Friday, October 16, 2015
Point 5. America and Biblical Prophecy and the Role of the Pivot in the Last Days.
Can it really be true? Is America found in Bible prophecy?
I do not mean will it still be "around" in the last days, I mean will it have a "prominent place" in the prophecies concerning the last days.
When it comes to biblical prophecy and the many different interpretations, anything can be true!
There will be two beasts that are a part of prophecy found in Rev 13 called the First Beast who comes out of the sea inREV 13:1, and the second beast in REV 13:11, that comes out of the earth.
a. Who does the First Beast in REV 13:1-10 refer to. b. And then secondly, Who does the Second Beast in REV 13:11-18refer to.
There are many believers who DO believe that the United States is prophesied in Revelation as having a major part in end-time events.
1SA 8:5-7, and they said to him, "Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations." But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.
They were known as being noble-minded, and that they received the word with great eagerness, and they examined the Scriptures daily, to see if what was being taught was truth.
(KJV) HEB 11:6 Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him.
The first beast in the book of Revelation could symbolize Rome and basically the papacy (paper-see) which refers to the RCC with the emphasis especially upon the pope.
We are going to basically go point by point to try our best to build upon what the prophet Isaiah calls the "line upon line" and the "precept upon precept" principle: (ISA 28:10).
1. Two world powers are symbolized in Revelation chapter 13. Who or what is the first power?
Answer: The beast with seven heads is none other than the Roman Empire, especially the Roman papacy or the RCC and the place of the Pope.
You must go back to the book of Daniel which is the Old Testament version of the book of Revelation.
Beasts in Bible prophecy symbolize nations or world powers not a person. (cf. DAN 7:17, 23).
DAN 7:17 'These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth The beasts refer to four kings or four kingdoms that the kings represent.
DAN 7:23 "Thus he said: 'The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it.
Daniel envisioned four beasts that came out of the sea in the first year of the reign of Belshazzar, king of Babylon = Babylonian Empire, the Medio-Persian Empire, the Greek Empire and the Roman Empire.
Our subject is not Rome or the Roman Catholic Church or the papacy, our subject is what is about the place and where the pivot is located in these last days.
1. Two world powers are symbolized in Rev 13. What is the first power? Answer: First power = the beast with seven heads and is Rome and the Roman papacy.
Rev 12 is all about the anti-Semitism that is promoted by Satan, the serpent also known as the dragon.
REV 12:1 And a great sign appeared in heaven a woman [a reference to Israel] clothed with the sun [a reference to Jacob], and the moon under her feet [wives of Jacob],
and on her head a crown of twelve stars [the twelve patriarchs or the twelve tribes of Israel];
REV 12:2-12, and she [Israel] was with child [a reference to the virgin pregnancy]; and she cried out [this is a reference to the many different Jewish Holocausts throughout human history], being in labor and in pain to give birth [this means that she wanted to be delivered from the anti‑Semitism that was prevalent and happening]. And another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon [that's Satan] having seven heads and ten horns, [Revived Roman empire + ecumenical religion], and on his heads were seven diadems or crowns. And his tail [Satan's power] swept away a third of the stars of heaven [one third of the angels in Heaven followed Satan and his rebellion in the prehistoric angelic conflict], and [He, God] threw them to the earth [this will literally happen in the middle of the Tribulation period]. And the dragon [Satan] stood or who had stood before the woman [the virgin Mary] the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he [Satan] might devour or destroy her child destroy the humanity of Christ. And she [Mary] gave birth to a son [humanity of Christ], a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron [that is the harness that TLJC will use to rule during the Millennium]; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne [ascension and session]. And the woman, [true Israel] fled into the high desert country in order that there [Edom, Moab and Ammon --all in Jordan] she might be nourished [or sustained] for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. And there was a battle in heaven, Michael and his army of elect angels fought against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven, which is just a nice way of saying they were kicked out, period. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now deliverance [Second advent], and the power, [Jesus Christ in hypostatic union, undiminished deity, true humanity in one person forever]
and the kingdom of our God [Millennial reign] and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night. Furthermore they overcame him, that is Satan, because of the blood of the lamb, the saving work of Christ on the cross, and because of the doctrine applied by means of their testimony. In fact they did not love their life to the point of death. For this reason, be celebrating you heavens, [elect angels and resurrected CA believers] and you, who live temporarily in them, [O.T. saints and Tribulational martyrs, who reside in heaven in the interim body]
Woe to both land and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having and holding on to great wrath, or foaming with fury because he knows that his time is short.
2. In what year was the papacy predicted to lose its world influence and power?
When we talk about the influence and power of the papacy, we are talking about periods of time when the RCC and its pope had world influence and world power.
There was no such things as the separation of Church and State, they were one and the same when it came to world power, politics and religion.
In what year was the papacy predicted to lose its world influence and power? ANSWER: The First Beast will rule for EXACTLY 1260 years before receiving a mortal wound, REV 13:5.
In biblical prophecy, 42 months = 3.5 years or 1,260 days which also in biblical prophecy = 1,260 years.
A period of only 1260 literal days, only 3 12 years, falls absurdly short of fulfilling the requirements of the 1260-day prophecies in regard to the Rome and the Roman Catholic Church and the papacy.
When we function under the biblical prophecy principle that says that the number 1,260 days refers to years, the year-day principle of biblical prophecy is extended to 1260 years, and then the prophecy meets a unique fulfillment.
Because in 538 A.D. the Ostragoths abandoned their siege of Rome -- and this left the Bishop of Rome to exercise the prerogatives of
Justinian's decree of 533 A.D. and then the power and the authority of the Papacy grew, and grew, and grew.
Justinian was a Christian emperor of Rome who appointed John, the Bishop of the City of Rome, to be the head of all churches, as the absolute and final authority throughout the Roman Empire.
PRO 8:15 "By me [Pope] kings reign, And rulers decree justice," he quoted this given absolute authority to the RCC and the papacy.
"The heart of the King is in the hand of God, and it will incline to whatever side God wishes"; that is to say, that He may confirm your empire, and maintain your kingdoms for the peace of the Church and the unity of religion;
Exactly 1260 years later the Papacy suffered its "deathblow," it lost its world-wide power and authority that it is also claimed in the political realm.
The spectacular victories of the armies of Napoleon in Italy placed the Pope at the mercy of the French Revolutionary Government, which now advised that the Roman Religion would always be a persistent enemy of the Republic.
The government urged Napoleon to destroy the center of unity of the Roman church, and Napoleon did just that.
In 1798 the French general Berthier, with a French army, marched into Rome and proclaimed the political rule of the Papacy at an end and took the Pope prisoner.
The 1260 year rule of the Papacy was finished or we could say the reference to the first beast being the Roman Catholic church with the pope ruling the world seized.
If the prophecy is correct, 1260 years after 538 AD the beast must receive a mortal wound, REV 13:3.
If you add 1260 years to the beginning year that the Roman Catholic church took over which was 538 AD, you will arrive in the year 1798 AD.
1,260 + 538 = 1,798
"He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword..." REV 13:10.
The prophecy is telling us that the beast would be destroyed with the sword (sword = a reference to the military) at the end of its reign of exactly 1260 years.
On February 10th Napoleon Bonaparte in that EXACT year 1798 A.D. sent his General Louis Alexandre Berthier, with his army into Rome, Italy.
"In 1798 General Berthier made his entrance into Rome, abolished the papal government, and established a secular one." - says the
Encyclopedia Britannica 1941 edition
That's Exactly 42 prophetic months, or 1260 years, sometimes also called a time, and times, and dividing a time after the Papacy began its powerful reign that the Pope "shall go into captivity" by the military.
2. In what year was the papacy predicted to lose its world influence and power?
Answer: The Bible predicted that the papacy would lose its world influence and power at the end of the 42 months or 1260 days in biblical prophecy which is 1260 years.
The 42 months that the Antichrist will have authority is the same time period that the little horn power will have authority inDAN 7:27 because the little horn of Dan 7 and the beast of Revelation 13 are the same power.
This means that when the 42 months are under the biblical prophecy of days meaning years ---- it refers to 1260 years and it points to the RCC and the papacy.
When the 42 months are taken literally to be 3.5 years than it points to the anti-Christ who will rule as a tyrant in the second half of the tribulation period for 3 and a half years,
As prophetic days symbolize actual years, this 1260 year period began in 538 AD when the Papacy established itself as the ruling religious power, and ended in 1798 when the papacy appeared to receive a deadly wound, REV 13:3.
During its period of supremacy, the papacy exercised and perverted more power than even the emperors of Rome.
Earthly kings who were leaders of their own kingdom laid their crowns at the feet of the Pope, and had him crowned before them.
The Pope was said to be "Supreme over all nations and peoples."
An interpretation which was strongly defended by scholars of the Reformation Age is the concept that Daniel’s little horn symbolized the papal dynasty.
They believed that the Roman Catholic Church “is the Babylon of John (that the apostle John talked about - in REV 14:8-21), and it is also a reference to the Man of Sin of lawlessness (that Paul talked about in 2TH 2:3).
REV 14:8 "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality."
REV 16:19 Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.
REV 18:2 "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! And she has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.
REV 18:10 ... "standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.'"
REV 18:21 And a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "Thus will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer.
2PE 2:21 For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them.
JOH 9:41 Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, 'We see,' your sin remains.
MAT 11:23-24, "And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You shall descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.
MAT 11:24 "Nevertheless I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you."
JOH 15:22 "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.