 by Odoacer, we find that the Western Roman Empire was at that time divided into exactly ten separate barbarian kingdoms.” Grosboll, God Predicts Your Future, 23, 24.

“The Visions of My Head Troubled Me”

8 How did Daniel react to his dream? Daniel 7:15. Compare verse 28.

NOTE: “Shortly before the fall of Babylon, when Daniel was meditating on these prophecies [of Jeremiah, see Jeremiah 25:11-12] and seeking God for an understanding of the times, a series of visions was given him concerning the rise and fall of kingdoms. With the first vision, as recorded in the seventh chapter of the book of Daniel, an interpretation was given; yet not all was made clear to the prophet. ‘My cogitations much troubled me,’ he wrote of his experience at the time, ‘and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.’” Prophets and Kings, 553, 554.

9 What part of the dream especially troubled Daniel? Daniel 7:19, 20.

10 What was it about this part of the dream that had troubled Daniel? Daniel 7:21. Compare Revelation 13:7.

NOTE: “Of the leopardlike beast it is declared: ‘There was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. . . . And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.’ This prophecy, which is nearly identical with the description of the little horn of Daniel 7, unquestionably points to the papacy.” Great Controversy, 439.

‘He Shall Speak Great Words’

11 What was Daniel told about the ten horns and the little horn that followed them? Daniel 7:24.

NOTE: The little horn power was to be ‘diverse from the first,’ ‘diverse from all the beasts that were before it’ (verse 7), a different kind of power from those that preceded it. Out of Rome’s divisions, following the overthrow of the three barbarian kingdoms, the pope assumed the title of the Caesars, ‘Pontifex Maximus’, and combined spiritual authority with temporal power. A hybrid, such as God had expressly forbidden, was born. Compare John 18:36. Those who claimed to be the church of Christ set up an earthly kingdom.

12 What was Daniel shown about the activities of this little horn? Daniel 7:25.

NOTE: A three-fold accusation is made by heaven against this power, blasphemous claims (compare Mark 2:7; Matthew 12:31; John 10:33) persecution of God’s people, and a claim to have the right to change God’s law and sacred times.

Blasphemy. The claim of the papal priesthood to be able to forgive sins is repeated daily in the confessional. The claim of the popes to be the vicars of Christ, thus usurping the role of the Holy Spirit, is likewise blasphemy. See John 14:16–18. Finally the claims of the popes to be actually God are found in: The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 6 p.48, which describes the pope as: “not a mere man, but as it were God and the vicar of God.” Pope Leo XIII in one of his encyclical letters wrote: “We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.” Pope Innocent III wrote: “The pope is not simply a man but rather God on earth.” He also wrote: “The pope is not only the representative of Jesus Christ but he is Jesus Christ Himself hidden under the veil of flesh.”

Persecution. The Western Watchman, a Roman Catholic periodical (December 24, 1908) stated: “The church has persecuted. Only a tyro in history will deny that . . . Protestants were persecuted in France and Spain with the full approval of the church authorities. We have always defended the persecution of the Huguenots and the Spanish Inquisition.” Dr J. Dowling, History of Romanism, 541, 542, states: “From the birth of Popery in 606, to the present time, it is estimated by careful and credible historians, that more than fifty millions of the human family have been slaughtered for the crime of heresy by popish persecutors, an average of more than forty thousand murders for every year of the existence of Popery.”

Claim to change God’s times and law. Catholic literature consistently moves from the first of the Ten Commandments to the third, which is counted as number two. The Second Commandment, forbidding idolatry, is not found in the Roman Catholic catechism. For many years, the consistent teaching of the Roman Catholic Church was that Sabbath was changed to Sunday by the action of the Catholic Church. e.g. Geiermann: Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine,1946 ed. 50. “The church substituted Sunday for Saturday by the plenitude of that divine power which Jesus Christ bestowed upon her. . . . The Third [sic] Commandment commands us to sanctify Sunday as the Lord’s Day.”

“The Judgment Shall Sit”

13 What was the final stage of Daniel’s dream? Daniel 7:9–14.

NOTE: “Thus was presented to the prophet’s vision the great and solemn day when the characters and the lives of men should pass in review before the Judge of all the earth, and to every man should be rendered ‘according to his works.’ The Ancient of Days is God the Father. Says the psalmist: ‘Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.’ Psalm 90:2. It is He, the source of all being, and the fountain of all law, that is to preside in the judgment. And holy angels as ministers and witnesses, in number ‘ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,’ attend this great tribunal. ‘And, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away.’ Daniel 7:13, 14. The coming of Christ here described is not His second coming to the earth. He comes to the Ancient of Days in heaven to receive dominion and glory and a kingdom, which will be given Him at the close of His work as a mediator.” Great Controversy, 479, 480.

14 What was to be the outcome of these things? Daniel 7:18, 22, 26, 27. Compare Matthew 25:31–46.

NOTE: “Here are the conditions upon which every soul will be elected to eternal life. Your obedience to God’s commandments will prove your right to an inheritance with the saints in light. God has elected a certain excellence of character; and every one who, through the grace of Christ, shall reach the standard of His requirement, will have an abundant entrance into the kingdom of glory. All who would reach this standard of character, will have to employ the means that God has provided to this end. If you would inherit the rest that remaineth for the children of God, you must become a co-laborer with God. You are elected to wear the yoke of Christ—to bear His burden, to lift His cross. You are to be diligent ‘to make your calling and election sure.’ Search the Scriptures, and you will see that not a son or a daughter of Adam is elected to be saved in disobedience to God’s law. The world makes void the law of God; but Christians are chosen to sanctification through obedience to the truth. They are elected to bear the cross, if they would wear the crown.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 125.

Identification and Spirit of Antichrist – Part I

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No Time to Assimilate with the World

Identification of the antichrist is a subject we need to understand. If we do not know who the antichrist is, we will end up being joined to the antichrist. Ellen White says, “The enemy’s last great conflict will be a most determined one. It will be the last battle between the powers of darkness and the powers of light. Every true child of God will fight bravely on the side of Christ. Those who, in this great crisis, allow themselves to be more on the side of the world than of God, will eventually place themselves wholly on the side of the world. Those who become confused in their understanding of the Word, who fail to see the meaning of antichrist, will surely place themselves on the side of antichrist. There is no time for us to assimilate with the world. Daniel is standing in his lot and in his place.” Pamphlets, 68, 135, 139.

If we become confused in our thinking, so that we do not understand who the antichrist is, if we do not understand what the spirit of antichrist is, we will end up being joined with antichrist. We will not even know what we have done because we will think that we are having a great reformation and revival and a wonderful Christian experience.

When you get deep into the prophecies in Revelation, you begin to see that, at the end of the world, the people who are lost are going to be very confident that they will have eternal life. They are going to think that they are having the most wonderful spiritual experience that they have ever had. Let me tell you, the devil is determined that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is going to have the same wonderful experience that these other churches are having.

He is trying to get our church to unite with the fallen churches of Babylon. He is trying to obliterate the line of demarcation between the remnant church and the churches of Babylon. He wants to get us aligned with them so we stop preaching the Second Angel’s Message. Let me tell you, the spirit of hostility which is developing in the Seventh-day Adventist Church against the Three Angels’ Messages is frightful.

It has been going on for much longer than most people realize. When I attended Andrews University and the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary in the mid- sixties, I took a class in evangelism. The students were each required to preach an evangelistic sermon, listened to by the teacher and the rest of the class. I decided if I was going to preach an evangelistic sermon, I was going to preach the Third Angel’s Message. So I did.

Nobody could say it was heretical, at that time at least, because it was exactly what Ellen White taught in The Great Controversy and what was in Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith. At that time the Seventh-day Adventist Church had been teaching that message for over a hundred years. But every single person in that class, except one, opposed my sermon. Is that not an interesting state of affairs? Here was a Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary and the students there did not believe that you should preach the Third Angel’s Message in an evangelistic sermon.

What kind of evangelism are you going to do? To what are you going to convert the people? What are they going to believe when you get done preaching?

The Third Angel’s Message is about the antichrist, because the beast power of Revelation 13:1–10, is the antichrist. So the mark of the beast is the mark of antichrist, and the worship of the beast is the worship of antichrist.

A Millennium of Peace?

According to Revelation 13:8, everybody in the world, except the saved, is going to worship antichrist. Everyone whose name is not in the Book of Life is going to worship him. It is going to be universal, and these people are going to think that they are having the most wonderful revival and reformation of their lives. They are going to feel so wonderful.

It is going to be very religious. It will apparently be the most successful religious revival of all times. According to Revelation 18, the kings of the earth and the various government leaders all over the world will be involved. The legislatures, the courts, the church leaders, the thought leaders, the civil
leaders, the professional people, the moneyed people will all be involved. When you get all those people involved, the great mass of humanity is going to fall right in behind, and say, This is the most wonderful thing.

Ellen White says that they are going to come to our people and they will say, Angels are among us and miracles are among us. And this is the millennium of peace for which we have been hoping so long. Everything in the world is at peace. (See Maranatha, 209.)

Of course, they are not going to know that Armageddon is right around the corner. Right now, Christians all over the world are praying that the Lord will bring peace to the world, and the devil is going to make it look like God has answered their prayers. Then they will say, Angels are among us and miracles are among us and the whole world is at peace, and if you people who are so stubborn would only go along with this movement and be in harmony with the Sunday Law, then the whole world would be at rest.

Ellen White said that she saw our people in great distress during this time. She said they had taken away our resources so that we could not buy or sell, and they mocked the smallness of our numbers. Ibid. Now, we are going to be a very large number, but we are going to be scattered all over the world. We do not know the exact number, but if you took 144,000 people today and scattered them evenly across the world’s area, in proportion to the world’s population, I figured out that in Wichita there would be between 10 and 20 people. And Wichita is the biggest city in Kansas!

Twenty people scattered over the greater Wichita area, most of them in prison somewhere, would look like a pretty small group, would it not? It would look like you were all alone. The world has always been impressed by numbers, and when they see the smallness of our numbers, they are going to laugh.

Who or What is the Antichrist?

Mrs. White said they are also going to mock our poverty. Of course, you are poor if you cannot buy or sell, and you will be poor in that day. If you had a million dollars, it would not matter. What are you going to do then? If you do not know for sure what you believe, you are not going to make it. If you do not know absolutely for sure the truthfulness of the Three Angels’ Messages, you will not be able to stand against the rest of the world. So you need to know who is antichrist.

The mark of the beast is the mark of antichrist, because the beast is antichrist. As I keep studying this subject, the number of descriptive things I find as identifying marks of the antichrist, gets larger and larger.

You need to know how to identify, absolutely for sure, who the antichrist is, because almost the whole Christian world today, even many Seventh-day Adventists, are confused about this issue.

If you do not understand this, you cannot proclaim the Three Angels’ Messages with power. You cannot! This is a vital, important subject for Seventh-day Adventists. God has put us here for this time and place to be able to explain this to the world, so let us look at the first detailed description about the antichrist power, given in Daniel 7.

How do we know that this is talking about the antichrist? Daniel 7:25 says, “He shall speak”—great thing [words] against the Most High, and wear out [persecute] the saints of the Most High.” Is it the antichrist power that speaks great words against the Most High? By definition that would be an antichrist power. You do not need any other text to show it. You know that whoever it is talking about in this text, is an antichrist power. So let us find out who is this antichrist power.

Has the Antichrist Come?

I like to begin at Daniel 7 to identify the antichrist, because there are certain major identifying marks there that are not found anywhere else in the Bible. Daniel 7 gives us absolutely, indisputable evidence as to the time and place where the antichrist power would arise. That is important to understand, because some people think that the antichrist has not even come yet.

Some people think that the antichrist power is still in the future, and some believe that the antichrist power appeared sometime before the time of Christ. But Daniel 7 puts dates and places in your mind so you have some anchor points regarding time and place, and that is important.

Daniel 7 records a vision about four beasts, which represent four empires, or kingdoms, that were going to rule the world.

Rome Identified

We know from Daniel 2 that there were only four kingdoms that would be worldwide in authority, and Daniel 7:23 says, “The fourth beast shall be A fourth kingdom on earth, Which shall be different from all other kingdoms, And shall devour the whole earth, Trample it and break it in pieces.” This fourth kingdom was not to be superceded by another kingdom, but it was to be divided into ten kingdoms. (See verses 7, 8.)

It is the fourth beast, the fourth kingdom, that would rule over the whole earth. We know that the fourth beast in Daniel 7 is the same as the fourth kingdom in Daniel 2, which is Rome. The third beast was Greece, the second Medo-Persia, and the first was Babylon.

Rome was to be divided up. Notice what it says in verse 7. “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it.…”

This fourth kingdom, we are told in the last part of verse 7, had ten horns. Then 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.’” Notice the explanation of this in verse 24. “‘The ten horns are ten kings Who shall arise from this kingdom [out of the Roman Empire]. And another shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first ones, And shall subdue three kings.’”

Now this other one that would arise after them is the little horn power described first in Daniel 7:8, referred to again in verses 20 and 21, and now referred to again in verses 24 and 25. Notice several things about this little horn power, this antichrist power.

First of all, look at the place where the antichrist arose.

The Ten Divisions

Scripture gives us a geographical place where the antichrist was to arise. The antichrist was to arise among the ten divisions of the Roman Empire.

The Roman Empire was divided into the following ten divisions between 351 ad and 476 ad:

  1. Anglo Saxons (Great Britain)
  2. Alamanni (Germany)
  3. Franks (France)
  4. Burgundians (Southern France and the area of Switzerland.)
  5. Visigoths (The Westgoths of Spain)
  6. Ostrogoths (The Eastgoths were driven out of Rome in 538 ad, and were later destroyed and disappeared.)
  7. Vandals (Northern Africa, they were destroyed in 534 ad and disappeared.)
  8. The Heruli (Odoacer’s kingdom, were driven out and destroyed in 493 ad.)
  9. The Suevi (Portugal)
  10. The Lombards (Northern Italy)

Identifying Marks of the Antichrist

The prophet clearly says, in verse 8, that this little horn power, the antichrist power, is to arise among these 10 tribes. So if you want to know where the antichrist power would arise, you have to look at that area of Europe where those ten kingdoms were divided from the Roman Empire. It has to occur in that geographical place. It cannot be anywhere else.

A power that arose in Africa, in Israel, in South America, in North America, in India or in China would not qualify. The place has to be among the divisions of these 10 kingdoms. In Daniel 7:24, it says, “And another shall rise after them.” (After the ten kings.) The ten kings divided up the Roman Empire between 351ad and 476ad, which means this little horn power would have to appear after 476ad. Now remember, it is called a horn, which means that it was a king, because these horns were called kings. (See verse 24.)

This little horn, the antichrist power, was “another” one, or “another” kingdom. (Verse 8, 24.) In other words, it was not one of the European nations. It was not France or England or Germany. It was in addition to the first ten kingdoms.

It was “a little horn.” (Chapter 7:8.) In fact, in size, it was so little that it was smaller than any of the other ten nations of Europe. It would arise as a horn, or as a kingdom, after the ten horns, divisions, of the Roman Empire.

In the process of arising, it would uproot three of the first ten kingdoms. We already saw the three that were uprooted were, the Heruli in 493 ad, the Vandals in 534 ad, the Ostrogoths in 538 ad, for the first time. The earliest date that could be given, according to this prophecy of Daniel 7, when the little horn power would appear or have independent authority, is 538 ad.

The little horn power existed before 538 ad, but the earliest time it had independent civil authority as a kingdom, was at this time. It arose to independent political power between 493 ad and 538 ad. Before that, it was always subservient to another power, and that is why the Ostrogoths, the Vandals and the Heruli were driven out. The little horn power could not have independent authority as long as they were around.

Daniel 7 tells us that this little horn had eyes like the eyes of a man. That is a very significant statement. If you have a Strong’s Concordance, look up the word eye, eyes of man, and the eyes of the Lord. You will find out some very interesting things.

This little horn power, this antichrist, had a mouth speaking great things. The claims made by this power are very, very easy to document. This power claims to hold, on earth, the place of God Almighty.

Daniel 7:20 says, “whose appearance was greater than his fellows.” In other words, this horn became more prominent. Some people say, Oh, that was Antiochus Epiphanies. Daniel 7:20 says that his appearance was more stout, or more formidable than was his fellows. That means that this power was greater than the British Empire, the French Empire, the German Empire, or any of the nations of Europe. Now that puts a little qualification on who this could be. This could not be just anybody. This is a power that is greater than any of the nations of Western Europe, which, in the last 1,500 years of history, have been the greatest nations of the world. This is a very qualifying statement.

The antichrist power, according to Daniel 7:21, would make war with the saints and prevail against them.

It says, again, in verse 24, that this antichrist power would be different than the first ten divisions of the Roman Empire. In what way would it be different? The difference is that this little horn would be a religious power and the 10 kingdoms were simply civil powers.

One of the key identifying marks of the antichrist in Bible prophecy is that it “shall intend to change times and law.” (Verse 25.) Notice, it is not talking about something that just happens, it is talking about a deliberate, intentional change of times and law.

The Picture Gets Clearer

“The saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.” (Verse 25.) We have not yet exhausted Daniel 7, but we are going to go to the second passage of Scripture that talks in detail about the antichrist power, and that is in 2 Thessalonians 2:4. We know this is the antichrist power, because it says he opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or is worshipped. So this is obviously an antichrist power or an antigod.

First of all we see that the antichrist will be revealed before Jesus comes. This is a very important point, because there are many people today who believe the rapture is going to come and steal the saints out of the world, then the antichrist is going to come.

Notice what Scripture says.

“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him [that is what some people call the rapture], we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition.” 2 Thessalonians 2:1–3.

So the antichrist is to come before Christ comes. In fact, not only does the antichrist come before Christ, but also the antichrist will not appear after Christ comes, because this Scripture plainly tells you that Jesus is going to destroy the antichrist. Anything that the antichrist does to the world is going to be finished before Christ comes. This is a very powerful Scripture if you are helping somebody who is really looking for the truth.

The Antichrist Described

The appearance of the antichrist will occur as a result of a great apostasy in Christendom. (See 2 Thessalonians 2:3.)

The antichrist is called “the man of sin” and the “son of destruction.” (Verse 3.)

It says that he opposes all that is called God or worshipped. So we know that he is antichrist, because he opposes all that is called God. He is opposed to Christ because Christ is worshipped. (Verse 4.)

He “exalts himself above all that is called God.” Verse 4 tells us, “He sits as God.” In other words, the antichrist accepts worship.

It says that “he sits as God, in the temple of God.” This is a most revealing and significant statement about the antichrist. During the third and fourth centuries, a man called John Chrysostom was preaching. I do not know whether John Chrysostom was a Sabbath-keeper or not, but he understood something about the antichrist. John Chrysostom studied Matthew 24 and he studied 2 Thessalonians 2, and he knew about the antichrist appearing “as God in the temple of God.” Where is the temple of God? By that time Jerusalem had already been destroyed, so he knew that it was not Jerusalem. You see, some people today are confused. They think the antichrist is going to be some atheist who appears in Jerusalem at the end of time. But the temple had already been destroyed long before the fourth century. In Ephesians 2:19–22, Paul says the temple of God is the church. The house of God, the temple of God, is the church, and John Chrysostom told the people, The antichrist is going to appear in the church. Is that true? Yes, it is. Scripture says, “in the temple of God,” and the temple of God in this world is the church. So this passage of Scripture shows us that the antichrist is going to sit as God in the Christian church. But then it says, in the last part of verse 4, that he is “showing himself that he is God.” In other words, he is taking the place of God on earth and accepting worship from people.

“Now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.” Verse 6 reveals to us that the spirit of the antichrist was being restrained in Paul’s time. It was already here.

The spirit of antichrist was already at work even though it was being restrained. Notice what it says in verse 7: “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.” So the spirit of antichrist was already present in Paul’s day. Daniel 7 shows that the antichrist would not be revealed as a kingdom until after the fall of the Roman Empire, but Paul says the spirit of antichrist, the spirit of lawlessness, is already at work. In other words, the antichrist power has roots that go all the way back to the time of the apostles. It was restrained then; it could not be manifested then, but its roots were there.

And then it says, it is called “the mystery of lawlessness.” That is an interesting expression. If you want to do some research sometime, the New Testament speaks of seven mysteries. This is one of the seven, the mystery of lawlessness. Why is it “the mystery of lawlessness?” Because, “the mystery of lawlessness“ is a system where people think they are keeping the law when they are actually breaking it. It is an amazing thing.

Paul says exactly the same thing as Daniel. He says it is already at work, but it is being restrained right now. But then he says that after the one who restrains it is taken out of the way, the antichrist power would be revealed. “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.” (Verse 7.)

Who is the one that, at that time, was restraining the mystery of lawlessness? It was the Roman Empire, the Roman Caesar. You see, the Roman Caesar claimed to be the incarnate god of the sun, that is, the sun god in the flesh. The Roman Caesar demanded worship, so the antichrist power could not be revealed. It was restrained by this pagan power that had control of the world, so the spirit, the mystery of lawlessness, the antichrist power could not be revealed. But Paul said, After the one who is presently restraining him is taken out of the way, then it will be revealed. The Roman Empire was taken out of the way between 351 ad and 476 ad

This antichrist power is called the lawless one in 2 Thessalonians 2:8, 9.

This antichrist power is going to come with deceptive signs. (See verse 9.) He is going to come according to “the working of Satan.”

He is going to come “with all power.” All power is talking about all satanic power. When you realize that, then you understand why Ellen White says unless we are continually under the jurisdiction and control of the Holy Spirit, we will be deceived. (See The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, vol. 2, 831.) Unless we are protected by the Holy Spirit, we will be deceived. Every morning, before we even get out of bed or talk to anybody, we should be committing our life to the Lord, asking that His Holy Spirit will be in charge of our minds and not allow us to come under the deceptive power of the antichrist. The deceptive power, today, is getting much, much worse than it has ever been in the past.

It is going to come with “lying wonders.” The world today does not believe the Bible, but if there is an apparition of the Virgin Mary somewhere, they will travel half-way around the world to see it, and they do not even know at what they are looking. Talk about superstitious! We are as superstitious as the ancient people were. And when you have all these lying wonders that are going to be manifested, what do you expect is going to happen? The whole world is going to be deceived, except those whose lives are committed to Jesus. Those who are converted, who are obeying and following Him, the Holy Spirit will enable to tell the difference between the false and the true. And it will take the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, because Ellen White says that the path of error and the path of truth will be so close together that without the Holy Spirit, you will not be able to tell the difference. (See Testimonies, vol. 8, 290.) That is why we need to be praying for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, day by day.

Pray that the Holy Spirit will be in control of your mind and help you not to offend God by sinning in thought, word or action. The commission of a known sin silences the voice of the Holy Spirit, and then you are vulnerable. The devil knows that. That is why he is always trying to entice God’s people to sin, so he can get at them to destroy them.

Verse 10 says the coming will be with all “unrighteous deception.” Everyone who does not love the truth is going to be deceived by the antichrist.

The antichrist is going to come with “the lie.” (See verse 11.) What is “the lie”? Satan coming as Christ. (See Ellen G. Comments, Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 911.)

Revelation 13:1–10 talks about the antichrist power, the very same power that we have just been studying in 2 Thessalonians 2 and Daniel 7. “Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven.” (Verse 6.) So we know that this is talking about the antichrist power. Now who is this beast, this antichrist power that is described in Revelation 13? It says that this is the beast that rises up out of the sea, from among many people. Seventh-day Adventists know what it means for a beast to rise up out of the earth (“where the population is sparse”) and out of the sea (“where there are multitudes of peoples.”) (See Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 816.)

This antichrist power has seven heads and ten horns. This antichrist power has ten crowns, or diadems, on his ten horns. This antichrist power has a blasphemous name. All those descriptions are given in Revelation 13:1.

Verse 2 tells us that this antichrist power is “like a leopard.” It is a beast, and a beast represents a power. (See Daniel 7:17). This is a composite beast. Notice part of it is like a bear, part of it is like a lion and so forth, and “the dragon gave him his power.” The dragon also gave him his throne, that is, his seat of government, and also gave him great authority.

One very significant identifying mark is given in verse 3. One of his heads received a deadly wound. Now let us just think through for a moment what is the deadly wound. To understand what the deadly wound is, you have to understand the genius of the papacy.

A Civil-Religious Power, with the Church in Control

What the papacy is, in its central essence, is the union of the power of the church and state all in one, with the power of the church on top. That is a very important concept to understand. If you do not understand that, you have no comprehension of what the papacy is all about. The papacy is a union of the church with the state, but the church is in control. So the church uses the state for its own purposes and its own ends.

The spirit of lawlessness (the papacy) goes clear back to Paul’s time, but the actual union with the church-controlled state, did not occur for the first time until 538 ad. If you were to destroy one of those, you would not have to destroy the church. The church has never been destroyed. It has existed continuously since then. But if the church and the state were not united with the authority of the church in control, you would have destroyed the essential character of the papacy. That is what the deadly wound was all about.

All through the Dark Ages the pope had controlled what was called the papal state in Italy, but in 1798 the Catholic Church did not cease to exist, but its civil power was removed for the first time since 538 ad. When they elected a new pope in 1800, he had no civil authority, and from then on the pope had no civil authority; no kingdom. That deadly wound was healed in 1929, when the papacy was given territory where they, again, had their own government on one of the seven hills in Rome. The hill on which their kingdom sits, where their government is located, is Vatican Hill, or the Vatican.

The deadly wound has been healed. There is again a union of church and state, with the church in control. That is the reason given in the public press, why President Reagan sent an Ambassador to the Vatican. Since 1867, the United States had refused to send an Ambassador to the Vatican. However, because it was said, this man is not just the head of the church, he has a state government; he is the head of a state; a king of a state, as well as the head of a church, so it is right that he should have a representative from all governments of the world. The deadly wound was healed, but after the deadly wound was healed, he blasphemed those who dwell in heaven. (See Revelation 13:6.)

A Worldwide Super Power

“It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them.” This again is a very conclusive identifying mark. It says in Revelation 13:7, “Authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.” Revelation 13:7.

So this is a super power, with authority worldwide. This again is a very conclusive identifying mark. That could never apply to Communism, because Communism has never had authority over every tribe, tongue, people and nation. They tried, but they did not make it.

“All who dwell on the earth will worship him.” (Verse 8.) Again, it shows the antichrist is a religion.

The number of this beast, this antichrist power, “is the number of a man,” and the number is 666.

The Weight of Evidence Points to the Papacy

There are a few other marks of the antichrist power in 1 John 2 and 1 John 4, and also some about the future in 2 Thessalonians 2, that we did not cover. But if you put all of these things together, the antichrist power can only be one thing. It could not apply to anything else. This one power meets every one of the over 60 descriptions and identifying marks given in this article, and that power is the papacy.

Even though Jesus said, “‘Judge not, that ye be not judged,’” Matthew 7:6, we are living in a time when world governments want to do this very thing. They pass legislation against hate crimes, because the devil is trying to make it so that you and I cannot tell people who is the antichrist power. That is the devil’s goal, to make it impossible for us to get out the word.

That is why, friends, we need to pray and ask the Lord to help us quickly get out the word about who the antichrist power is, because very soon we are not going to be able to do it. Our Bibles will be taken away from us. We are not going to be able to distribute The Great Controversy. It is going to be impossible to send out The National Sunday Law books, or any books that tell the truth about the antichrist

The Lord has held things open for the people of this world to find out these things for many years. But the time is coming when the Lord is going to allow our religious liberties to be taken away, and right at the end, we will not have religious liberty. Right now if you know somebody who is deceived, confused, or does not know the truth, you need to help them find the truth about who the antichrist is, because if they worship it, or if they receive its mark, they are going to receive the plagues. And, friends, the plagues could be coming sooner than we realize.

We are living in the last days. Things are winding up. When I was a boy I was told that these things would happen, but it was way down in the future. It is happening right now! You need to not only know who the antichrist is, but you need to prepare to answer in a court, or tell your neighbor or anyone who is looking for truth.

Are you ready? We are on the winning side, even though it is not going to look like it for a little while. Ellen White says, in the book Adventist Apocalypse, that for a little while it is going to look like Satan has won the great controversy. But he is not going to win; truth in righteousness is going to triumph. And if you stay with the Three Angels’ Messages, when the Three Angels’ Messages triumph, you will triumph with them.

Part II