WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT PROPHECY

Signs of the Times – Special Supplement

Editor: Marvin Moore

The Great Image of Daniel 2 representing the 4 world empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia and the Roman Empire (and its later divisions into the kingdoms and nations of Europe).

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The 4 World Empires of Daniel 2

[ The Statue image of Daniel 2 ]

The 4 World Empires of Daniel 2 : Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, Roman Empire, Divided kingdoms and nations of Europe

Someone has said that Daniel 2 is the ABCs of Bible prophecy. For the most part, the rest of the prophecies in Daniel – and Revelation as well - simply expand and provide more detail on the prophecy that this chapter contains. In other words, if you understand Daniel 2, you understand the basic outline that structures the rest of these prophecies.

Daniel 2 begins with a story. Nebuchadnezzar [King of Babylon]had a dream that he thought was significant. He called in the best of his advisors and told them he wanted to know both what he had dreamed and what the dream meant. They were ready to interpret the dream for him, but they couldn’t tell him what the dream was.

When Daniel heard what Nebuchadnezzar was demanding, he knew that God held the only hope of an answer. So he and his friends prayed, and God answered their prayers, revealing “the mystery” (verse 19) to Daniel in a night vision.

Daniel succeeded where the wisest men of the kingdom failed because of his connection to the “God in heaven who reveals mysteries” (verse 28). Nebuchadnezzar endorsed Daniel (see verses 46-49) and particularly Daniel’s God, who, Daniel said, “changes times and seasons; He sets up kings and deposes them. . . . He reveals deep and hidden things” (verses 21, 22).

Nebuchadnezzar’s Thoughts

Daniel introduced the dream itself and the prophecy it contained by telling us the question that was on King Nebuchadnezzar’s mind when he went to bed that night some 2,600 years ago:

“As you were lying there, O king, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries [God] showed you what is going to happen” (verse 29). Or, as the previous verse puts it, “what will happen at the end of days.” (NRSV)

Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel said, dreamed of a great image, or statue. This statue’s head was made of gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. As Nebuchadnezzar watched, a stone was “cut out, but not by human hands.” The stone struck the statue on its feet and ground it into dust that the wind blew away. Then the stone grew until it filled the whole Earth (see verses 32-35).

What did this dream reveal about the future? To be sure that Nebuchadnezzar – and we – could understand the point of the dream, God had Daniel give the king a full explanation.

Daniel began his explanation by telling Nebuchadnezzar what the head of gold represented: Nebuchadnezzar himself – and more broadly the kingdom he ruled (verse 38; compare Daniel 7:17, 23). Each section of the image below the head, in turn, represented a kingdom or Empire that would displace the one that preceded it: “After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom. . . . Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom. . . . and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others” (verse 39, 40).

Later in his book, Daniel named the two kingdoms that would succeed Babylon: Media-Persia (the Persian Empire, also known as Medo-Persia) and Greece (see Daniel 8:20, 21). And while Daniel didn’ty name the fourth kingdom, it’s not hard to figure out what that was. Rome followed Greece on the world’s stage, as any book on ancient history will tell you. And Rome’s Empire soon encompassed more territory and people than any of those that had preceded it.

An Unexpected Turn

Next, the prophecy took a turn that, from the perspective of Daniel’s day, must have been totally unexpected. Each of the first three kingdoms was displaced by a more powerful one; some king or general of another country would defeat the ruling kingdom or what remained of it. But with the fourth kingdom, the pattern was broken. Rather than being defeated by some single, superior power, Rome would ‘be a divided kingdom. . . . even as you saw iron mixed with clay.’ (verse 41). In other words, the fourth kingdom was to be broken up into a number of smaller powers, some strong and some weak.

Daniel said people would try to bind these powers into a single empire – even to the extent of mixing “with one another in marriage” (verse 43, NRSV). But these efforts were fated to fail: “The people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.” (verse 43)

History confirms the accuracy of the picture Daniel painted for us. The Babylonian Empire was followed by those of Persia, Greece, and Rome. But then, rather than falling to some more powerful kingdom, the Roman Empire disintegrated into bits and pieces – the nations that now make up much of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Since then, many people, among them, Charlemagne, Charles V of Spain, Napoleon, and Hitler have tried to stick these pieces back together in such a way as to form another empire. They’ve tried political and military approaches and even – as Daniel pointed out – intermarriage. (By the 19^th century, attempts to unite the nations of Europe by intermarriage among the royal families had made those families nearly all inter-related). But no-one has been successful – which is what, two and a half millennia ago, Daniel said would be the case.

The Prophecy’s Climax

In the last verses of this chapter, Daniel’s interpretation of he dream reaches its climax. There will be another world empire – but not one built ‘by human hands’ (verse 45). This kingdom will, in fact, obliterate and entirely replace all human kingdoms (see verses 35, 44). It’s the God of heaven who will establish this kingdom – one that “will never be destroyed, it will itself endure forever” (verse 44).

In this prophecy, God told Nebuchadnezzar – and us – the true focus and end of Earth’s history. Human empires may for a while have a degree of power and influence. But from the perspective of heaven, they are temporary, transitory. Ultimately, God’s kingdom will triumph.

The point [is] – only implied here but specifically stated in Daniel’s prophecies – is that those who are God’s people may be downtrodden now. They may for the moment be subject to the powers of Earth. But in the end, they will share in God’s triumph, His rule – the kingdom that will “endure forever.”

More Than Political History

Nebuchadnezzar’s interest lay chiefly in politics – the realm of nations and empires and armies and rulers. So that’s pretty much what this dream / prophecy covers – the political history of the world from Nebuchadnezzar’s time down to the end of the world.

Of course, God is interested in much more than just political history. He’s concerned about what happens on Earth in the religious realm, because that determines people’s eternal destiny. And that’s really what the rest of the prophecies in Daniel’s book are about; Daniel 2 just lays the foundation of history on which the other prophecies are built.

Note: Some interpreters believe that it would take more than a united Europe to prove this prophecy wrong. The world God spoke of through Daniel’s prophecies comprised the parts of the globe where believers lived. And since Christians are now found throughout the whole world, only a kingdom that unites all the nations of the world into one political entity would contradict this prophecy.

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The toes of iron and clay: The divided kingdoms and nations of Europe.

The ‘Donation of Constantine’ – Papal forgery purporting to 'prove' that Emperor Constantine 'donated' the civil power of the Roman State (the imperial power of the Caesars) to the Papacy. This forgery however, underlined a political reality that had developed in the centuries following the collapse of the w. Roman Empire after 476 AD.

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Four Beasts and a Little Horn -

[ The Rise of the Papacy - Religio-political world power as a Church-State confederacy ]

The 4 world empires of Daniel 2 and 7: Babylonian Empire , Medo-Persian Empire , Grecian Empire, Roman Empire.

[ Pope Pius IX in Cum Ecclesia Catholica, 1860 :

La Chiesa Cattolica fondata e istituita da Cristo Signore per provvedere alla salvezza eterna degli uomini, avendo conseguito, in forza della sua divina istituzione, la forma di società perfetta, deve godere, nell’esercizio del suo sacro ministero, di quella libertà che la sottrae alla soggezione di qualsivoglia potere civile.

Poiché per operare liberamente, come era necessario, doveva fruire di quei supporti che rispondevano alle condizioni e alle esigenze dei tempi, per una speciale disposizione della divina Provvidenza avvenne che, quando l’Impero Romano si dissolse e fu diviso in vari regni, il Romano Pontefice, costituito da Cristo capo e centro di tutta la Chiesa, ottenne un Principato civile.

Questo fu disposto con somma sapienza da Dio stesso, perché in mezzo ad una tale moltitudine e varietà di sovrani temporali, il Sommo Pontefice disponesse di quella libertà politica che era indispensabile per esercitare, senza alcun impedimento, il suo potere spirituale, la sua autorità e la sua giurisdizione sul mondo intero. − Pius IX, Apostolic Letter Cum Catholica Ecclesia, March 26, 1860.

The Catholic Church which was founded and instituted by Our Lord Jesus Christ to procure the eternal salvation of men, has, by reason of this divine institution, the form of a perfect society. Therefore, she must possess liberty such that she cannot be subject to any civil power in the execution of her sacred ministry.

To act with freedom, as it is just she should, she has always needed the assistance which was suitable to the conditions and the necessities of the age. It is, therefore, by a particular decree of Divine Providence that, at the fall of the Roman Empire and its partition into separate kingdoms, the Roman Pontiff, whom Christ made the head and center of his entire Church, acquired civil power.

Certainly, it was by a most wise design of God Himself that in the midst of so great a multitude and variety of temporal princes, the Sovereign Pontiff enjoyed political liberty, which is so necessary for him to exercise his spiritual power, his authority, and his jurisdiction over the whole world.
- Pius IX, Apostolic Letter Cum Catholica Ecclesia, March 26, 1860. ]

Daniel 2 tells how God revealed the future through a dream that he gave to Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. In Daniel 7, the next major prophecy of this book, God reveals more of the future – but this time, it’s Daniel himself who has the dream.

When God spoke to Nebuchadnezzar – the king – He revealed the political history of the world. When God spoke to Daniel – the prophet, worshiper of God and spokesman for his people - He revealed religious history, the story of the people who were to preserve and share His good news of salvation.

Daniel saw stormy seas from which arose “four great beasts,” all which were predators. Fascinated and probably horrified by the fourth beast, Daniel watched as three of its ten horns were plucked up and another horn “a little one” took their place. This Little horn opposed God and persecuted His people.

Daniel’s dream ended with a courtroom scene. Someone he called “the ancient of days” was seated as judge, books were opened, and the beasts and the Little Horn were condemned, their dominion taken away (Daniel 7:9-13).

Then he saw the Ancient of Days give “one like a son of man” authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped Him. (verses 13, 14)

A Familiar Story

Daniel asked “one of those standing there” (probably an angel) the meaning of what he had seen. That person answered “The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth.” Daniel 7’s four beats correspond to the four divisions of Daniel 2’s statue and represent four kings or kingdoms (see Daniel 7:17, 23).

The winged lion of Chapter 7 corresponds with the head of gold of chapter 2’s statue that represented Babylon. The bear represents the next empire, Media-Persia. And the Leopard with four wings serves as a fitting depiction of the speed with which Alexander the Great created the Greek Empire. Its four heads represent the divisions of that empire upon Alexander’s death.

The fourth beast represents the Roman Empire, which followed Greece as the next major power in the western world. And just as Daniel 2’s iron empire fragmented into feet of iron and clay, so Daniel 7’s fourth beast divides – into a group of ‘horns’. The ten horns symbolize the nations that grew out of the Roman Empire as it aged and the invading Germanic tribes melded into it. (See verse 24)

Daniel has one final – and important – similarity to Daniel 2. That earlier chapter ends with dominion being taken from all earthly powers and being given ‘forever’ to the kingdom that God establishes. Likewise, the visdion of Daniel 7 concludes with the assurance that God will raise up a kingdom that wil be an ‘everlasting dominion that. . . . will never be destroyed” (verse 14).

In other words, Daniel 7 says that believers will face some difficult times, but that in the end, God will accomplish His purposes. He will establish His kingdom, and His people will share in His victory.

Daniel wanted to know more about the fourth, nondescript beast and its horns – particularly the ‘Little Horn’ that eyes and a mouth and that ‘was waging war against the saints and defeating them’ (verse 21). Just who or what did this horn represent?

The attributes of this Religio-Political world power – The Little Horn of Daniel 7 is the Papacy.

We learn several things about this entity that help us identify it. It rose to power in the time of the ten ‘horns’ [smaller kingdoms] – that is, sometime after the demise of the Roman Empire. Three of the [ten] horns were ‘uprooted’ to make way for this Little Horn, whose appearance was to become ‘more imposing than the others’ (verse 20; see also verses 8, 24).

This Little Horn was to be “different” from the first horns. It would “speak against the Most High and oppress His saints and try to change the set times and the laws.” And finally this horn would hold sway [for] “a time, times and half a time” (verse 25).

The fact that it was a horn, like the other horns, suggests that it was a political power. But the fact that this horn differed from the others suggests that it was something more than merely a political entity. Its difference seems to have something to do with religion, since this horn deals in blasphemy, persecution, and the changing of [God’s] law.

As to that last point, if it were merely a matter of changing human laws, there could be no objection. People have the right to change laws that people have made. The charge that it would attempt to change laws suggests that it was divine law – God’s law – that some human power would try to change.

The [ Little ] Horn’s Identity

What Religio-political power arose during the decline of the Roman Empire? The medieval [Roman] Church, [and the Papacy through the religion of] Roman Catholicism, which through nearly all its existence has claimed political as well as religious authority.

Were three of the Germanic tribes that displaced the Roman Empire “uprooted” so this Church could flourish? Yes – the Heruls, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths, all of which professed Arianism, a form of Christianity that rivalled Roman Catholicism.

Did this power persecute [the saints]? Yes – more believers died for their religious convictions under persecutions such as the Inquisition and the massacre in France on St. Bartholemew’s Day [in 1572] than under the pagan [imperial] Roman Empire [of the Caesars].

What about the ‘speaking against the most High’? The leaders of this [religious] institution didn’t attack God directly; they claimed to be – and no doubt thought they were – serving Him. But they did usurp God’s authority by arrogating it to themselves. At the Fifth Lateran Council (1512), for instance, it was declared concerning the Pope, “Thou art another God on Earth.” More recently, in the Encyclical letter “On the Chief Duties of Christians as Citizens,” dated January 10, 1890, Pope Leo VIII declared, “The supreme teacher in the Church is the Roman Pontiff. Union of minds, therefore, requires. . . . complete submission and obedience of will to the Church and to the Roman Pontiff, as to God Himself.” And on June 20, 1894, in “The Reunion of Christendom,” this same Pope claimed, “We hold upon this Earth the place of God Almighty.”

Did this Churchly [Romish] power attempt to ‘change the set times and laws’ – God’s law? Yes; it has claimed that authority. Petrus de Ancharano, for example, asserted: “The Pope can modify divine law, since his power is not of man, but of God, and he acts in the place of God on Earth.”

The Catholic Church went beyond simply claiming this power; it attempted to use it. The fourth of the Ten Commandments, God’s moral law, specifies the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath – the day on which God’s people are to refrain from work, the day on which they are to worship. Notice what, according to one of its own Catechisms, the Catholic Church claims to have done:

Q. Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?

A. 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.

In other words, this Religio-political power [the Roman Papacy] has attempted to change the part of God’s law that has to with time!

Pope Leo XII medal: SEDET SUPER UNIVERSUM – Her [Catholic Church's] Seat (of power and authority) is universal.

The final identifying mark of the little Horn power is the “time, times and half a time” Daniel 7 specifies for the period of its dominance. The timeline (below) shows the fulfilment of this part of the prophecy, confirming the identity of the Little Horn.

Time, Times and half a Time = 1,260 Years of the period of Papal Supremacy

( Medieval Dark Ages )

______ AD 538 |________________________________________________________| 1798 _______

[ 1,260 Years ]

So, like Daniel 2, chapter 7 foretells the history of the world. Again we see the four [world] empires and their ultimate destruction by God’s eternal kingdom. But this chapter focuses on primarily on spiritual, rather than political, history. In it we see the rise of a Religio-political power that works at cross-purposes to God, attempting to change His law, and actively persecuting His people.

___________

Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca”Papa” art. 2. (Gaspar Storti, 1772)

Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism, 3^rd American ed. 1876.

The Medieval Holy Roman Inquisition and the burning of ‘Heretics’ by the Roman Church.

“Time, Times and Half a Time”

Daniel 7:25’s ‘time, times, and half a time’ equals 1,260 symbolic [or prophetic] days (see Revelatio9n 12:6, 14). And in the Bible, a symbolic day represents a year. 1,260 Years

AD 538: The defeat of the last of the Arian powers that had ruled much of the western Roman Empire (including Italy) gave the Bishop of Rome control of all Christian churches. The 1,260-year time span that followed saw most of the persecution that Christians have endured throughout history.

AD 1798: Napoleon’s general [Alexandre] Berthier took the Pope prisoner and proclaimed his political rule at an end. Only recently has the Papacy begun to have political influence like that which it held during the Middle Ages.

A [Prophetic] ‘Day’ Represents a [Literal chronological] Year

Ezekiel was prophesying in Babylon at about the same time Daniel was writing his book. God told Ezekiel to deliver some of his messages by acting them out. In these symbolic prophecies, a day represented a year (see Ezekiel 4:6). That principle also works in interpreting the time periods in the symbolic prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. In fact, these prophecies wouldn’t make any sense [if] interpreted in any other way.

The fatal Wound is healed: The Lateran Treaty established the Vatican State in 1929.

EU Commission President Jose Manual Barosso and Pope Benedict XVI

The current Pope, Pope Francis addressed the United Nations. The Papacy is regaining the height of political power.

2 Popes: Former Pope Benedict XVI (Card. Joseph Ratzinger) and his successor Pope Francis

The corrupt ‘Whore of Babylon’ [Religious power] of Revelation 17 rules over the political kingdoms of the world.

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A Ram, a Goat, and Another Little Horn

Daniel, Chapter 8 contains the central prophetic vision of the book of Daniel. All that precedes it is preliminary to it. As in Chapter 7, Daniel is the one who sees the vision. And like chapter 7, this vision features beasts.

Daniel wrote in this vision he saw a two-horned ram that pushed westward, northward and southward. Then a male goat with “a prominent horn between his eyes” came from the west, moving so fast that he didn’t touch the ground (verse 5). The ram challenged the goat – with disastrous results: the goat utterly defeated him. But then the goat’s “prominent” horn was broken, and four horns grew in its place.

As Daniel continued to watch, he saw another appear on the scene. It ‘started small but grew in power’ (verse 9). This horn challenged the “Prince of the host” and “brought low” God’s sanctuary (or temple), and “truth was thrown to the ground” (verses 10-12).

The prophetic drama ended with a conversation. A ‘holy one’ asked how long the little horn’s battle against heaven would go on – when it would end. A second ‘holy one’ turned to Daniel and said, “For 2,300 evening mornings; then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state” (verses 13, 14, NRSV). These two verses – and particularly verse 14 – are the focus of this central chapter and thus of the whole book.

The Meaning of the Vision

Though at this point the drama had ended, the vision had not. Daniel wrote that while he was trying to fathom what he had seen, he heard someone commission the angel Gabriel to “tell this man the meaning of the vision” (verse 16). Gabriel began his explanation by telling Daniel that this vision concerned “the appointed time of the end” (verse 19). Then he began to identify the actors in the drama – and he couldn’t have been more specific:

“The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. ²¹The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is the first king. ²²The four horns that replaced the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power.” (verses 20-22)

So, as in the vision of the previous chapter, the animals represent Empires. “The large horn between [the goat’s] eyes” which ‘is the first king’ represents Alexander the Great. And the four horns that arose in the place of he notable horn clearly represent the kingdoms that Alexander’s [4] generals – Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus – established after his death.

Why doesn’t Babylon appear in this vision?

No doubt because by the time of the vision Medo-Persia was already overshadowing Babylon, whose rule was soon to end.

Why are the empires of Chapter 8 represented by a ram and a goat – domestic animals – when chapter 7 pictured them as carnivorous beasts?

The focus of this chapter is the sanctuary, God’s temple. And rams and goats were sanctuary animals – animals that were used as sacrifices in sanctuary services. Their use here emphasizes the fact that the site of God’s worship plays a major role in this chapter.

Why does this vision jump directly from the symbol of the Greek Empire, the third part in each of the previous visions’ sequences of four [empires], to the Little Horn power? Where is Rome, that fourth major empire that was represented by the iron legs in Daniel 2 and the iron –toothed beast of Daniel 7?

The answer to this question is a little more complex. Just like the preceding two visions this one reaches all the way from Daniel’s time to the end of the world (verses 17, 19). And both Daniel 7’s beast and its horn – pagan [imperial] and Christian [Papal] Rome – have the same character and carry on the same activities (aggression against God and His people). They both do the work of Antichrist. Chapter 7 particularly portrays the Antichrist role through the Little Horn. That’s apparently why God chose to use the same symbol in chapter 8 – but in this prophecy the horn represents both phases of the world’s fourth great power [Rome] right up to the time of its destruction.

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So, like Daniel 7’s fourth beast, Daniel 8’s little horn is fierce and strong and destroys many (chapter 8:23-25; cp. 7:7, 19, 23). And like Daniel 7’s Little Horn, Daniel 8’s Little horn becomes great (8:9; cp. 7:20). He considers himself superior (8:25; cp. 7:8, 25) and persecutes the saints (8:24; cp. 7:21, 25).

The Little Horn / Antichrist [A Religio-political World Power (Church-State confederacy) ]

Daniel 8 adds even more detail about this power’s activities and intentions, making the Little horn’s identity as Antichrist even more apparent. In the first place, it ties the Little Horn to the original Antichrist, Satan himself, who caused some of the angels to fall into sin (compare verses 10, 11 with Isaiah 14:12-14; Revelation 1:20; 12:4, 7-9).

In Daniel 8’s description of the Little Horn’s opposition to the “Prince of the host” and the sanctuary and its services (the daily sacrifices, etc.), we see the work of both pagan and Christian Rome. Pagan Rome literally destroyed God’s earthly sanctuary, the temple in Jerusalem, when it put down the Jewish rebellion in AD 70. And of course it was responsible for Jesus’ crucifixion and for later persecution of His followers.

Unlike pagan [imperial] Rome, Christian [Papal] Rome’s opposition to God, His sanctuary, and His people, may often have been unintentional. Certainly, it was often more subtle – though, as the comments on the previous chapter noted, Christian Rome did carry out a vigorous and very literal persecution of other Christians.

Two statements in chapter 8 make it clear that this power worked through deception: “truth was thrown to the ground,” and “he will cause deceit to prosper” (verses 12, 25). Basically, Christian Rome’s deceit involved counterfeiting. It substituted a counterfeit Sabbath for the Sabbath of God’s moral law. It substituted a counterfeit mediatorial system of priests and saints for Christ’s mediation on our behalf (cp. 1 Timothy 2:5). It substituted a counterfeit sacrifice for the sacrifice of Christ. (It claims that the daily Mass is “one and the same sacrifice as that of the Cross” while the Bible emphasizes that Christ’s death on the Cross was a one-time event – see Hebrews 9:25-28). It substituted a counterfeit gospel for the true Gospel, making our salvation a matter of [performing] works – of pilgrimages and penances and indulgences – rather than of resting in faith in what Jesus Christ has done for us.

The vision of Daniel 8 ends on a similar note to that of the two visions we looked at previously. Like the statue of chapter 2, the Little horn “will be destroyed, but not by human power” (chapter 8:25). And verse 14, the central verse of both the chapter and the book, points to the restoration – or, as other versions translate it, the “cleansing” – of the sanctuary. (See article on “The Day of Judgement”)

When will that restoration, that cleansing [of the sanctuary] take place? At the end of a period of “2,300 evenings and mornings” according to the “holy one” who answered the question (verse 14).

As this chapter closes, Gabriel, the explainer, confirms the accuracy of that answer. He says, “The vision of the evenings and mornings that has been given you is true” (verse 26).

Daniel, perhaps overcome at the thought that justice wouldn’t be done until ‘the distant future’ (verse 26), faints dead away. So the chapter ends with the words “I was appalled by the vision; it was beyond understanding” (verse 27), which was Daniel’s way of saying, ‘To be continued. . . ’ Daniel 9 unlocks the mystery of the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:14.

See Catechism of the Council of Trent for parish priests, John A. McHugh and Charles J Callan, 1934.

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The Day of the Judgement

Verses 13 and 14 are the central focus of Daniel 8 – indeed of the entire book.

“How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled—the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, the surrender of the sanctuary and the trampling underfoot of the Lord’s people?”

¹⁴He said to me, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated.” (NIV)

When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, he also gave him plans for the “sanctuary,” a portable structure that was to be the center for Israel’s worship (see Exodus 25ff). God told Moses what services were to be carried out there and in the Temple that replaced it when Israel settled in Palestine. Through the sanctuary services, He intended people to learn about His plan for saving them from sin and eternal death.

The 2,300-day / year prophecy extends well into the nineteenth century AD (see timeline). By that time neither Israel’s sanctuary nor its Temple existed. Obviously, then, God had something else in mind; the New Testament book of Hebrews tells us what that was.

Hebrews says that none of Israel’s services could clear the worshippers’ consciences (see Hebrews 9:9). They were merely copies, illustrations, of Christ’s work to save sinners – which was to be carried out in the true sanctuary, which is in heaven (see Hebrews 9:11ff, 23ff). It is this heavenly sanctuary to which Daniel 8:14 pertains.

Description: Related image

The Tabernacle – floor plan: Altar of burnt offering, Laver, Lampstand, Table of Shewbread, Altar of Incense, Ark of the Covenant.

Cleansing God’s Sanctuary

In several modern translations the last clause of that verse says the sanctuary will be “restored.” Other versions say the sanctuary will be “cleansed.” Both of these terms carry a whole complex of ideas. The sanctuary was the place of mediation, of salvation. Briefly, the restoring of the sanctuary implies that it is once again functioning as God originally intended it to – that the deceptions of the Little horn-Antichrist have been unveiled, and people are turning to Christ as their Mediator; they’ve found again the Gospel of righteousness by faith.

The cleansing of the sanctuary implies the end-time fulfilment in real life of an ancient Hebrew ceremony that represented an important part of God’s plan of salvation. The Hebrew system of worship culminated in a special service that took place on what the Bible calls the Day of Atonement (see Leviticus 16). On that day the sanctuary and, by implication, its worshipers, were to be cleansed from all the sins confessed there during the previous year. On that day no one was to work; all were to participate in this special service. Those who ignored the service were deemed to have thereby declared that they felt no need of God; consequently, they were no longer considered His people, no longer a part of Israel.

In other words, this day of cleansing was also a day of judgement, separating the spiritually uncommitted from the genuine believers.

As the Biblical book of Hebrews points out, those Old Testament services reveal Christ’s ministry for us today. The Day of Atonement, which ended the religious year for the Israelites, speaks to us of the day of Judgement that will end this world’s history. Chapter 7 says that it is this judgement that will bring the Little Horn-Antichrist’s career to an end, free God’s people from the struggles they’ve faced in this world, and place them in His eternal kingdom. And Revelation 14:6, 7 indicates that a Judgement day message – “the hour of God’s judgement is come” – will be carried to all people everywhere in preparation for Earth’s last day.

How should we respond to the realisation that we are living in the day of Judgement? First, we should make sure that we are “in Christ” – that our commitment to Him is genuine. 1 Peter 4:17 indicates that the judgement begins with “the family of God.” To be acquitted in this judgement, we must have the righteous that Christ supplies (see eg. Zechariah 3:1ff; Matthew 22:1ff). John wrote that when we live in God and God lives in us, “we will have confidence on the day of judgement” (1 John 4:17).

Second, we should rejoice, because the arrival of the day of Judgement means that Jesus will return to Earth soon. And we should share this good news with others. Revelation 14:6, 7 directly connects the message that the hour of God’s judgement has come with the eternal Gospel that we are to share with “every nation, tribe, language and people.” Jesus said that this mission has been completed, the end will come (see Matthew 24:14).

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A Prophecy of the Messiah

Daniel 9 contains what many consider to be the most sublime prophecy of the Old Testament – a prophecy of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Amazingly, not only did this prophecy reveal the purpose of His incarnation, but it also specified when His ministry would begin and when he would die.

The prophecy of Daniel 9 differs significantly from those of the previous chapters in that it contains no symbols. The language, while cryptic in places, is to be taken literally. In fact, in this chapter, the angel Gabriel simply continued his explanation of the symbolic vision related in chapter 8.

Verses 13 and 14 of Daniel 8 contain the climax of that chapter’s symbolic vision. Those verses are also the central point of Daniel’s book. Daniel wrote that when this symbolic vision ended, Gabriel was commissioned to “tell this man the meaning of the vision” (chapter 8:16)

Gabriel told Daniel about the beasts and horns, but when he tried to explain the 2,300 “evening and mornings,” Daniel became upset. He ended chapter 8 by saying that the vision “was beyond understanding.” So, Gabriel hadn’t completely fulfilled his commission to explain the vision to Daniel.

Jeremiah’s 70 Years

By the time of Gabriel’s visit recorded in Chapter 9, Daniel was feeling very distressed. He understood from the book of Jeremiah that the ‘desolations of Jerusalem’ were to last 70 years. But that span was nearly up, and there was no indication the restoration of that sacred place was about to begin.

In fact, the last vision Daniel had seen indicated that “2,300 evenings and mornings” would pass until the ‘sanctuary’ (the Temple) would be restored (chapter 8:14). Daniel probably knew that in symbolic prophecy, days represent years. He must have been wondering if Jerusalem and the Temple would continue to lie desolate for nearly 23 more centuries! So Daniel prayed the beautiful prayer of repentance that fills most of chapter 9.

God responded to Daniel’s prayer quickly: “While I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision [the vision of chapter 8], came to me” (chapter 9:21). Gabriel told Daniel that he had again been commissioned to help him “understand the vision” (verses 22, 23). It was when Gabriel began his explanation of the time element of that vision that Daniel fainted, and it’s the matter of time that makes up a great part of the explanation we find in chapter 9.

Clearly then, these two chapters are linked – particularly, in the time elements involved.

Gabriel’s Explanation

Four compact but loaded verses – chapter 9:24-27 – contain Gabriel’s explanation. Verse 24 serves as an introduction to the ideas contained in the next three verses. It specifies the time involved and what God planned to achieve during that time.

Gabriel said that during a period of ’70 sevens’ “the city, its wall, and its sanctuary would be rebuilt and the Messiah would come. The rebuilding of the Temple alone took about four years (see Ezra 4:24-5:2; 6:15), which would be 208 ‘weeks,’ so it’s obvious that something more than 70 literal weeks is involved here. Sure enough, the |Hebrew in which Daniel wrote this phrase implies what the RSV translates: ’70 weeks of years’. Daniel had been concerned about Jeremiah’s 70 years, but Gabriel turned his attention to a period seven times longer – seventy weeks of years, or 490 years.

The rest of verse 24 tells what was to happen during that 490 years. First, that time was to be a probationary period for Daniel’s people – one more opportunity to fulfil the role God had planned for them. Second, something special was to be done “to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness.” This pictures the work of Jesus – particularly His death and His ministry as the ultimate High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary. (The heavenly sanctuary and Jesus’ ministry there were important parts of the prophecy of chapter 8).

Third, the accurate fulfilment of this part of Gabriel’s prophecy was to ‘seal up vision and prophecy’, substantiating our faith in the rest what Daniel wrote – particularly the prophecy of chapter 8. And fourth, this period was to see the ’anointing of the most holy’. This latter term refers to the heavenly sanctuary, where Jesus began ministering for us after His ascension. Hebrews 9 indicates that He began His ministry by inaugurating or anointing the sanctuary.

Christ and Antichrist

If you’ll read verses 25-27 carefully, you’ll find that each one divides neatly into two parts. The first half of each verse deals with the timing of Jesus’ earthly ministry and death, and the second half deals with the city, the sanctuary, and the Antichrist or desolator of chapters 7 and 8.

Verse 25 specifies the starting point for the time period involved: ‘the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.’ This decree is the one Artaxerxes issued in 457 BC.

Verse 25 goes on to say that from this starting point ‘until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens’ and sixty-two ‘sevens’ – a total of 69 weeks. The New Testament clearly and repeatedly says that Jesus is the Messiah – literally the “Anointed One.” And Luke tells us specifically when he was anointed. It was at His baptism, when God Himself announced Jesus’ role and the Holy Spirit anointed him by descending on Him in the form a dove.

Luke not only tells us how Jesus was anointed, but he also tells when Jesus was anointed. John the Baptist began his ministry ‘in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar – when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea”. John baptized Jesus then. So Jesus’ baptism came right on schedule. In AD 27: 483 years – 69 weeks of years – after 457 BC.

Gabriel’s explanation continues: “After the sixty-two ‘sevens’, the anointed one will be cut off” (Daniel 9:26). In other words, sometime after AD 27 Jesus would be killed. Verse 27 says the same thing in another way: “In the middle of the ‘seven’ He will put an end to sacrifice and offering.” Jesus’ earthly ministry ended with His crucifixion in AD 31 – three and a half years after it began at His baptism. He died in the middle of the ‘seventieth seven’ of Daniel’s prophecy. And just as Gabriel told Daniel, Jesus’ death brought an end to ‘sacrifice and offering.”

The Stoning of Stephen [Stephen's martyrdom at Jerusalem]

Gabriel’s explanation doesn’t specify the event that marks the end of the 490 years, but verse 24 indicates that those years were a probationary period for the Jewish nation as God’s special people. For three and a half years after Jesus’ death, His disciples continued to preach mainly to the Jews. But then the official council of the Jewish nation, the Sanhedrin, began a persecution of the Christians who lived in Jerusalem, initiating this persecution by stoning to death the deacon Stephen. Consequently, the Christians scattered – and began telling the Gentiles the Good News of salvation through Jesus. The execution of Stephen, then, which occurred about AD 34, marks the end of the 490 years. From that point on the Gospel was preached to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews, and people became God’s “nation” because of their relationship with Jesus rather than because of their ethnicity.

And what of the city of Jerusalem and the Antichrist desolator? Verse 25 says that the city would be rebuilt, but ‘in troublesome times’ – which it was (see Ezra and Nehemiah). But then ‘the people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary’ (verse 26). Jesus warned His disciples of the ‘abomination that causes desolation’ (verse 27) of Daniel’s prophecy and said, “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near.” Jerusalem and its Temple were destroyed by a Roman army in AD 70, less than 40 years after the ending date of this prophecy.

Like Daniel 7 and 8, however, chapter 9 ends on a note more satisfying than the triumph of the Antichrist-desolator. The conclusion of Daniel 9 says that God’s purpose will eventually prevail, and the ‘decreed end’ will ultimately be ‘poured out on the desolator’ (verse 27 RSV). God will rescue those who have trusted in him, and He will establish a new Jerusalem that will never be destroyed.

p. 12

See Daniel 9:2; Jeremiah 29:10. See also Luke 3:21, 22, 3:1, Hebrews 10:4-9; Matthew 24:15; Luke 21:20.

The 2,300 Years: [ 457 BC - 1844AD ]

p. 16

A Beast from the Sea

Revelation 13 describes two beasts. The first comes out of the sea and the second out of the earth. Until the late 1800s, Protestants identified the first beast with the Roman Catholic Church, and we continue to hold this view. It’s not simply a knee-jerk reaction arising out of anti-Catholic bigotry. It arose out of an interpretation of prophecy that can be analysed in the light of current trends.

A careful examination of Revelation 13 shows that its first beast has several characteristics:

It is a religious power – it receives worship (verses 4, 8).

It is a political power with worldwide authority (verse 7).

It commands worldwide respect (verse 3).

It blasphemes God (verse 5).

It persecutes God’s people (verse 7).

It continues its power for 42 months, or 1,260 ‘days’ – years (verse 5).

Notice the following similarities between this description of the beast and the Roman Catholic Church. The Vatican is both a religious authority and a political state. It commands the respect of the whole world. It has worldwide religious authority, and at the present time it has worldwide political influence. And the last three specifications are carbon copies of three specifications of the Little Horn of Daniel 7 that we studied in a previous chapter. The Protestant Reformers interpreted Daniel’s Little Horn as the Roman Catholic Church. The fact that three of the seven identifying marks of Daniel’s Little Horn are also characteristic of the first beast of Revelation 13, including the 1,260 day period, lends strong support to identifying the two as the same power.

Let’s briefly examine two issues relative to Roman Catholicism: 1. Its global political power, and 2. The possibility of its becoming a persecuting power at some point in the future.

A Global Political Power

The Roman Church dominated European politics for centuries, especially for the first half of the present millennium. By the time of the Protestant Reformation this political power had begun to wane, and it continued declining until, in 1798, the French general [Alexandre] Berthier, under orders from Napoleon Bonaparte, took the Pope prisoner.; We understand this event and its aftermath to have fulfilled the statement in Revelation 13:3 that the beast was to receive a ‘fatal wound’.

Notice, however, that the fatal wound was to be healed. If the infliction of the fatal wound was the |Catholic Church’s {Papacy’s] loss of political power in 1798, then the healing of the fatal wound would have to be a restoration of its political power – this time on a global scale – shortly before the end of time.

Mussolini signed a Concordat with the Church in 1929 that restored its control of the Vatican and gave it the status of a nation. Since that time, the Church has been a small – but increasingly powerful – political force in the world.

Does this mean that the Papacy will be a world ruler someday, along the lines of the first beast of Revelation 13?

Several years ago Malachi Martin, a former Jesuit priest, wrote a book called ‘The Keys of This Blood: The Struggle for World Dominion between Pope John Paul II, Mikhail Gorbachev, and the Capitalist West’ The book concludes that “the chosen purpose of John Paul’s Pontificate. . . . is to be the victor inthat competition [to rule the world], now well under way.”

If the Papacy ever gets this kind of geopolitical power, the Roman Catholic Church will have fulfilled the specifications of the first beast of Revelation 13. The ‘fatal wound’ will have ‘healed,’ and the beast will have gained ‘authority over every tribe, nation, language and people’ (verses 3, 7).

So, will a future under the Papacy’s benign rule be good?

Unfortunately, if the first beast of Revelation 13 is the Papacy, then the Roman Catholic Church will [again] become a persecuting power. While John Paul II’s frequent statements supporting freedom of conscience make this seem unlikely, a closer look at the evidence shows that it could happen.

A Persecuting Power

It’s easy to suppose that only bad people persecute others. However, religious persecution seldom arises from bad people trying to make other people bad. It arises when good people try to make other people good. Note the following statements from ‘The Keys of This Blood’:

“It is axiomatic for John Paul that no-one has the right – democratic or otherwise – to a moral wrong; and no religion based on divine revelation has a moral right to teach a moral wrong or abide by it.”

Who is going to decide what’s morally right or wrong? Martin has the answer:

“The Roman Catholic Church has always claimed – and, under John Paul, claim today – to be the ultimate arbiter of what is morally good and morally bad in human actions.”

John Paul does not claim to be the arbiter of what is morally good and bad for Catholics alone. He has every right to that role if his Church members want it that way. But John Paul and his Church claim that the Pope is the ultimate arbiter – the court of last appeal if you please – of “what is morally good and bad in human actions.” The Pope claims moral authority over the entire human race! [regardless of how non-Catholic Christians and others might feel about this arrogant usurpation].

So, what do John Paul and his Church propose to do about people who choose to teach and abide by a moral wrong? Martin’s answer to that question is sobering to contemplate:

“The final prerequisite for geo-religious capability [translate: Religious domination of the world] is authority. The institution [Roman Catholic Church] in its organizational structures and undertakings, must have unique authority: an authority that is . . . autonomous vis-à-vis all other authority on the supranational plane; an authority that carries with it such sanctions as are effective in maintaining the unity and the aims of the institution as it goes about its business of serving the greatest good of the community as a whole and in its every part.”

Martin claims that for the Catholic Church to have global authority, it must be autonomous – that is, it must be able to exercise its will without interference from other nations. And it must be able to impose ‘sanctions’. Sanctions are what the United Nations imposed on Iraq when it invaded Kuwait.

Think about what Malachi Martin, a former Jesuit priest, has said. The Pope’s highest aim is for his Church to control, not just America, but the world. Once that goal is achieved, the Pope’s key objective will be to impose moral order on the world, with whatever sanctions are necessary to achieve it. And that moral order will, of course, harmonize with the principles and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, not those of Protestantism, Judaism, or Islam.

So, is today’s Roman Catholic Church capable of persecuting those with whom it disagrees? It’s not likely that any Roman Catholic today is saying “We’re going to persecute people.” But remember that the Roman Catholic Church has a long history of trying to make ‘bad people’ (those who disagreed with Catholic dogma) good. Unfortunately, in spite of recent statements that support religious freedom, official Roman Catholic teaching still retains of the attitudes that made the Inquisition possible.

Will the Roman Catholic Church fulfil the specifications of the first beast of Revelation 13 in the end-time, including the one about persecution? The facts persuade us of the danger of this happening is very real.

* Malachi Martin, The Keys Of This Blood (1990). See also Revelation 13:1-10

p. 18

The United States in Prophecy

Revelation 13 pictures two beasts, and a beast in Bible prophecy represents a kingdom or nation – a political entity of some sort. We have already identified the first beast as representing the Roman Catholic Church. Even though most people think of Catholicism as primarily a religion, it is appropriate to think of it also as a nation or a political power. Tiny, though it is, the Vatican [State] is a legitimate nation that exchanges ambassadors with more than 150 nations around the world. And the Vatican has great political influence in today’s world. [2017]

America will join hands with Rome and merge Church and State

So, what nation does the second beast of Revelation 13 represent? That nation has to meet several criteria. It must exist at the end of time. There seems to be general agreement among Christians that the mark of the beast, which is [to be] enforced by the second beast of Revelation 13, is an end-time phenomenon. It must also have global political power, because it “deceived the inhabitants of the earth” (verse 14).

Revelation 13:15 - A future world union of Church and State

John wrote that this second beast has two horns like a lamb” (verse 11). In Revelation, the lamb always symbolizes Jesus Christ. However, this beast does not represent Jesus but something that is like a lamb. The nation that this beast represents must have the characteristics of Jesus. It must be a Christian nation.

Marked By Persecution

Revelation 12 contains another significant clue to the identity of this beast. It begins by picturing Jesus and Satan (the ‘dragon’) in conflict throughout Jesus’ incarnation. After the Ascension, Satan begins persecuting Christian believers. At first, the Roman Empire persecuted Christians intensely. However, Revelation seems to be more interested in the later persecutions of Christians by the Church itself; it says that the ‘woman’ – believers – would be persecuted for 1,260 [prophetic] days, or [literal] years. This is a clear reference to the medieval Church’s persecution of dissenters prophesied also in Daniel 9:25. This 1,260-year period began in 538 AD and continued till 1798 – the approximate period during which the Roman Catholic Church was a major political influence in Europe.

Characteristics of the Beast

[ Image: America in prophecy ]

America and Rome will enforce unity on all.

Now notice Revelation 12:15, 16:

Then from his mouth the serpent [Satan] spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.

The river that the dragon [Satan] spewed out of its mouth to sweep the woman away apparently represents the Inquisition and similar persecutions that dissenters endured during the Middle Ages. The earth that helped the woman by swallowing the river, then, represents the New World, which provided religious dissenters a place of escape.

The United States and Canada are the only nations in the New World that have offered a haven of religious tolerance to all people. South of the Rio Grande, the Americas have been dominated by the Roman Catholic Church – the very agency that was the persecuting power from which Protestants were trying to escape.

So, North America is the land that is indicated by the prophecy. [Revelation 11-18]

Now compare the two references to “the earth” in Revelation 12 and 13:

The earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river (Revelation 12:16).

I saw another beast, coming out of the earth (Revelation 13:11).

Notice: The earth that helped the woman in Revelation 12 is the same earth from which the second beast of chapter 13 arose – North America.

Characteristics of the [Earth] Beast

Thus far we’ve examined five characteristics of the second beast of Revelation 13. Let’s put them together:

Because it is a beast, it must represent a nation [or political power].

Because it will enforce the Mark of the beast, it must be an end-time nation.

Because it will deceive the inhabitants of the earth, it must have worldwide political power.

Because it has two horns like a lamb (a symbol of Jesus), it must be a Christian nation.

Symbolized as coming up from the earth, it was to arise in the New World, particularly North America, which gave European Christians freedom from persecution.

These characteristics of the second beast of Revelation 13 identify it as representing the United States of America. The United States is the only Christian nation on earth today – the end time – that has worldwide political power.

Notice, however, that though this beast has two horns like a lamb, it will speak like a dragon. That is, at some point in its history it will cease to be a lamblike beast and will become a dragon-like beast [persecuting power]. And Revelation makes it clear that in its dragon-like phase it will persecute God’s people.

Apparently, then, the United States will eventually become a persecuting power.

Notice also that this beast will cooperate very closely with the first beast – so closely, in fact, that it will set up an image to the first beast (see verse 14). If the second beast is indeed the United States, and if the first beast represents the political power of the Roman Catholic Church [Papacy], then we can expect that the United States will cooperate with the Roman Catholic Church to enforce its religious dogmas.

In fact, it’s happening already.

Page 35 of the February 24, 1992 issue of Time Magazine contained a box entitled “The US and the Vatican on Birth Control.” Has the Vatican been meddling in the policy of the US government on birth control? Yes, according to the report:

“In response to concerns of the Vatican, the Reagan administration agreed to alter its foreign aid program to comply with the Church’s teachings on birth control.”

In other words, the US government accommodated its official policy to religious dogma that is uniquely Roman Catholic. Specifically, according to the article in Time, the government agreed to withhold US funding from any nation or organization that encourages the use of contraceptives or abortion.

Many American Protestants agree with the Catholic Church’s policy on abortion, but almost no one in the American Protestant community goes along with the Catholic Church’s birth control policy. Neither do most Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, or members of any other religious group in this country.

So, we come back to the question: Does the second beast of Revelation 13 represent the United States?

Trends in the United States since about 1980 encourage us to maintain that view.

p. 23

The Mark of the Beast

Most Christians recognise that Saturday is the actual Sabbath of the fourth commandment. However, they believe that the observance of Sunday is acceptable to God as a proper way to keep that commandment.

God’s Word disagrees. It indicates that the Sabbath will be the focal point in the final conflict of the great controversy between Christ and Satan. Let’s examine Revelation 13, the passage that introduces the mark of the beast.

And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. [Rev. 13:16, 17]

Please notice that whatever it is, the mark of the beast will be forced upon people. Notice also that the mark of the beast is related to worship. Revelation 14:9 says the warning regarding he mark of the beast applies to “anyone [who] worships the beast and his image.” The context leaves no doubt that the worship mentioned here is false worship.

In fact, the theme of false worship pervades chapter 13. It begins in verse 4, which says,

“And they worshipped the dragon [Satan] which gave power unto the beast [Papacy] : and they worshipped the beast. . . “ And verse 8 says that “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” In these verses false worship appears to be optional; there is no suggestion that the inhabitants of the earth will be forced to worship the dragon [Satan] and the beast [Papacy]. However, the image to the beast in Revelation 13 forces people into false worship: “It . . . cause[s] that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” [Revelation 13:15]

“Worship Him Who Made . . . “

But what we’ve seen so far doesn’t tell us that the false worship has anything to do with the fourth commandment. Where do we find that?

Revelation 14:6 says that an angel from heaven makes an important proclamation to the inhabitants of the earth. Verse 7 tells us the message:

“Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”

This verse obviously refers to the true worship of God, in contrast to the false worship that is enforced by the image to the beast in Revelation 13.

Now, compare Revelation 14:7 with the last part of the fourth commandment:

“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.”

So, when the angel from heaven commands people to worship God, he practically quotes from the fourth commandment! Now put this together with the fact that twice in this part of Revelation we are told that God’s end-time people will be a commandment-keeping people.

“And the dragon [Satan] was wroth with the woman [God’s true church], and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus.” [Revelation 12:17]

Here is the [ this calls for the] patience [patient endurance] of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

If God’s end-time people keep the commandments, they will obviously keep the fourth. And if the true worship of God at the end-time is drawn from the fourth commandment, what would the contrasting false worship of God be? It would have to be worship in violation of the fourth commandment. And how is most of the Christian world today violating the fourth commandment? By the day they keep.

A Test of Loyalty

One further thought: God gave Adam and Eve a very simple, clear-cut test of loyalty. He said, “Don’t eat from the tree that I point out to you.” The issue God will use to test earth’s final generation will be just as simple and clear-cut as the issue He used to test earth’s first generation. And nothing could be more clear or simple than the day one chooses to worship [on].

Both the tree and the Sabbath were arbitrary choices by God. He could have chosen any one of a hundred trees in the Garden of Eden and told Adam and Eve not to eat of it. He could also have chosen any day of the week and made it the Sabbath. But once He chose a tree, and once He chose a day, His arbitrary decision became a divine mandate that no one has the authority to change.

Revelation 13 says that at the end of time God’s people will be faced with a choice: Worship the beast’s way or you will be killed. We believe that the issue in this conflict will be a divine mandate with no logical reason behind it other than God’s choice, His command. We believe we understand what that divine mandate is. Once God has chosen, the question is whether you and I will obey or disobey.

Years ago the religious and political climate made this “mark of the beast” scenario seem highly unlikely. Political trends today, however, suggest that it could happen.

We believe it will. [And Revelation 13 says it will.]

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KEEP SUNDAY SACRED - POPE

BY Corky Siemaszko

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Saturday, March 27, 2004, 12:00 AM

Pope John Paul declared yesterday that Sundays should be set aside for God - not diversions like A-Rod. Catholics, especially young Catholics, should be going to Mass on Sundays instead of heading to sports spectacles or the movies, the pontiff said in a speech to Australian bishops visiting the Vatican. "When Sunday loses its fundamental meaning and becomes subordinate to a secular concept of 'weekend,' dominated by such things as entertainment and sport, people stay locked within a horizon so narrow that they can no longer see the heavens," the Pope said. As a young man in Poland, the pontiff was an avid soccer player who rooted for the best players of his day - much the same way Yankee fans are already rooting for Alex Rodriguez. But the 83-year-old leader of the Roman Catholic Church has complained repeatedly that secular culture is undermining family life and warned the faithful against idolizing sports and movie stars. "Within civil society - including the media and entertainment industry sectors - the values of marriage and family life [should be] supported and defended," he said yesterday. The Pope also criticized the "culture of the 'here and now,' " and urged the bishops to "lead men and women from the shadows of moral confusion and ambiguous thinking.

http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/sunday-sacred-pope-article-1.606414

Pope demands Sunday to be a day of Rest!!!

The saying “some things never change” may not be applicable in all cases. However, when referring to the abominable Pontifical pomp of the Bishop of Rome, words never rang more true. In a most revealing fashion on June 6, Pope Benedict XVI declared to an enthusiastic audience of 15,000 pilgrims in St Peters Square of Vatican City that “Sunday must be a day of rest for everyone”. Siting the necessity of spending time with family and with God as the basis for his blasphemous assertion for the need of reverencing this false day of worship,

The Pope went on to say:

“By defending Sunday, one defends human freedom… Sunday is the day of the Lord and man, a day which everyone must be able to be free — free for the family and free for God”

Pope Francis: Sundays are a gift from God – don't ruin it

. . . Francis concluded by praying that the family always be recognized as a privileged place where the gifts that come from our celebrations are understood, guided and sustained, particularly Sunday Mass.

”May the Lord allows us to live the time of rest, celebrations, the Sunday feast, with the eyes of faith, as a precious gift which illuminates family life,” he said.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-sundays-are-a-gift-from-god-dont-ruin-it-73132

More Than Political History

Nebuchadnezzar's interest lay chiefly in politics - the realm of nations and empires and armies and rulers. So that's pretty much what this dream / prophecy covers - the political history of the world from Nebuchadnezzar's time right on down to the end of the world.

Of course, God is interested in much more than just poltical history. He's concerned about what happens on earth in the religious realm, because that determines people's eternal destiny. And that's really what the rest of the prophecies in Daniel's book are about; Daniel 2 just lays the foundation of history on which the other prophecies are built..

Revelation 13: The 2 Beasts – one in the Old World the other arises in the New World later in history.

Pope Francis addressed the US Congress

The Mark of the Beast

p. 24

Invitation to address Congress in 2014 - Rep. John Boehner’s Letter to Pope Francis.

http://angtinigsailang.org/articles/pope-francis-was-invited-to-address-us-lawmakers/

Pope Francis meets Rep. John Boehner

Pope's speech to Congress: 9 quotes show his reshaping of Catholic politics

By Daniel Burke, CNN Religion Editor

Updated 1517 GMT September 24, 2015