EXAMINING THE EVIDENCE
At present, the Christian has
2000 years worth of church history with which to search for a fulfillment to the prophetic words spoken in Scripture. One would be a fool to ignore twenty centuries of Christianity in favour of a future fulfillment. In 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12 we read:
“Let no one in any way deceive you, for [the day of the Lord] will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he may be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.”
We have already seen that the early Christians
knew who the restrainer was, and as we have just examined above, they admitted that it was the Roman Empire. Early Christians understood that the man of sin would arise once Rome fell. The Roman Empire was considered to be an eternal empire and to speak ill fortunes of it would not bode well for you. So it is clear why Paul would not mention them by name in his letter, lest it bring upon him greater persecution than he was already facing merely for testifying about Jesus Christ. I also want to point out to you that
nowhere in this passage does it say the man of sin is
one man for all time, but simply calls this man “the man of lawlessness” and gives us a description of him. This passage also
does not say anything about Jesus returning
immediately or shortly after he is revealed, but tells us that at the appointed time He will “
slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming.”
Paul
never uses the term “temple of God” in reference to the physical Jewish temple, but in regard to Christians—the church. It is said that the man of sin rises from the apostasy and sits in the church, displaying himself as being God. Apostasy is a departure from the gospel, from the true faith, and from truth. You cannot be an apostate unless you once held to a claim of the true faith and have left it, or you hold to a perverted form of that faith—keeping parts, omitting parts, and changing parts. Both of these make an individual antichrist, in the same manner in which John spoke in his epistles.
Does anything in the above passage sound familiar in the least, brothers and sisters? Think Rome. The pope sits in the church claiming to be the vicar of Jesus Christ on this Earth. “Vicar” comes from the Latin meaning “substitute.” Do we have a substitute Jesus, brothers and sisters? No, we do not. We have the
real Jesus. There is no need for a substitute.
The Catholique Nationale, July 1895, said, “The pope is not only the representative of Jesus Christ, but
he is Jesus Christ himself hidden under a veil of flesh. Does the pope speak?
It is Jesus Christ who speaks” (emphasis supplied).
Blasphemy! Jesus does indeed have a representative here on Earth, but it is
not the pope. It is the Holy Spirit! “
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever” (
John 14:16, emphasis supplied); “
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (
John 14:26, emphasis supplied); “
When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me” (
John 15:26, emphasis supplied).
It is claimed by the Roman Catholic Church that the pope is infallible: “
889. In order to preserve the Church in the purity of the faith handed on by the apostles, Christ who is the Truth willed to confer on her a share in his own infallibility.
890. …Christ endowed the Church’s shepherds with the charism of infallibility in matters of faith and morals.
891. The Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office…”
1 The pope is said to be the infallible chief teacher [prophet], ruler [king], and supreme pontiff [high priest] of the entire church. A “pontiff” was a chief priest in ancient pagan Rome. As
you can see, the pope does indeed set himself up to be God. He claims the titles of prophet, priest, and king for himself; titles which belong to Jesus Christ alone. He calls himself the “holy father,” but Jesus said we have
one Father—and that is
not the pope. He claims he has the authority to forgive sins and to give that same power to others in his employ, but Scripture says God
alone can forgive sins. The Roman Catholic Church ascribes titles and characteristics of God the Father and God the Son to both the pope
and to the “virgin,” which evidences that “
They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him” (
Titus 1:16). Therefore, it can be said that the Catholics have received a “deluding influence” because they “believe what is false.” The Catholic Church is indeed antichrist.
The pope is
one man. Although the position has been filled by
many men, it is still
one man. Since the description of the pope is a dead ringer with the description of the man of sin, it would only be logical to conclude that this man of sin is the pope. The pope still sits in the same seat
to this day, and Jesus Christ has not yet returned. When He does return, it is clear that this man will be destroyed who sits in the place of God and is worshiped as if he were God. From as early as the 13th century (if not earlier), until the early 20th century, Christians have unanimously agreed that the pope was the man of sin. Early Protestant creeds acknowledged the pope as antichrist. The 1611 King James Bible, in the Dedicatory to King James, says (in modern English), “the zeal of your Majesty towards the house of GOD, does not slack or go backward, but is more and more kindled, manifesting itself abroad in the furthest parts of
Christendom, by writing in defense of the Truth, (which has given such a blow unto that man of Sin, as will not be healed).”
2 These translators identified the pope as the man of sin from 2 Thessalonians 2. Even Futurists will admit that the “harlot” of Revelation 17 is the Catholic Church. Preterists, on the other hand, believe that the man of sin was Nero (but then again they believe everything in the Bible, including Jesus’ return, was fulfilled prior to 70 A.D.).
But this is only a single passage, so let us look at another passage; let us look at Revelation 17:
And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I shall show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.” And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, and upon her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth.” And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered greatly. And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I shall tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that you saw was and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth will wonder, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. And the beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. These have one purpose and they give their power and authority to the beast. These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.” And he said to me, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God should be fulfilled. And the woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
The angel interprets what John was seeing. We have already established that the symbol “beast” is never a kingdom apart from a man. The symbol “horn” represents kings (
Dan. 7:24, Rev. 17:12). The angel gave two meanings to the seven heads: it is seven hills or mountains on which the woman sits (
v.9); and it is also seven kings, which the angel informs John that five have already fallen, one currently is, and the seventh is yet to come. The sixth king was reigning during John’s lifetime. The seventh king would reign prior to the appearance of the “man of sin,” although for a short time (
v.10), since we are told that the beast is an eighth king (
v.11) that belongs to the seven and will eventually go to its destruction at the return of Jesus Christ.
Matthew Henry and Matthew Poole comment saying that these refer to the different sorts of governments, which are: kings, consuls, tribunes, decemviri, dictators, emperors pagan, and emperors Christian; saying that the papacy makes the eighth government, which sets up idolatry again. I confess that at present I am unsure of what this refers to, but know for a fact that the sixth
was in place during John’s lifetime, as the angel told him.
Some commentators, regarding verse 9, start commenting on how “mountains” are symbolic of kingdoms in the Old Testament (e.g.
Isa. 2:2; Jer. 51:25; Ezek. 35:3; Dan. 2:35, 45; Zech. 4:7). While that may be, such an explanation seems utterly ridiculous to me considering the angel has just interpreted the “seven heads” as being “seven mountains.” Why would the angel interpret a symbolic image with another symbolic image? That seems to defeat the purpose of interpretation.
The angel interprets the “many waters” to be “
peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues” (
v.15), and the “harlot, woman” to be “
the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth” (
v.18). In the Old Testament, Israel was typified as a harlot for her illicit identity with strange and foreign political powers (
Ezek. 16:15-63). It is not unusual in the Bible for idolatrous or apostate cities to be called harlots (
Isa. 1:21; Ezek. 23:2). The woman in Revelation 17 could only be considered as a harlot if, like Israel, her primary calling is religious. So, it should be noted that the “woman” in this passage is contrasted against the “woman” of Revelation 12, which is the church. Brothers and sisters, Rome has been drunk with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus, just like the woman in verse 6, having burned at the stake those saints who translated the Bible into common language for the common people and would not submit to her atrocious apostasy and idolatry. Rome sits on seven hills, just like the woman in verse 9. Rome sits over “peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues,” just like the harlot in verse 15. Rome reigned over the kings of the Earth then, just like the woman in verse 18, and still reigns over kings of the Earth now.
During the eleventh century, Emperor Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII opposed each other. Gregory excommunicated Henry from the church and threatened to depose him if he did not repent. When Henry felt that he would lose his kingdom, he decided to submit to the pope. He traveled to Italy and the pope made him stand outside in the snow for
three days!
3 If you read up on your history, you will see that the Church of Rome did indeed rule over the kings of the Earth. It is a fact substantiated by history that cannot be ignored or refuted. The pope claims absolute authority over not only all Christians, but the entire world including civil governments and non-Christian religions. Whenever possible, the pope has exercised this authority without mercy. History proves without contest that whenever and wherever the pope can rule, he
will rule. The number of martyrs under papal persecutions far outnumbers those of the early Christians under pagan Rome.
Thrice in Revelation 17 it says that the beast “was and is not” (
Rev. 17:8, 11) adding twice that it is yet to come (
v.8). The angel tells John that “
the beast which was and is not” is also an eighth king that belongs to the seven kings (
v.11). It is this eighth king that shall receive a mortal wound. Some have suggested that the beast “is not” at the time of John’s writing, which is an unrealistic interpretation. Why? Because the angel told John that “five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while” (
v.10). The beast is an eighth
belonging to the seven, which is to come
after the seventh, so it
cannot possibly refer to the time of John’s writing.
Revelation 13:15 says that the image of the beast should “
cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.” Revelation 13:17 says that “
no one should be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.” Here we have control over life and control over commerce, all of which center around one’s worship. Worship is involved with this prophecy. Whatever political power the “man of sin” may have, he is a religious figure who presents himself as God within the temple of God, which is the church. Can we find such a thing having taken place in history? If we consider the historical realities of the Crusades and the Inquisition, all of which were
Catholic—
not “Christian” (they were under the guise of Christianity but were contradictory to what Christianity teaches), we certainly can.
The image of the beast should “
cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (
Rev. 13:15). The spirit and practice of the Inquisition spanned from the twelfth to the nineteenth centuries wherein the Church of Rome held sway over the bodies and souls of men. According to Catholic authorities, the purpose of the Inquisition was: “To discover and suppress heresy and to punish heretics... the relapsed heretics who were found guilty were turned over to the civil government... The fact that secular law prescribed death must be understood in the light of those days when heresy was anarchy and treason.”
4 During those times, any view that was opposed to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church was considered treason and was worthy of the death penalty, exactly as Jesus had predicted in Revelation 13. The various punishments that the Church of Rome would employ were execution via burning at the stake or strangulation, short or perpetual imprisonment, exile, and confiscation of property (similar to what we read about in Muslim countries today when someone converts to Christianity). Individuals who did not worship in accordance to the dictates of the Roman Catholic Church were subject to the death penalty, which is evident from these prophecies. The fulfillment of these prophecies is evident from all historical books describing the events of those times. During the Crusades and the Inquisition, the motto of the Roman Catholic Church could have been, “Convert, or die by the sword,” a similar motto which Islam practices today.
“
No one should be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name” (
Rev. 13:17). Monsignor Philip Hughes, in regard to Canon 27 of the Third Lateran Council held in 1179, wrote: “There is a long and very detailed decree about the restraint of heretics... Both the heretics and those who protect them are excommunicated; no one is to give them shelter, or allow them in his territory, or to do business with them.”
5 Here we have an official law regarding economic repression straight out of the Roman Catholic Church stating that nobody was “to do business” with any individual whom the Church of Rome deemed to be a heretic. Could you ask for a more precise fulfillment?
Simon Kistemaker offers this parallel between the two witnesses and the second beast:
| Two Witnesses |
Second Beast |
- Prophets (11:10)
- Perform signs (11:6)
- Receive authority from God (11:3)
- Torment the inhabitants of the earth (11:10)
- Two olive trees; lamps (11:4)
- Breath of life from God (11:11)
|
- False prophet (16:13; 19:20; 20:10)
- Perform signs (13:13, 14; 19:20)
- Receives authority from the first beast (13:12)
- Deceives the inhabitants of the earth (13:14)
- Two horns (13:11)
- Breathes into the image of first beast (13:15) 6
|
To be continued...
1Catechism of the Catholic Church: Revised in Accordance with the Official Latin Text Promulgated by Pope John Paul II, 235.
2The Holy Bible 1611 Edition, 56.
3For a full recollection of the event, see B. K. Kuiper, The Church in History, 109-115; Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, 5:47-59.
4John A. Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary, 280.
5Mgr. Philip Hughes, The Church in Crisis: A History of the General Councils, 325-1870, posted on <http://www.christusrex.org> and several other Catholic websites.
6Hendriksen and Kistemaker, New Testament Commentary, 12:336.
In 1950, paleontologists stuck a skull on a skeletal structure that was found some 400 miles away and called it Brontosaurus. In 1978, after a complete skeleton (including the skull) was found in Nebraska, scientists realized that they had placed the wrong head on this dinosaur. Consequently, they had to admit that there never was such a creature as Brontosaurus and have since replaced it with Apatosaurus. What is truly astounding is that the Acambaro Tribe got the dimensions correct thousands of years before we did in 1978.
