Close up of the shield of Pope Gregory. That would be a dragon.
Here it is from further away.
Posted on 02/11/2011 2:25:06 PM PST by Armaggedon
While Rome's past abuses did bear striking similitude with the Biblical portrait of the Antichrist and the Great Whore, and thus earned it a vigorous plastering of damning reproaches that continue even to this very day, Rome does not have its root in Ishmael, does not have the power to erect a global empire, and is not capable of rising to prominence as a dictatorial state with global reach.
The greatest danger represented by the Roman church today is that it has become so saturated with mealy-mouthed leftist mush-mindedness that it just might self-align with a rising Islamist Antichrist out of sheer leftist, touchy-feely, multi-culturalist stupidity, and so be caught in a position that forces a choice between a revival of 14th century antagonism toward actual followers of Jesus Christ and organizational survival; to wit "Live dead, or die alive."
In that condition, however, I wot that no true followers of Christ presently keeping faith within Catholic churches throughout the world would long remain there, but would break fellowship, even to the point of tearing away entire congregations to follow after Christ rather than Rome. Such a break would — quite literally — suck the life out of the Roman church, and leave behind nothing more than an empty, and impotent shell incapable of anything beyond political posturing, and the promulgation of vapid opinions.
It remains to be seen whether Rome will take that track, or be emphatically, unshakably aligned with her risen LORD in the growing global revival. I pray that we see the latter.
well said.
and much thought out.
WIST(wish i said that)
teeman
In the book of the prophet Daniel, this false prophet is described as a king (the eleventh horn on a terrible beast) who would wage war against the Jews and would change the Law — including the calendar and the holidays (Daniel 7:8, 25).
Daniel 7
(8) I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots; and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.
(25) And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High; and he shall think to change the seasons and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.
Changing the Sabbath to Sun-day, in honor of the 'venerable day of the sun', changes YHWH's Law regarding the 4th Commandment. The papacy changed all that with their revision of the Julian calendar, which became the Gregorian calendar. Under the Gregorian calendar, the New Year is changed and is no longer in the spring as God commanded. (Changed the season) Passover was changed to Easter and of course the Sabbath was changed to SUN day. That, along with starting the "day" at midnight, made their "change of times and seasons" complete.
Let all judges and all city people and all tradesmen rest upon the venerable day of the sun. But let those dwelling in the country freely and with full liberty attend to the culture of their field; since it frequently happens that no other day is so fit for the sowing of grain or the planting of vines; hence, the favorable time should not be allowed to pass, lest the provisions of heaven be lost. Quoted in Blakely, p. 269
On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or for vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost. (Given the 7th day of March, Crispus and Constantine being consuls each of them for the second time [A.D. 321].) Source: Codex Justinianus, lib. 3, tit. 12, 3; trans. in Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol. 3 (5th ed.; New York: Scribner, 1902), p. 380, note 1.
For the Jews the 1st month is Nissan, (March/April-[spring]) and its Gregorian equivalent is January (winter). The Jewish calendar has certainly had no effect on their Sabbath. Unlike the changes via papal bulls, and decrees of Constanine and Pope Gregory where we get a change not only in when the New Year was to begin, but a change of the 4th Commandment. Not to mention the disappearance of Passover and the adoption of Astarte/Ishtar (Easter), a pagan holiday named for the pagan godess well known at the time.
The Gregorian Calendar is a revision of the Julian Calendar which was instituted in a papal bull by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. The reason for the calendar change was to correct for drift in the dates of signifigant religious observations, (primarily Easter/Astarte/Ishtar) and to prevent further drift in the dates.
The important effects of the change were:
Adoption of the new calendar was essentially immediate within Catholic countries. In the Protestant countries, where papal authority was neither recognized nor appreciated, adoption came more slowly. More information on the Gregorian calendar.
Exodus 12
1 And YHWH spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying:
2 'This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.
This was commanded by YHWH to Moses at the time of the Passover, which always comes in spring.
In accordance with its ancient beginnings (right from The Seven Days Of Creation when light was created after the darkness), Bible calendar days were, and are, determined to begin and end at sunset e.g "from evening to evening shall you keep your sabbath" (Leviticus 23:32 )
Genesis 1
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Leviticus 23
32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
Close up of the shield of Pope Gregory. That would be a dragon.
Here it is from further away.
Yup. That’s a great example of the similitude I noted.
When the real deal shows up, though, expect a hand-in-glove fit for every descriptive element in every single verse.
Antichrist will meet all of the following criteria:
He will rise from among ten leaders of the Fourth Beast, which will be the fourth of four great kingdoms. Eleventh, he will depose three predecessors. He will be little, which could mean physically small, or young, or it could be figurative; indicating inexperience or obscure origin. He will be brash and boastful. He will be a zealous anti-evangelist speaking out continually and vehemently against YHVH. He will wear down the saints; possibly meaning both in number (by turning some from faith, or taking their lives), and in capacity to answer his multitudinous accusations and lies about them. He will intend to change the “times” and “the law”. He will war against the saints and prevail for “time, times, and half a time.” YHVH will judge, and this ruler’s dominance will fade, then meet a sudden, final end.
One or more Popes may match some of these descriptors; none match all. None were The Antichrist; The Man of Sin.
But look yet further, and consider the Fourth Beast, itself. For Daniel describes it as “dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.”
You can stack every single abuse that has emanated out of every branch and twig of the Roman Catholic root, and you will not build a heap of horror to match the violence, persecution, and destruction of even one of the monumentally wicked rulers of Earth in the all the centuries since Daniel.
Hitler: all told, 42 million victims. Includes his atrocities, plus 28M civilian, and 14M military casualties in the European Theater of his war.
Stalin: most diligent researchers now agree between 20 and 30 million victims.
Mao: between 45 and 58 million victims.
None of the kingdoms led by these men were “the Fourth Best,” and aside their heaped up victims, the bloodshed of all Catholicism sits utterly overwhelmed.
Finally, at the end of the reign of the Eleventh Horn, the Fourth Beast is killed and utterly destroyed in the fire.
Rome hasn’t been on fire since Nero, and there are plenty of Catholics around to prove it wasn’t roasted to a crisp at any point during the ensuing years.
So, like I noted, “similitude” can be drawn between the Antichrist and some of the abuses of Rome, but “exactitude”; sameness in all things? No. Not even close.
He will rise from among ten leaders of the Fourth Beast, which will be the fourth of four great kingdoms.
Rome and its 10 Divisions The ten horns on the exceedingly dreadful beast represent ten kings. They are 1. Alemani (Germany), the 2. Franks (France), 3. Burgundians (Switzerland), the 4.Suevi (Portugal), the 5. Anglo-Saxons (Britian), the 6. Visigoths (Spain), The 7. Lombards (Italy), the 8. Vandals, 9. Ostrogoths, and 10. Heruli. The last three (the Vandals, Ostrogoths, and the Heruli) were destroyed by the Pope of Rome because they refused to become "Christians". The armies of Emperor Justinian, in cooperation with the Pope, thrust the Ostrogoths out of the city of Rome. They became extinct. In 538 AD the Pope took possession of the city after the Emperor decreed that the pope should be the head of all the Christian churches.
Eleventh, he will depose three predecessors.
Little Horn uproots Three of the ten horns on the terrible beast.
1. Vandals, 2. Ostrogoths, and 3. Heruli, did not believe in the Trinity, in 538 Emperor Justinian, in cooperation with the Pope, thrust the Ostrogoths out of the city of Rome. They have become extinct. In 538 AD the Pope took possession of the city after the Emperor decreed that he should be the head of all the Christian churches.
He will be little, which could mean physically small, or young, or it could be figurative; indicating inexperience or obscure origin.
Compared with other horns the little horn was diverse, or different, it was "STOUT" or great. It exercised more than political power. Its attention to religious issues characterizes this power as a combined religious and political system.
He will be brash and boastful. He will be a zealous anti-evangelist speaking out continually and vehemently against YHVH.
Someone or something that sets themselves up to replace YHWH is just that.
Antichrist doesn't appear in the Tanach. It appears in the NT.
1 John 4
2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
antichrist from the Greek
500 antichristos an-tee'-khris-tos from 473 and 5547; an opponent of the Messiah:--antichrist.
1) the adversary of the Messiah
anti from the Greek
473 anti an-tee' a primary particle; opposite, i.e. instead or because of (rarely in addition to):--for, in the room of. Often used in composition to denote contrast, requital, substitution, correspondence, etc.
1) over against, opposite to, before
2) for, instead of, in place of (something)
a) instead of
b) for
c) for that, because
d) wherefore, for this cause
The antichrist is an:
Messiah from the Hebrew
4899 mashiyach maw-shee'-akh from the root of 4886;
anointed; usually a consecrated person (as a king, priest, or saint);
specifically, the Messiah:--anointed, Messiah.
1) anointed, anointed one
a) of the Messiah, Messianic prince
b) of the king of Israel
c) of the high priest of Israel
d) of Cyrus
e) of the patriarchs as anointed kings
Now Christ from the Greek
5547 Christos khris-tos' from the root 5548;
anointed, i.e. the Messiah, an epithet of Jesus:--Christ.
Christ = "anointed"
1) Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God
2) anointed
Notice what IS MISSING? In the Greek, there are no other options given.
1 John 2
18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
The antichrist and other antichrists were already around when John wrote his epistle.
John makes perfectly clear that MANY antichrists had gone out FROM THEM (early believers) teaching false doctrine regarding Yehoshua. These "antichrists," or usurpers of the true Messiah, were promoting doctrines that presented a Christ that was in place of or instead of the TRUE Messiah. They were teaching a "replacement" Messiah.
1 John 4
6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
The "spirit of antichrist" is equated to a "spirit of error". The antichrist represents an error - false teaching - that was (and IS) being spread.
Antichrist = erroneous doctrine. Antichrist primarily represents a set of false teachings, not simply some future possible world religious/political figure, or something inserted under the skin. Those accepting the error promoted by the "spirit of error" or "spirit of antichrist" are unintentional victims of the spirit of antichrist.
So, the "antichrist" was (and is) a doctrine or set of doctrines that oppose the truth concerning The Messiah. This set of doctrines was already being spread in the latter part of the first century as false teachers betrayed the truth and went out promoting teachings that were (and are) in opposition to the TRUE Messiah.
He will wear down the saints; possibly meaning both in number (by turning some from faith, or taking their lives), and in capacity to answer his multitudinous accusations and lies about them.
Rome/Emperor/Pope did persecute them. The war of 70 AD.
He will intend to change the “times” and “the law”.
Already shown that one.
(Obedience is the test of true love for G-d. Adam and Eve disobeyed, and were kicked out of the Garden. Abraham obeyed and it was counted unto him as righteousness)26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
(G-d gives you us a choice)27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:
from the Greek
5480 charagma khar'-ag-mah from the same as 5482; a scratch or etching, i.e. stamp (as a badge of servitude), or scupltured figure (statue):--graven, mark.
1) a stamp, an imprinted mark
a) of the mark stamped on the forehead or the right hand as the badge of the followers of the Antichrist
b) the mark branded upon horses
2) thing carved, sculpture, graven work
a) of idolatrous images
The New Strong's Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words defines charagma as:
charagma, a scratch or etching, i.e. stamp (as a badge of servitude), or sculptured figure (statue):- graven, mark.
The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament states the following with regard to this Greek word:
charagma [mark, stamp]
Marking is common in antiquity (cf. slaves, and the branding of devotees with the marks of deities).
The Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains gives insight into the meaning of charagma when it states:
A strictly literal translation of ‘the mark of the beast’ might imply ‘a picture of the beast’ or ‘a mark made by the beast.’ A more satisfactory indication of the relationship between ‘mark’ and ‘beast’ would be ‘a mark showing one’s relationship to the beast’ or ‘a mark of loyalty to the beast’ or ‘a mark of the party of the beast.’ The mark is almost certainly a symbolic stamp or sign and is not to be taken literally as many blindly claim. This mark will be SYMBOLICALLY placed on - OR INSIDE - the forehead and/or right hand. The mark historically symbolizes servitude or allegiance to the one from whom the mark is received. The mark symbolizes the relationship existing between those that decide to receive it and the Beast (or his agents) from whom it is received. It shows the recipients of the mark to be loyal to the Beast and among his willful followers. The harlot of Revelation 17:5, historically and almost universally accepted as representing Rome and the evil Babylonian mystery religion that has continuously opposed the true faith, "bears on her forehead the mark of her true nature in a mysterious allusion to Babylon." One cannot "receive" something unless they "accept" it, which implies willingness. Thus, the mark is not forced, though there may be various levels of persuasion used. Ultimately, those that receive the mark do so of their own free will. In short, it is a spiritual mark, which exposes the hearts and minds of those receiving it. It shows to whom they willingly give their allegiance.
The plain sense makes perfect sense, so why exert such great efforts to conjure up another sense by introducing multiplied complexity into the situation? The text wasn't written to be deciphered by scholars and pointy-headed intellectuals; it was written to be sensible to common men, and women; people without the written word accessible to them; people without concordances, lexicons, and commentaries; people endowed with no more education than that given by The Spirit, Himself.
Brother, I could go on, in a point-by-point manner, but entertain great doubt as to the worth of such an effort. There isn't time to debate it. Let the matter be reveled to all by the Hand of God, Himself; acting as He has foretold by all the prophets.
The gospel will yet be spread to the last and furthest reaches of this sphere; perhaps in as little as the next decade it will be done.
There will be revival in the Earth; an explosion of salvation and the The Man of Sin will be revealed, and his False Prophet.
These two shall deceive all who have not received the love of the Truth, and there will be Great Apostasy, as many will turn aside in delusion and perish.
But the people who know their God will stand firm to the very end, and follow hard upon the heels of the resurrected dead as they rise to be gathered to Christ at the Seventh (last) trumpet, which announces His coming.
So, the end of the age will come even as revealed to John; and The Son of David will sit upon his father's throne at Jerusalem having dominion over all the Earth; ruling the nations with an iron scepter in righteousness and peace.
In that day, it will matter precious little how we thought things were going to happen; only that we remained steadfast in Truth despite all, and held fast to our faith to the utter end.
Revelation 17
8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
Yep, sometimes it is so clear, no explanation is necessary. :)
Have a good one! :)
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