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)].
