The history of the church has been a succession of miscalculations in its relationship with GOD.
One wrong step usually leads to another. The infection of sin in the church today has become so pervasive that all who
are brought into the church are merely baptized into a life of sin. Everything from discounting two of
the Ten Commandments as the standard of Christian living to declaring immortality to little children in the fires of hell.
History shows that reformation from apostasy is rarely if ever seen.
The theme of this commentary is simple:
Today, the dominant views of Bible prophecy uphold the assertion that Catholic and Protestant churches are
exempt from all association with the Bible prophecies forecasting infidelity to Jesus Christ during the modern era.
This theology that excludes the church from condemnation works to remove the valuable and precious warning of
Christ, “Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the
will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will come to Me in that day saying, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in Thy name? And in Thy name cast out devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful
works? And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.”
Matt.7:21-23.
There is obvious Scriptural and historical evidence showing that with the rise of the Christian
movement in the first century Satan was countering every step of the spread of the Christian faith with his deceptive temptations
into the vain imaginations of men. The great Apostle Paul said that harmful influences were entering the
Christian church in his day: “The mystery of iniquity doth already work.” II Thess.2:7.
Paul discerned that the roots of apostasy were already taking hold and gave clear prophetic insight into the disgrace
that would become an essential part of the ruling Christian church, whose history, under the pope of Rome, bears witness to
the most gruesome acts carried out under the auspices of Christianity.
In opposition to this Biblical truth the churches
corporately tell the world, “We have no part of the Bible’s list of crimes against humanity.”—Author’s
paraphrase. This is the official view concerning their relationship with Bible prophecy.
What you are about to read logically and ethically will prove the churches claim of innocence to be forged from a spirit
of self-righteous pride: the one sin Christ openly rebuked among men (Mk.7:6-9), for repentance becomes a technical impossibility
when pride is exalted above the powers of reason (Jer.50:31). And where there is no repentance, there is
no separation from sin; and when there is no separation from sin, the Holy Spirit has no partnership with these individuals
(Is.59:2); for GOD can have no companionship with a man whose chosen course keeps him enslaved to his sins (Deut.4:24; Rom.2:13).
It is only through the power of the Spirit of GOD living in the human heart that fits a man to repent (Rom.2:4) and
receive the promised inheritance of everlasting life (Rom.8:11). All others will perish and cease to exist
forever—“they shall be as though they had never been” (Obadiah 16). Here are a few other
texts illustrating this fate as have already been reviewed: Gen.2:17; Ps.37:10,20,36; 146:4; Eccl.9:5,6,10; Eze.18:4; Mal.4:1-3;
Jn.3:16; Rev.20:9; 21:8.
The churches are blind to recognize that their
hypocrisy of defying the Holy Law of GOD is the greatest contribution to anarchy in any society. “We
are no longer bound by its precepts,” declare today’s theologians. “But all men are bound by our version
of religious law,” declare our leaders. This has ever been and will ever be the springboard to the
final display of religious tyranny ushering the Second Coming of Christ in the clouds of glory.
Our religious leaders are not solely responsible for the rampant sins among men. As the first
king of Israel, Saul, capitulated in a spirit of cowardice to the sinful demands of the people (I Sam.15:24), so our religious
leaders today succumb to a great extent the sinful demands of the common man: “Now go, write it before them in a table,
and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, lying children,
children that will not hear the law of the LORD: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us
right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the
Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.” Is.30:8-11. You will never bring
a man to salvation by trying to placate the sinfulness of his heart. All it does is embolden him against
the truth as it is “in Christ.” Historically, this soul-destroying
compromise with sin was the very foundation of the Vatican’s rise to power in the fourth century when they allowed the
pagan rulers to take their corrupted gospel and legislate it into civil law.
How
do you best sabotage Biblical truth? By standing between Scripture and those who desire its knowledge,
creating a detour through “the tradition of men.”
The Prophetic Investigation of Scripture
The following commentary of Revelation 13 will show that the focal point of Revelation’s prophecies
is the final kingdom of earth’s sinful history and how its adulterous relationship with traditions of pagan idolatry
will lead our world to total and utter ruin (Is.24; Jer.4:22-28, 25:30-38). This fact lies at the
heart of all future events ushering the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in the clouds of heaven.
VERSE BY VERSE COMMENTARY OF REVELATION 13
Rev. 13:1-10
1) "And I stood upon the sand
of the sea, and saw a beast [a voracious kingdom (Dan. 7:3)]
rise up out of the sea [representing "peoples,
and multitudes, and nations, and tongues" (Rev. 17:15)],
having seven heads
["The seven heads are seven mountains (Greek word same as hills)" (Rev. 17:9). Rome has always been known as "the
city on seven hills." (Various Encyclopedias)]
and ten horns [representing "ten
kings" who serve the beast (Rev. 17:12)],
and upon his horns ten crowns [rewards
for their subservience to the beast (II Tim. 2:5)],
and upon his heads the name of blasphemy
[Claiming attributes of Deity (Mk. 2:7); "profane and mocking use of GOD"—Webster's Dictionary].
2) And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard [moving
against her enemies with great speed as did Greece under Alexander the Great (Dan. 7:6)],
and his feet were as the feet of a bear [with massive power as Medo-Persia (Dan. 7:5)]
and his mouth as the mouth of a lion ["all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before
Him" as Babylon (Dan. 5:19; 7:4)]:
and the dragon [Satan, not the GOD of
heaven] gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
3) And I saw one of his heads
as it were wounded to death [when, in 1798, the French government commanded Napolean’s General, Berthier, to enter
Rome with a government decree removing all papal authority and arrest the pope, imprisoning him until his death];
and his deadly wound was healed [when, in 1929, the dictator, Mussolini, enacted a law restoring papal authority,
giving the pope civil rule once more]:
and all the world wondered after the beast
["The pope is the spiritual leader of the world."—Billy Graham "The pope is the best
hope we Baptists have."—Jerry Falwell. Everyone from Muslim leaders to Jewish Rabbis have followed suit].
4) And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast [by turning to
Satan for salvation because he allows the exercise of sin with all its lusts]:
and they
worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him [when he professes harmless
goals, and a message of GOD'S Love]?
5) And there was given unto him
a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies ["The church is above the Bible"—The
Catholic Record: casting reproach on GOD's Word: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of GOD;” “Seek ye out of the book of the LORD and read: no one of these shall fail.”
Matt.4:4; Isa.34:16];
and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months
[1260 prophetic days translate into 1260 literal years (Eze.4:6; Num.14:34): from the time of the
Roman Emperor, Justinian, whose decree began in 538, authorizing the Bishop (or pope) of Rome to wage war as head of the Christian
church; until 1798, the time just after the French Revolution when papal authority was removed, (also by government decree)].
6) And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name
[by removing Christ from the 2nd and 4th Commandments: the very ones showing Christ as the Provider
of "mercy" for sinful man in the 2nd Commandment (Ex.20:6); and as "The Creator," in the
4th Commandment, of which over 800 verses testify to be the leading attribute of our Savior (Ex.20:11): see also
Deut.5:15 which promises GOD’S ultimate deliverance through man’s obedience to the 4th Commandment],
and his tabernacle [the Holy Sanctuary in Heaven where "He (Jesus Christ) ever
liveth to make intercession for them" pleading His shed blood before the Father (Heb. 7:25)],
and them that dwell in heaven [the angelic hosts "sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs
of salvation" (Heb. 1:14)].
7) And it was given unto him to make war with
the saints [in which 50 million men, women, and children were murdered by authority of the pope, whose celebrations
and parades were held commemorating their slaughter (research the St. Bartholomew Massacre, as one of many examples: where
70,000 Protestants in France, who were promised by the king to be safe from Rome, were murdered in a fury of bloodshed beginning
at midnight and lasting several weeks, slaughtering men, women, children and elderly alike)],
and to overcome them [through tyranny in utter defiance of Christ’s explicit command (Lu.22:25,26)]:
and power was given him [by Satan (ver.4)] over all kindreds, and tongues, and
nations.
8) 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 [through unconscionable
violations to the laws of the Gospel of Christ (Rev. 22:15—KJV only)].
9)
If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10) He that leadeth into captivity
shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith
of the saints [“Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Rev. 14:12)]."
As you just read, the Bible gives the only proper
interpretation for its own symbolism, for "no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation." I Pet. 1:20.
Also, prophecy is always verified through its fulfillment in history; therefore, the study of the flow of History is imperative
to make a correct association with prophecy, just as in the book of Daniel. Today’s leading evangelists have removed
the history of popery from the prophetic record, in denial of the prophetic words of Christ: "But take ye heed; behold,
I have foretold you all things." Mk.13:23.
The second half of Revelation
13 is the prophecy of the United States of America, and her role as an accomplice with Rome in the exercise of religious tyranny
in the end of days, receiving the LORD’S title of condemnation: “The false prophet.”
Rev. 13:11-18
11) "And
I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth [which, in this timeline chronologically follows the first beast,
rising in a land largely unpopulated (“the earth”), in contrast to the first beast rising out of “the sea”
which represents "peoples, nations multitudes and tongues” (Rev. 17:5). The one great kingdom that has risen in
a largely unpopulated area since the removal of papal Rome from her secular domination in 1798 is the United States of America];
and he had two horns like a lamb [Republicanism and Liberty of conscience are uplifted
as the ruling concepts for government, forbidding any religious authoritarianism through the First Amendment to the Constitution],
and he spake as a dragon [continual exercise of hypocrisy by claiming to honor justice,
and mercy, while working through acts of oppression, to weaken the very fabric of our mutual liberties established through
the Constitution, ultimately leading society to full-blown religious tyranny].
12)
And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him [via the religious leaders restoring the spirit of Roman
Catholic tyranny and working to gain an absolute civil authority that Christ condemned and commanded should never exist (Mk.10:42-45)],
and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose
deadly wound was healed [The reestablishment of a church/state system of government under the auspices of the Vatican, legislating
laws enforcing the worship of GOD, thereby removing the religious freedoms from the Constitution as established by our Protestant
forefathers].
13) And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down
from heaven on the earth in the sight of men [through Satan’s power the leaders of apostasy cause fire to fall from
the sky burning up people and animals thereby securing more control over the people (Job 1:16; Matt. 24:23,24; II Cor. 11:13-15)],
14) And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles
which he had power to do in the sight of the beast [leading earth's population into a unanimous rebellion against GOD'S
Law and the Gospel of Christ (Is. 8:20; 34:16; I Jn. 2:3-6; 5:3)];
saying to them
that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast [by a national law, and from there
into international law, the violation of the Ten Commandments of GOD (Rev. 12:17; 22:14) as have already been dismissed by
papal Rome by the removal of the 2nd and 4th Commandments],
which
had the wound by a sword, and did live
[inflicted on the papacy by "a sword" of General Berthier in 1798.]
15)
And he [the church leadership of America]
had power to give life unto the image of the
beast [through demanding the legislation of laws enforcing the worship of GOD removing the 1st Amendment to the
Constitution],
that the image of the beast should both speak [with unrestrained
authority],
and cause [by enacting civil laws of tyranny]
that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed [where civil penalties increase,
leading to the death sentence. When the U.S. decrees death for the Commandment-keeping Christians,
they have, in the eyes of heaven, pronounced the same sentence on themselves (Gal.6:7). A swift destruction
awaits the population of earth (Lu.18:7,8).]
16) And he [Protestant America]
causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand [through their
actions of obeying the law of religious apostasy (Ps.94:20,21)], or in their foreheads [by accepting this
law through the intellect of the mind (Jer.3:3; Eze.3:8)]:
17) 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 [through
governmental confiscation of all legal holdings, forbidding any ability to provide life-support for family and friends (Eze.34:1-16)].
18) Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the
beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six
"Vicarius filii Dei" (or Vicar of Christ) is the Pontiffs official title of which
he himself claims. The numerical value of each of the letters of the pope's title, "Vicarius filii
Dei," adds up to exactly 666 in each of the Biblical languages of Hebrew, Greek and Latin; the same three languages used
on the placard posted on the Cross of Christ. This, in conjunction with the history of atrocities against Christians for 1260
years, as specified 7 times in prophecy (Dan. 7:25, 11:33, 12:7; Rev. 11:2, 12:6, 12:14, 13:5), committing the blasphemy of
claiming attributes of Deity, removing two Commandments from His Sacred Law (the 2nd and the 4th Commandments,
the ones pointing directly to Christ as Savior and Creator), and, removing over seventeen centuries of Christian history from
Bible prophecy—with all this, one's understanding becomes clear: the religious systems of Catholicism and Apostate
Protestantism are in the service of Satan, not Jesus Christ, and are "the beast" and "the false prophet"
of Revelation's uninterrupted history of GOD'S church from the days of the Apostles through the close of earth's
present history. Their mutual destruction is prophesied (Rev.19:20); and only those who disassociate themselves
from the sins of these two corrupt systems professing service to Jesus Christ will be spared the coming plagues that will
devastate the world before the LORD comes in power and glory (Rev.18:4)].
