Wednesday, November 11, 2015
1. There are Two World Powers which are symbolized in Rev 13. Who or What is the first beast or power mentioned?
Answer = The beast with seven heads is none other than referring to the Roman Empire, especially the Roman papacy or the RCC and the place of the Pope.
2. In what year was the RCC and the papacy (Pope) predicted to lose its world influence and power?
We are talking about periods of time when the RCC and its pope had world influence and world power which began in 538 AD and continued for 1260 years and then the RCC and the papacy lost its hold and influence that it had around the world.
2. In what year was the papacy predicted to lose its world influence and power?
The papacy began its reign in 538 AD upon Emperor Justinian's decree that the RCC and the papacy were elevated above all other Christian churches and religious organizations under the military direction and protection of General Belisarius.
In biblical prophecy, 42 months = 3.5 years or 1,260 days and that in biblical prophecy days can also refer to years depending on the subject of the prophecy.
We function under the biblical prophecy principle that says that the number 1,260 days can also refer to 1260 years, under the day-year principle then the prophecy given in Rev 13 meets a unique fulfillment.
Many people worship the dragon or the devil today without even knowing they are because they are worshipping a religious organization that promotes another Jesus, another Gospel, and another spirit.
JOH 8:44 "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies."
Notice 42 months under the 30 day a month calendar = 1260 days or in the day-year prophecy = 1260 years.
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 and then the power and the authority of the Papacy grew, and grew, and grew.
Justinian was a Christian emperor of Rome who appointed a man called Pope Vigilius to be one the leaders of all the churches, as the absolute and final authority throughout the Roman Empire.
PRO 8:15 states "By me kings reign, And rulers decree justice."
Justinian decreed or put into law the fact that verse referred to the pope of Rome given absolute authority to the RCC and the papacy.
This gave one man the final authority in the Roman empire and the RCC, thank God he did not have this authority throughout the entire world, basically because of the Protestant religion which eventually also ended up in their own system of apostasy.
That one man at the time who was the first pope given all that authority Pope Vigilius (died 7 June 555), he was Pope from 29 March 537 to his death in 555.
He is considered the first pope of the Byzantine Papacy which refers to the Roman empire of the East.
Question: "Wasn't Saint Peter the first pope?" Answer: The Roman Catholic Church says that Peter was the first pope upon whom God had chosen to build His church upon, using MAT 16:18, to back up this assertion.
Peter, who He called petros meaning a chip out of the stone or a part of the rock, that and upon this rock, the he used the word Petra, meaning the massive rock, the fact that He is Messiah.
For when the Lord said, "Upon this rock I will build my church", He used the fut-act-ind of oikodomeo [to build] which means that the church did not exist at the time that the Lord said it, it was future.
EPH 2:20-22, that we have been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
We are all little chips out of the rock, but he, TLJC is the Rock, the only Rock, 1CO 10:4 we all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.
1PE 2:4-5, And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
The Roman Catholic Church maintains that sometime after the recorded events of the book of Acts, the Apostle Peter became the first bishop of Rome, and that the Roman bishop was accepted by the early church as the central authority among all of the churches.
This teaching that the RCC said that God passed on Peter’s apostolic authority to the subsequent bishops is referred to as “apostolic succession.”
The Roman Catholic Church also holds that Peter and the subsequent popes were and are infallible when addressing and issues in the World-wide Church from their position and authority as pope.
The Roman Catholic Church claims that it can trace an unbroken line of popes back to St. Peter, citing this as evidence that it is the true church, since, according to their interpretation of Matthew 16:18, Christ built His church upon Peter.
While Peter was central in the early spread of the gospel (part of the meaning behind Matthew 16:18-19), the teaching of Scripture, taken in context, nowhere declares that he was in authority over the other apostles, or over the entire church.
For in Acts 15:1-23 compared to GAL 2:1-14, even the apostle Paul rebuked peter for his compromises with the early Christian and Jews.
Even Peter knew his place for 1PE 5:1-5, he said he was a fellow apostle, or fellow elder and that there is one leader over one local church or assembly whether it is face-to-face or non face-to-face.
Nowhere does Scripture state that, in order to keep the church from error, the authority of the apostles was passed on to those they ordained (the idea behind apostolic succession).
What Scripture DOES teach is that false teachings would arise and claim apostolic authority even from among themselves,ACT 20:28-30.
Nowhere in his writings (1 and 2 Peter) did the Apostle Peter claim any special role, authority, or power over the church.
Nowhere in Scripture does Peter, or any other apostle, state that their apostolic authority would be passed on to successors.
It is true that Peter played a crucial role in the early spread of the Gospel; (Acts chapters 1-10).
Yes, it is true that Peter was a “rock” as a winner believer that Christ predicted he would be, (MAT 16:18).
Peter himself points us all to the true Shepherd and Overseer of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ (1PE 2:25).
1PE 2:25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.
The first pope who came into power when Rome began its power in the Catholic Church was Pope Vigilius.
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
First understand, according to the prophecy, we learn that, "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. This prophecy was fulfilled in 1798, when Napoleon's General Berthier took the pope captive and the papal power received its deadly wound.