Daniel Chapter 8 Pt 1

 This is a study of Daniel Chapter Eight verses 1-12 

READ Daniel 8:1 - 'In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even, unto I me Daniel, after that which appeared, unto me at the first.'

The first year of Belshazzar was B. C. 540. His third year, in which this vision was given, would consequently be 538. If Daniel was about twenty years of age when he was carried to Babylon in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, B. C. 606, he was at this time about eighty-eight years of age. The vision he speaks of as the one "which appeared unto him at the first," is doubtless the vision of the seventh chapter, which he had in the first year of Belshazzar.

READ Daniel 8:2 - 'And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.'

Shushan, as we learn from Prideaux,* was the metropolis of the province of Elam. This was in the hands of the Babylonians at that time, and there was a royal palace situated there. Daniel, going about the king's business, was there.

*The Old and New Testament connected in the history of the Jews and Neighboring Nations... By Humphrey Prideaux

READ Daniel 8:3,4 - 'Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns; and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. 4. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.'

Kingdoms of Media and Persia -- In verse 20 an interpretation of this symbol is given us in plain language-- "The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia." 

The two horns represented the two nationalities of which the empire consisted. The higher came up last. This represented the Persian element, which, from being at first simply an ally of the Medes, came to be the leading division of the empire.

The different directions in which the ram was seen pushing reveal the directions in which the Medes and Persians carried out their conquests. No worldly powers could defeat them while they were attaining the exalted position which God called them to attain. At that time the Medo-Persian kingdom went from India to Ethiopia, to the ends of the then known world, over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces.

READ Daniel 8:5-7 - 'And as I was considering, behold, a he-goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. 6. And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. 7. And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.'

Kingdom of Grecia "As I was considering," says the prophet. The thought that went into all he was shown had to be tremendous. You weren't used of God in this way, given visions and not contemplate them, that would be absurd wouldn't it?

Look at Verse 21- "And the rough goat is the king [or kingdom] of Grecia." 

Again we have the Bible itself supplying the meaning of the symbol used.

The goat came from the west. Grecia lay west of Persia. "On the face of the whole earth." He covered all the ground as he passed; that is, swept everything before him; he left nothing behind. He "touched not the ground." Such was the marvelous celerity of his movements that he did not seem to touch the ground, but to fly from point to point with the swiftness of the wind; the same feature is brought to view by the four wings of the leopard in the vision of chapter 7.

Alexander, the "Notable Horn." -- The notable horn between his eyes. This is explained in verse 21 to be the first king of the Macedonian empire. This king was Alexander the Great.

Verses 6 and 7 give a concise account of the overthrow of the Persian empire by Alexander. The contests between the Greeks and Persians are said to have been exceedingly furious; and some of the scenes as recorded in history are vividly brought to mind by the figure used in the prophecy, - a ram standing before the river, and the goat running unto him in the fury of his power. Alexander first vanquished the generals of Darius at the River Granicus in Phrygia; he next attacked and totally routed Darius at the passes of Issus in Cilicia, and afterward on the plains of Arbela in Syria. This last battle occurred B. C. 331, and marked the conclusion of the Persian empire, for by this event Alexander became complete master of the whole country. 

Ptolemy begins the reign of Alexander B. C. 332; but it was not till the battle of Arbela, the year following, that he became, according to Prideaux (Vol. 1, p. 378), " absolute lord of that empire to the utmost extent in which it was ever possessed by the Persian kings." On the eve of this engagement, Darius sent ten of his chief relatives to sue for peace; and upon their presenting their conditions to Alexander, he replied, " Tell your sovereign . . . that the world will not permit two suns nor two sovereigns! "

The language of verse 7 sets forth the completeness of the subjection of Medo-Persia to Alexander. The two horns were broken, and the ram was cast to the ground and stamped upon, Persia was subdued, the country ravaged, its armies cut to pieces and scattered, its cities plundered, and the royal city of Persepolis, the capital of the Persian empire, and even in its ruins one of the wonders of the world to the present day, was sacked and burned. Thus the ram had no power to stand before the goat, and there was none that could deliver him out of his hand.

READ Daniel 8:8- 'Therefore the he-goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.'

The Great Horn Broken.

The conqueror is greater than the conquered.

The ram, Medo-Persia, became great; the goat, Grecia, became very great. And when he was strong, the great horn was broken.

Human foresight and speculation would have said, When he becomes weak, his kingdom racked by rebellion, or paralyzed by luxury, then the horn will be broken, and the kingdom shattered. But Daniel saw it broken in the very prime of its strength and the height of its power, when every beholder would have exclaimed, Surely, the kingdom is established, and nothing can overthrow it. Thus it is often with the wicked. The horn of their strength is broken when they think they stand most firm.

Four Notable Horns Come Up. Alexander fell in the prime of life. After his death there arose much confusion among his followers respecting the succession. It was finally agreed, after a seven. days' contest, that his natural brother, Philip Aridaeus, should be declared king. By him, and Alexander's infant sons, Alexander Aegus and Hercules, the name and show of the Macedonian empire were for a time sustained; but all these persons were soon murdered; and the family of Alexander being then extinct, the chief commanders of the army, who had gone into different parts of the empire as governors of the provinces, assumed the title of kings. They thereupon fell to leaguing and warring with one another to such a decree that within the space of twenty-two years from Alexander's death, the number was reduced to - how many? Five ? - No. Three ? - No. Two ? - No. But four - just the number specified in the prophecy; for four notable horns were to come up toward the four winds of heaven in place of the great horn that was broken.

These were--(1) Cassander, who had Greece and the neighboring countries (2) Lysimachus, who had Asia Minor  3) Seleucus, who had Syria and Babylon, and from whom came the line of kings known as the " Seleucidae," so famous in history (4)Ptolemy, son of Lagus, who had Egypt, and from whom sprang the " Lagidae." These held dominion toward the four winds of heaven.

Cassander had the western parts; Lysimachus had the northern regions; Seleucus possessed the eastern countries; and Ptolemy had the southern portion of the empire. These four horns may therefore be named Macedonia, Thrace (which then included Asia Minor, and those parts lying on the Hellespont and Bosphorus), Syria, and Egypt.

READ Daniel 8:9-12- 'And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. 10. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.    11. Yea, be magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.    12. And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced and prospered.'

A Little Horn Comes Forth. A third power is here introduced into the prophecy. In the explanation which the angel gave to Daniel of these symbols, this one is not described in language so definite as that concerning Medo-Persia and Grecia. Hence a flood of wild conjecture is at once let loose. Had not the angel, in language which cannot be misunderstood, stated that Medo-Persia and Grecia were denoted by the ram and the he-goat, it is impossible to tell what applications men would have given us of those symbols. Probably they would have applied them to anything and everything but the right objects. Leave men a moment to their own judgment in the interpretation of prophecy, and we immediately have the most sublime exhibitions of human fancy.

There are two leading applications of the symbol now under consideration, which are all that need be noticed in these brief thoughts. The first is that the " little horn " here introduced denotes the Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes; the second, that it denotes the Roman power. It is an easy matter to test the claims of these two positions.

Does the Little Horn Denote Antiochus?

I. Does it mean Antiochus? If so, this king must fulfil the specifications of the prophecy? If he does not fulfil them, the application cannot be made to him. The little horn came out of one of the four horns of the goat. It was then a separate power, existing independently of, and distinct from, any of the horns of the goat. Was Antiochus such a power?

1.  Who was Antiochus? From the time that Seleucus made himself king over the Syrian portion of Alexander's empire, thus constituting the Syrian horn of the goat, until that country was conquered by the Romans, twenty-six kings ruled in succession over that territory. The eighth of these, in order, was Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus, then, was simply one of the twenty-six kings who constituted the Syrian horn of the goat. He was, for the time being, that horn. Hence he could not be at the same time a separate and independent power, or another and remarkable horn, as the little horn was.

If it were proper to apply the little horn to any one of these twenty-six Syrian kings, it should certainly be applied to the most powerful and illustrious of them all; but Antiochus Epiphanes did not by any means sustain this character. Although he took the name Epiphanes, that is, The Illustrious, he was illustrious only in name; for nothing, says Prideaux, on the authority of Polybius, Livy, and Diodorus Siculus, could be more alien to his true character; for, on account of his vile and extravagant folly, some thinking him a fool and others a madman, they changed his name of Epiphanes, " The Illustrious," into Epimanes, " The Madman."

3. Antiochus the Great, the father of Epiphanes, being terribly defeated in a war with the Romans, was enabled to procure peace only by the payment of a prodigious sum of money, and the surrender of a portion of his territory; and, as a pledge that he would faithfully adhere to the terms of the treaty, he was obliged to give hostages, among whom was this very Epiphanes, his son, who was carried to Rome. The Romans ever after maintained this ascendency.

4. The little horn waxed exceeding great; but this Antiochus did not wax exceeding great; on the contrary, he did not enlarge his dominion, except by some temporary conquests in Egypt, which he immediately relinquished when the Romans took the part of Ptolemy, and commanded him to desist from his designs in that quarter. The rage of his disappointed ambition he vented upon the unoffending Jews.

5. The little horn, in comparison with the powers that preceded it, was exceeding great. Persia is simply called great, though it reigned over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces.

Esther 1:1 'Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces)'

Grecia, being more extensive still, is called very great. Now the little horn, which waxed exceeding great, must surpass them both. How absurd, then, to apply this to Antiochus, who was obliged to abandon Egypt at the dictation of the Romans, to whom he paid enormous sums of money as tribute. The Religious Encyclopedia gives us this item of his history: "Finding his resources exhausted, he resolved to go into Persia to levy tribute, and collect large sums which he had agreed to pay the Romans."  It cannot take long for any one to decide the question which was the greater power, - the one which evacuated Egypt, or the one which commanded that evacuation; the one which exacted tribute, or the one which was compelled to pay it.

6. The little horn was to stand up against the Prince of princes. The Prince of princes here means, beyond controversy, Jesus Christ.

 Dan. 9:25 'Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times'

 Acts 3:15 'And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses'

 Rev. 1:5 'And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood'

But Antiochus died one hundred and sixty-four years before our Lord was born. The prophecy cannot, therefore, apply to him; for he does not fulfil the specifications in one single particular. The question may then be asked how any one has ever come to apply it to him. We answer, Romanists take that view to avoid the application of the prophecy to themselves; and many Protestants follow them, in order to oppose the doctrine that the second advent of Christ is now at hand.

The Little Horn Denotes Rome.

II. It has been an easy matter to show that the little horn does not denote Antiochus. It will be just as easy to show that it does denote Rome.

1. The field of vision here is substantially the same as that covered by Nebuchadnezzar's image of chapter 2, and Daniel's vision of chapter 7. And in both these prophetic delineations , we have found that the power which succeeded Grecia as the fourth great power, was Rome. The only natural inference would be that the little horn, the power which in this vision succeeds Grecia as an " exceeding great " power, is also Rome.

2. The little horn comes forth from one of the horns of the goat. How, it may be asked, can this be true of Rome? It is unnecessary to remind the reader that earthly governments are not introduced into prophecy till they become in some way connected with the people of God. Rome became connected with the Jews, the people of God at that time, by the famous Jewish League B. C. 161. 1 Maccabees 1:8; Josephus's Antiquities, book 12, chap. 10, see. 6; Prideaux, Vol. II, p. 166. But seven years before this, that is, in B. C. 168, Rome had conquered Macedonia, and made that country a part of its empire. Rome is therefore introduced into prophecy just as, from the conquered Macedonian horn of the goat, it is going forth to new conquests in other directions. It therefore appeared to the prophet, or may be properly spoken of in this prophecy, as coming forth from one of the horns of the goat.

3. The little horn waxed great toward the south. This was true of Rome. Egypt was made a province of the Roman empire B. C. 30, and continued such for some centuries.

4. The little horn waxed great toward the east. This also was true of Rome. Rome conquered Syria B. C. 65, and made it a province.

5. The little horn waxed great toward the pleasant land. So did Rome. Judea is called the pleasant land in many scriptures. The Romans made it a province of their empire, B. C. 63, and eventually destroyed the city and the temple, and scattered the Jews ovaer the face of the whole earth.

6.  The little horn waxed great even to the host of heaven. Rome did this also. The host of heaven, when used in a symbolic sense in reference to events transpiring upon the earth, must denote persons of illustrious character or exalted position. The great red dragon (Rev. 12:4) is said to have cast down a third part of the stars of heaven to the ground. The dragon is there interpreted to symbolize pagan Rome, and the stars it cast to the ground were Jewish rulers. Evidently it is the same power and the same work that is here brought to view, which again makes it necessary to apply this growing horn to Rome.

7. The little horn magnified himself even to the Prince of the host. Rome alone did this. In the interpretation (verse 25) this is called striding up against the Prince of princes. How clear an allusion to the crucifixion of our Lord under the jurisdiction of the Romans.

Rome in Two Aspects.

8.   By the little horn the daily sacrifice was taken away. This little horn must be understood to symbolize Rome in its entire history, including its two phases, pagan and papal. These two phases are elsewhere spoken of as the "daily " (sacrifice is a supplied word) and the " transgression of desolation;" the daily (desolation) signifying the pagan form, and the transgression of desolation, the papal. (See on verse 13.) In the actions ascribed to this power, sometimes one form is spoken of, sometimes the other. "By him" (the papal form) "the daily" (the pagan form) "was taken away." Pagan Rome was remodeled into papal Rome. And the place of his sanctuary, or worship, the city of Rome, was cast down. The seat of government was removed by Constantine in A. D. 330 to Constantinople. This same transaction is brought to view in Rev. 13:2, where it is said that the dragon, pagan Rome, gave to the beast, papal Rome, his seat, the city of Rome.

9. A host was given him (the little horn) against the daily. The barbarians that subverted the Roman empire in the changes, attritions, and transformations of those times, became converts to the Catholic faith, and the instruments of the dethronement of their former religion. Though conquering Rome politically, they were themselves vanquished religions by the theology of Rome, and became the perpetuators of the same empire in another phase. And this was brought about by reason of "transgression; " that is, by the working of the mystery of iniquity. The papacy is the most cunningly contrived, false ecclesiastical system ever devised; and it may be called a system of iniquity because it has committed its abominations and practiced its orgies of superstition in the garb, and under the pretense, of pure and undefiled religion.

10. The little horn cast the truth to the ground, and practiced and prospered. This describes, in few words, the work and career of the papacy. The truth is by it hideously caricatured; it is loaded with traditions; it is turned into mummery and superstition; it is cast down and obscured.

And this antichristian power has "practiced," - practiced its deceptions upon the people, practiced its schemes of cunning to carry out its own ends and aggrandize its own power.

And it has "prospered." It has made war with the saints, and prevailed against them. It has run its allotted career, and is soon to be broken without hand, to be given to the burning flame, and to perish in the consuming glories of the second appearing of our Lord.

Rome meets all the specifications of the prophecy. No other power does meet them. Hence Rome, and no other, is the power in question. And while the descriptions given in the word of God of the character of this monstrous system are fully met, the prophecies of its baleful history have been most strikingly and accurately fulfilled.

To be continued... 

Prophecy Puzzle.

 The prophecy truly does sound mysterious but when you're given the puzzle pieces and they fit into the puzzle, you'd be foolish to toss the pieces away and exclaim the puzzle cannot be solved. So many have done just this. They've read these words and have expected to understand as if they weren't prophetic at all. I was one of these people. I'd read these words and images of real beasts would pop up in my imagination. I picture that lion with wings, that bear with ribs in its mouth, the leopard ….  I PICTURED them just as most people do. The reality that right there just a few verses down we are told they represent kings/kingdoms should knock the vision of the beasts from our minds and replace them with those kingdoms. Only we have to look at history's big picture and take Babylon which is given to us, take Medo-Perisa, take Greece… and then we need to fill in the blanks with the history that followed. We need to take the pieces of the puzzle and change the strange figurative pictures into reality. We can't keep them in those beast images and shrug our shoulders, waiting for beasts to appear fitting the strange descriptions. We have to let the LORD guide us. We have to be willing to take the puzzle pieces given to us and examine them fitting them into the puzzle board. If we ignore those pieces because we didn't make them ourselves, then we deprive ourselves of the truth God has revealed to others using their talents. We must fit the pieces so that in our minds we are truly comprehended the TRUTH. We must take the puzzle apart that others have put together and do it over again so it's our understanding the Holy Spirit is enlightening. If we refuse, we are rejecting light, rejecting truth, and for what? Our own cherished beliefs and traditions? Our own beloved deceptions we've been led to believe are truths? God help us! God please help us! We need God so desperately and nothing but God! Please LORD see if there is any wicked ways in us and lead us in YOUR WAY EVERLASTING! Rip the blinders from our eyes! Let us only see TRUTH no matter how much it destroys something we think we love. If that something isn't YOU, then destroy it so we only have YOU.

Dan 7:1  In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters. 

((Daniel Dreams))

Dan 7:2  Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. 

((Four Winds = strife, political commotion, and war

Great Sea = peoples, and nations, and tongues))

Dan 7:3  And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.  ((Four kings/kingdoms))

Dan 7:4  The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.  ((Babylon))

Dan 7:5  And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. ((Medo-Persia))

Dan 7:6  After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.  ((Greece))

Dan 7:7  After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. ((Rome))

Dan 7:8  I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. ((Rome divided -pagan/papal))

Dan 7:9  I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. ((God))

Dan 7:10  A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. ((Judgment))

Dan 7:11  I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.  ((Little Horn-Beast powers will continue to the end of evil))

Dan 7:12  As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. ((Babylon/Medo-Persia/Greece visages of all continued to the last Kingdom))

Dan 7:13  I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 

Dan 7:14  And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. (( Jesus' everlasting kingdom ))

Dan 7:15  I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. 

Dan 7:16  I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. 

Dan 7:17  These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. 

Dan 7:18  But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. 

Dan 7:19  Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; 

Dan 7:20  And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. 

Dan 7:21  I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; 

Dan 7:22  Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. 

Dan 7:23  Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. 

Dan 7:24  And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. 

Dan 7:25  And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. 

Dan 7:26  But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 

Dan 7:27  And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. 

Dan 7:28  Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart. 

God's people will prevail. Daniel saw history as it has unfolded and his prophecies have come true one by one and nothing will keep the fulfillment of all his prophecies given him by God, from occurring just as predicted.

We have to trust in the Lord, trust in His word. His saints are persecuted throughout history, but there is a kingdom to come, a kingdom we look forward to.

Matthew 25:34 'Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world'

Matthew 6:19-21 'Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: {6:20} But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: {6:21} For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.'

Matthew 6:10 'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as [it is] in heaven.'

Daniel Chapter 7 Pt 7 - God Tells Us the Future.

 Truth in prophecy is so amazing when you comprehend the reality that our God knows the future and allowed us insight into this knowledge of His. No, we don't know what's going to happen to us personally in our lives, we aren't given individual prophecies. We aren't even given yearly prophecies. We've been given a BIG picture prophecy- in the 600's BC Daniel, a Biblical prophet, was given a prophecy that extended all the way to Jesus' Second Coming. Daniel was given a big picture and then that big picture was expounded on a few more times with more and more details. This amazing prophecy foretold Christ's ministry and death as the details are unfolded. God wants us to know our future. Not the future of our temporal day-to-day life, not the future of the day of our death, not the future that mankind strives to delve into the dark arts of Satan's world using what they term Psychic powers. God wants us to know our future AFTER our temporal life! We CAN know what happens after death. We can know so much if only we are willing to study the word of our LORD.

In this study of Daniel's prophecy we are now at a place where we are talking about the Fourth Beast and the Little Horn. If you've followed the studies to this point you know the Little Horn power represents the Papacy. We know there is a prophecy that extends to the year 1798. Here read this paragraph from yesterday-

'The Judgment Shall Sit.

After describing the terrible career of the little born, and stating that the saints should be given into his hand for 1260 years, bringing us down to 1798, verse 26 declares: "But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end." In verse 10 of the same chapter we have substantially the same expression relative to the judgment- " The judgment was set." It would seem consistent to suppose that the same judgment is referred to in both instances. But the sublime scene described in verse 10 is the opening of the investigative Judgment in the sanctuary in heaven, as will appear in remarks on Dan. 8: 14 and 9: 25 27. The opening of this judgment scene is located by the prophecy at the close of the great prophetic period of 2300 years, which terminated in 1844. Four years after this, in 1848, the great revolution which shook so many thrones in Europe, drove the pope also from his dominions. His restoration shortly after was through the force of foreign bayonets, by which alone he was upheld till his final loss of temporal power in 1870. The overthrow of the papacy in 1798 marked the conclusion of the prophetic period of 1260 years, and constituted the "deadly wound " prophesied in Rev. 13: 3, to come upon this power; but this deadly wound was to be "healed."'

If that makes little sense to you, then you need to really go back and read and the study to this point and not jump in the middle expecting to understand.

The continuation of today's study will prove beyond a doubt that the deadly wound was healed… more and more prophecy coming to pass as predicted. More and more truth for us to solidify in our hearts that we can know our Savior IS returning, and we can be HIS, we must be HIS through His love, His sacrifice, by HIS grace and mercy!

Take time- read the facts… know the truth.

*******

Rev_13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

Deadly Wound to be Healed.

In 1800 another pope was elected; his palace and temporal dominion were restored, and every prerogative except, as Mr. Croly says, that of a systematic persecutor, was again under his control; and thus the wound was healed. But since 1870, he has enjoyed no prestige as a temporal prince, among the nations of the earth.

Something that we've seen change ourselves over the years. With Pope John Paul II the Pope has truly regain prestige. There are many ambassadors to the Papacy where there never were before.

Updated history- The wound is truly well healed.

www. americanambassadors.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Publications.article&articleid=44

'United States-Vatican Diplomatic Relations: The Past and The Future

'The beginning of a new administration is a good opportunity to examine the diplomatic relations between the United States (US) and another state. This is also a good time to examine the relations between the United States and the Holy See.

The White House announced on April 6, 2001, that it was the intention of President George W. Bush to nominate Mr. James Nicholson as the next Ambassador of the United States to the Holy See. Mr. Nicholson, an alumnus of the Military Academy at West Point served as an officer in the armed forces. He subsequently graduated from law school and practiced law in the state of Colorado. In 1997, he was elected Chairman of the Republican National Committee and played a major role in the George W. Bush presidential campaign. He is a friend of the President and is well connected with the White House.

On January 10, 1984, when President Reagan announced the establishment of formal diplomatic relations with the Holy See, he appointed William A. Wilson, who had been serving as his personal representative to the Pope, as the first US Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Holy See. Ambassador Wilson was a well known business executive from California.

The second US Ambassador was Frank Shakespeare, who had been Director of the US Information Agency (USIA) and Ambassador to Portugal. He was also an activist in public affairs.

Dr. Thomas Patrick Melady, appointed by President George H. W. Bush as the third Ambassador, served from 1989 to 1993. He was a former University President, US Ambassador and an Assistant Secretary for Post Secondary Education.

President Clinton appointed in the spring of 1993, the Hon. Raymond Flynn, who was mayor of Boston and a former head of the Association of US urban mayors. The Hon. Corinne (Lindy) Boggs, widow of Hale Boggs, Speaker of the House, succeeded him in 1997. She also served for nine terms in the US Congress.

The appointment of national figures to this position started in the personal representative period. President Roosevelt appointed Myron Taylor, retired Chairman of the US Steel Corporation, as his personal representative in 1939. President Nixon appointed Henry Cabot Lodge and President Carter selected Robert F. Wagner, a former mayor of New York City.

Early History

In the first years of the United States, the new Republic had contacts with the Papal States. During that period, Papal authority extended over the territory of central Italy. However, the recognition by the United States did not include any perception of the Holy See and its unique international personality.

The consular relations established by the United States in March 1797 with the Papal States, whose capital was Rome, were reciprocated at the same consular level in 1826 when the Papal States established a consulate in New York City. President James Polk proposed in 1848 that the United States extend formal de jure recognition to the Papal States and appointed a Chargé d'Affaires. Mr. Jacob I. Martin presented his credentials to the Pope Pius IX in Rome on August 19, 1848. Mr. Martin was followed in a period of nineteen years by five other diplomats. They were: Lewis Cass, Jr., 1849-1858; John P. Stockton, 1858-1861; Alexander W. Randell, 1861-1862; Richard M. Blatchford, 1862-1863; and, Rufus King, 1863-1867.

Rufus King was the last minister resident to the Papal States. He left his post in August 1867. Beginning in that year, it would not have been possible to fund such a diplomatic post, as Congress in that year prohibited the financing of any diplomatic post to the Papal authority. Furthermore, with the incorporation of the Papal States into Italy (following Garibaldi's unification of Italy and virtual imprisonment of Pius IX), the United States would not have had a basis for its recognition, since control of territory was an intrinsic part of its original recognition of the Papal States. The international personality role of the Holy See and the unique role of the Pope himself were not part of the act of US recognition (at that time).

Mr. King's departure from Rome in 1867 initiated a long interregnum of seventy-two years when the United States did not have a diplomatic representative to the Pope. There was little or no indication that this absence of diplomatic contact would end until the Franklin Roosevelt Administration launched the concept of a "personal representative of the President." It is interesting to note that the long absence of diplomatic representation coincided with the period of strong anti-Catholicism in the United States. It was a time when an increasing number of immigrants from predominantly Catholic countries were arriving, and there was a strong negative reaction against the Irish, the French, the Italians, the Spanish and the Germans-all those from predominantly Catholic countries. The literature at the time was full of highly intemperate and in many cases vicious characterization of the leadership of the Catholic Church. It is hard to imagine that there could be any kind of approval by the US Congress for a diplomatic representative to the Pope under the circumstances of late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the United States.

The question of the sovereignty of the Vatican City State was cleared up in 1929. The Lateran Treaty of that year established that the Republic of Italy recognized the sovereignty of the Vatican City State.

Personal Representative to the Pope

President Roosevelt announced on December 24, 1939, that he intended to send a personal representative to the Pope. The same announcement also included the news that he wanted closer contacts with the leaders of the major faiths. Thus, on Christmas Eve 1939, he informed the President of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ and the President of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America that he would be maintaining contact with them on ways to promote peace.

The appointment to the Protestant and Jewish organizations were cover operations for the real plan that Roosevelt had in mind: US diplomatic contacts with the Vatican in Rome.

There was considerable opposition in the United States to this action of President Roosevelt. Since the appointment did not require Senate approval, there was no way to focus a national campaign against it. Some of the opposition was rooted in sincere concern about the constitutional implications of the appointment.

Few took the pains to point out that the recognition of other state leaders, who also had important roles as heads of Churches or religious leaders, such as (at that time) the Emperor of Japan, the King of Saudi Arabia, the Emperor of Ethiopia and the British Monarch did not prevent their recognition as leaders of sovereign states.

And there was the clear case of unabashed anti-Catholicism. In 1939, Catholics were not members of the American political power establishment. But President Roosevelt appreciated the geopolitical significance of the Vatican and pushed through his appointment of Myron Taylor, retired corporate leader and an Episcopal lay leader. President Roosevelt's special representative arrived in Rome when Nazi Germany was scoring victories on the war front in 1940.

Taylor in Rome

Mr. Taylor, once he arrived in Rome, was regarded as the US Ambassador. He served for ten years, which covered the World War II period. Taylor had easy access to the Pope and, of course, top Vatican officials. His office was a source of important information to the United States. He was able to influence the Holy See in 1945 to immediately recognize the dangers of the communist Soviet Union expansion.

Following the retirement of Myron Taylor, President Truman decided to open up a full Embassy of the United States to the Vatican. He nominated General Mark Clark as the US Ambassador in 1951.

Opposition to the nomination mounted quickly. The opposition did not focus on the credentials of General Clark but on the recognition of a "Church" by the US government. The Truman Administration did not do well in explaining the existence of the Vatican City State as a sovereign state.

The high emotional overtones of the opposition were sufficient to torpedo the attempt to establish full diplomatic relations between the United States and the Papal authority.

In 1952, President Truman decided not to summit the nomination of General Clark to the formal confirmation process. Another 18 years would pass before a US President would attempt to name any kind of diplomat to the Vatican.

President Nixon broke the long interregnum in 1969 and appointed Henry Cabot Lodge as his personal representative, and President Carter sent a former New York City mayor to the Vatican.

Action by President Reagan

Within months of President Reagan's inaugural in 1981, it became known that he was looking into the challenges of establishing full diplomatic relations with the Vatican. One of the first steps taken by President Reagan was to obtain the repeal of the 1868 law which prohibited the expenditure of funds for an Embassy to the Vatican. He was successful in obtaining the repeal. There was no real opposition, and this was interpreted as a favorable sign for those who favored full diplomatic relations.

President Reagan moved quickly and on January 10, 1984, announced that full diplomatic relations between the United States and the Vatican had been established. The President did this over the opposition of the office of the Secretary of State.

What a difference 32 years could make! In 1952 there were demonstrations and loud opposition. In 1984, there were few manifestations against the Vatican or Catholicism. The nomination of Ambassador Wilson was approved by a landslide vote.

Since the Senate vote in 1984, there has been no opposition in the Senate to subsequent nominations. Several attempts were made to challenge the establishment of diplomatic relations in the courts; they were unsuccessful.

When Ambassador Lindy Boggs, the very popular fifth US Ambassador, took leave of her duties as Ambassador on March 1, 2001, 174 states recognized the Holy See. The structures of US-Vatican diplomatic relations are safe and sound.

Opposition to the diplomatic role of the Holy See appeared on another front in 2000. A group of individuals and organizations attempted to influence the United Nations (UN) to reduce the status of the Observer Mission of the Holy See to that of a non-governmental organization (NGO). There was an avalanche of support for the Holy See to support its Observer status at the United Nations.

One of those speaking strongly in favor of the Holy See role at the UN was the Hon. George W. Bush, then the Governor of Texas. It is widely believed that the new Ambassador representing President George W. Bush, will begin his duties at the Vatican with a warm and welcoming reception.'

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And today in 2022- we know for a fact that the Papacy is held in very high regard. The Pope visited the USA in 2015, and He continues to be very visible on the political/religious world stage as a man of great influence. The system of the Papacy put into place is described without a doubt in prophetic history as a tool of Satan. To many those words would make me a heretic worthy of condemnation- those who are deceived. God help us all to study! Not just hold fast to our cherished beliefs and traditions! Study to know ONLY TRUTH!

God help us all!

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Yes. The deadly wound is healed.

Daniel Chapter 7 Pt 6

 Continuing with the explanation of the prophetic Fourth Beast in Daniel 7 - the Little Horn in particular.

Dan 7:25  And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. 

A Time and Times and the Dividing of Time

"And they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." The pronoun they embraces the saints, the times, and the laws just mentioned. How long a time were they to be given into the hands of this power? 

(The following is a rather detailed, fact-filled explanation for the meaning of a time and times and the dividing of time. Please take the time to read this simply because these are people more competent in language, unless you too are a Biblical expert.)

A time, as we have seen from chapter 4: 23, is one year; two times, the least that could be denoted by the plural, two years, and the dividing of time, or half a time (Sept., hmisu) half a year. Gesenius also gives " [the same in Chald.,] a half. Dan. 7: 25." 

We thus have three years and a half for the continuance of this power. 

The Hebrew, or rather the Chaldaic, word for time in the text before us, is iddan, which Gesenius defines thus: "Time. Spec. in prophetic language for a year. Dan. 7: 25, for a year, also two years and half a year; i. e., for three years and a half; comp. Jos. B. J. 1. 1. 1." 

We must now consider that we are in the midst of symbolic prophecy; hence in this measurement the time is not literal, but symbolic also. The inquiry then arises, How long a period is denoted by the three years and a half of prophetic time? The rule given us in the Bible is, that when a day is used as a symbol, it stands for a year. Eze. 4: 6; Num. 14: 34. 

Under the Hebrew word for day (yom), Gesenius has this remark: " 3. Sometimes [Yamim] marks a definite space of time; viz., a year; as also Syr. and Chald. [iddan] denotes both time and year; and as in English several words signifying time, weight, measure, are likewise used to denote certain specified times, weights, and measures." 

The ordinary Jewish year, which must be used as the basis of 'reckoning, contained three hundred and sixty days. 

Three years and a half contained twelve hundred and sixty days. 

As each day stands for a year, we have twelve hundred and sixty years for the continuation of the supremacy of this horn. 

Did the papacy possess dominion that length of time? The answer again is, Yes. 

The edict of the emperor Justinian, dated A. D. 533, made the bishop of Rome the head of all the churches. But this edict could not go into effect until the Arian 0strogoths, the last of the three horns that were plucked up to make room for the papacy, were driven from Rome; and this was not accomplished, as already shown, till A. D. 538.

The edict would have been of no effect had this latter event not been accomplished; hence from this latter year we are to reckon, as this was the earliest point where the saints were in reality in the hand of this power. 

From this point did the papacy hold supremacy for twelve hundred and sixty years? - Exactly. For 538 + 1260 = 1798; and in the year 1798, Berthier, with a French army, entered Rome, proclaimed a republic, took the pope prisoner, and for a time abolished the papacy. It has never since enjoyed the privileges and immunities which it possessed before. 

Note: This was true as to the writing from which this study is based upon made in 1897, however, the papacy has been fully re-established to its former power "the deadly wound" is now fully healed as of the reign Mussolini in Italy around 1929.] Thus again this power fulfils to the very letter the specifications of the prophecy, which proves beyond question that the application is correct. 

Also to note, while the Papacy today (2022) is powerful with influence, political and religious, it is not the same as it was before 1798. There was a time even in our country (the United States) that to be Catholic wasn't a great thing. Protestants fled to this country to get away from religious persecution. The Reformation in the 1500's and onward, resulting in the Protestant Religion- those protesting against Catholicism- evolving into many different denominations, but all opposed to Catholicism.  Today Catholicism has one of the largest number of believers- proving that the deadly wound dealt to the papacy was healed over. The papacy today is revered by many of ALL different faiths. 

Dan 7:26  But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 

The Judgment Shall Sit.

After describing the terrible career of the little born, and stating that the saints should be given into his hand for 1260 years, bringing us down to 1798, verse 26 declares: "But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end." In verse 10 of the same chapter we have substantially the same expression relative to the judgment- " The judgment was set." It would seem consistent to suppose that the same judgment is referred to in both instances. But the sublime scene described in verse 10 is the opening of the investigative Judgment in the sanctuary in heaven, as will appear in remarks on Dan. 8: 14 and 9: 25 27. The opening of this judgment scene is located by the prophecy at the close of the great prophetic period of 2300 years, which terminated in 1844. Four years after this, in 1848, the great revolution which shook so many thrones in Europe, drove the pope also from his dominions. His restoration shortly after was through the force of foreign bayonets, by which alone he was upheld till his final loss of temporal power in 1870. The overthrow of the papacy in 1798 marked the conclusion of the prophetic period of 1260 years, and constituted the "deadly wound " prophesied in Rev. 13: 3, to come upon this power; but this deadly wound was to be "healed."

To be continued….

Daniel Chapter 7 Pt 5

 The fourth beast is most troublesome because it is not like any other beast in existence. Lions, bears, leopards are all animals known to mankind, but this fourth beast defied description related to a known animal. Daniel needed to know more about this beast different from all others.

Teeth made of iron. Nails made of brass. It devoured and broke into pieces and even stamped on what was left of its prey. This beast had ten horns. But not forever. Three of those ten horns are displaced but a little horn that had eyes and a mouth that could speak. 

We need to know positively what this fourth beast represents and if you read yesterday's study you have a pretty good idea. 

We know Rome came up after Greece and Rome divided into ten kingdoms. More history proves three of those ten kingdom were displaced because they defied Papal Rome. IT'S HISTORY, not me making up nonsense to fit some silly theory.

Synopsis-(Their existence was prophesized - their reality came to pass) Babylon, Medes Persia, Greece, Rome (Pagan & Papal) 

All of this was prophesized! We aren't taking weird puzzle pieces and trying to force them into our puzzle to complete it. These puzzle pieces are falling into their proper places. 

Let's continue on and have the Bible speak for itself in so many ways, and prayerfully we are all guided only to truth!

(Little Horn) Remember this little horn is the horn on the fourth beast that displaced three of its ten horns- that fourth beast, that fourth kingdom that came into power after Greece was Rome. Rome has two distinct phases... Pagan and then Papal. 

Dan 7:25  And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. 

Dan 7:26  But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 

Dan 7:27  And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. 

Dan 7:28  Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart

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"He shall speak great words against the Most High." 

Has the papacy done this? Beyond a doubt it has.

Look at such self-approved titles of the pope as "Vicegerent of the Son of God," and "Lord God, the Pope."- See gloss on the Extravagantes of Pope John XXII, title 14, ch. 4, "Declaramus." Said Pope Nicholas to Emperor Michael, "The pope can never be bound or loosed by the secular power, since it is plain that he was called God by the pious prince Constantine; . . . and it is manifest that God can not be judged by man." - Decreti Prima Pars. Distinctio XCVI, Caput 8.

Is there need of bolder blasphemy than this?  Truly we cannot claim this is ANCIENT history and that it means nothing today. It means that no matter how ancient it is, it is history! It happened! Don't bury your head in the sand simply because the papacy today wants to pretend their past means nothing at all. If that past answers to prophetic history it cannot be tossed aside, it just can't.

Note also the adulation the popes have received from their followers without rebuke. Lord Anthony Pucci in the fifth Lateran, said to the pope, "The sight of thy divine majesty does not a little terrify me;,for I am not ignorant that all power both in heaven and in earth is given unto you; that the prophetic saying is fulfilled in you, 'All the kings of the earth shall worship him, and nations shall serve him.' " (See Oswald's Kingdom Which Shall Not Be Destroyed, pp. 97-99.) Again, Dr. Clarke, on verse 25, says: "'He shall speak as if he were God.' So St. Jerome quotes from Symmachus. To none can this apply so well or so fully as to the popes of Rome. They have assumed infallibility, which belongs only to God. They profess to forgive sins, which belongs only to God. They profess to open and shut heaven, which belongs only to God. They profess to be higher than all the kings of the earth, which belongs only to God. And they go beyond God in pretending to loose whole nations from their oath of allegiance to their kings, when such kings do not please them. And they go against God when they give indulgences for sin. This is the worst of all blasphemies."

Little Horn to "Wear Out the Saints of the Most High."

Has the papacy done this? Again, beyond a doubt it has. For the mere information of any student of church history, no answer need here be given. All know that for long years the papal church has pursued its relentless work against the true followers of God. Chapter after chapter might be given, would our limited space permit. Wars, crusades, massacres, inquisitions, and persecutions of all kinds, - these were their weapons of extinction.

Scott's Church History says: "No computation can reach the numbers who have been put to death in different ways, on account of their maintaining the profession of the gospel, and opposing the corruptions of the Church of Rome. A million of poor Waldenses perished in France; nine hundred thousand and orthodox Christians were slain in less than thirty years after the institution of the order of the Jesuits. The Duke boasted of having put to death in the Netherlands thirty-six thousand by the hand of the common executioner during the space of a few years. The Inquisition destroyed, by various tortures, one hundred and fifty thousand within thirty years. These are a few specimens, and but a few, of those which history has recorded. But the total amount will never be known till the earth shall disclose her blood, and no more cover her slain."

Commenting on the prophecy that the little horn should "wear out the saints of the Most High," Barnes, in his Notes on Dan. 7 : 25, says- " Can any one doubt that this is true of the papacy The Inquisition, the persecutions of the Waldenses, the ravages of the Duke of Alva, the fires of Smithfield, the tortures of Goa, - indeed, the whole history of the papacy, may be appealed to in proof that this is applicable to that power. If anything could have worn out the saints of the Most High, - could have cut them off from the earth so that evangelical religion would have become extinct, - it would have been the persecutions of the papal power. In the year 1208 a crusade was proclaimed by Pope Innocent III against the Waldenses and Albigenses, in which a million men perished. From the beginning of the order of Jesuits in the year 1540 to 1580, nine hundred thousand were destroyed. One hundred and fifty thousand perished by the Inquisition in thirty years. In the Low Countries fifty thousand persons were hanged, beheaded, burned, or buried alive, for the crime of heresy, within the space of thirty-eight years from the edict of Charles V against the Protestants to the peace of. Chateau Cambresis in 1559. Eighteen thousand suffered by the hand of the executioner in the space of five years and a half, during the administration of the Duke of Alva. Indeed, the slightest acquaintance with the history of the papacy will convince anyone that what is here said of ' making war with the saints' (verse 21), and ' wearing out the saints of the Most High' (verse 25), is strictly applicable to that power, and will accurately describe its history." (See Buck's Theological Dictionary, art., Persecutions; Oswald's Kingdom, etc., pp. 107 - 133; Dowling's History of Romanism; Fox's Book of Martyrs -, Charlotte Elizabeth's Martyrology; The Wars of the Huguenots; The Great Red Dragon, by Anthony Gavin, formerly one of the Roman Catholic priests of Saragossa, Spain; Histories of the Reformation, etc.)

To parry the force of this damaging testimony from all history, papists deny that the church has ever persecuted any one; it has been the secular power; the church has only passed decision upon the question of heresy, and then turned the offenders over to the civil power, to be dealt with according to the pleasure of the secular court. The impious hypocrisy of this claim is transparent enough to make it an absolute insult to common sense. In those days of persecution, what was the secular power? - Simply a tool in the hand of the church, and under its control, to do its bloody bidding. And when the church delivered its prisoners to the executioners to be destroyed, with fiendish mockery it made use of the following formula- "And we do leave thee to the secular arm, and to the power of the secular court; but at the same time do most earnestly beseech that court so to moderate its sentence as not to touch thy blood, nor to put thy life in any sort of danger." And then, as intended, the unfortunate victims of popish hate were immediately executed. - (Geddes's Tracts on Popery; View of the Court of Inquisition in Portugal, p. 446; Limborch, Vol. II, p. 289.)

But the false claims of papists in this respect have been flatly denied and disproved by one of their own standard writers, Cardinal Bellarmine, who was born in Tuscany in 1542, and who, after his death in 1621, came very near being placed in the calendar of saints on account of his great services in behalf of popery. This man, on one occasion, under the spur of controversy, betrayed himself into an admission of the real facts in the case. Luther having said that the church (meaning the true church) never burned heretics, Bellarmine, understanding it of the Romish Church, made answer- "This argument proves not the sentiment, but the ignorance or impudence of Luther; for as almost an infinite number were either burned or otherwise put to death, Luther either did not know it, and was therefore ignorant - or if he knew it, he was convicted of impudence and falsehood; for that heretics were often burned by the church, may be proved by adducing a few from many examples."

To show the relation of the secular power to the church, as held by Romanists, we quote the answer of the same writer to the argument that the only weapon committed to the church is " the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." To this he replied: "As the church has ecclesiastical and secular princes, who are her two arms, so she has two swords, the spiritual and material; and therefore when her right hand is unable to convert a heretic with the sword of the Spirit, she invokes the aid of the left hand, and coerces heretics with the material sword." In answer to the argument that the apostles never invoked the secular arm against heretics, he says, " The apostles did it not, because there was no Christian prince whom thy could call on for aid. But afterward, in Constantine's time, . . . the church called in the aid of the secular arm." - Dowling's History of Romanism, pp. 547, 548.

In corroboration of these facts, fifty million martyrs - this is the lowest computation made by any historian - will rise up in the judgment as witnesses against that church's bloody work.

Pagan Rome persecuted relentlessly the Christian church, and it is estimated that three million Christians perished in the first three centuries, yet it is said that the primitive Christians prayed for the continuance of imperial Rome; for they knew that when this form of government should cease, another far worse persecuting power would arise, which would literally, as this prophecy declares, "wear out the saints of the Most High." Pagan Rome could slay the infants, but spare the mothers; but papal Rome slew both mothers and infants together. No age, no sex, no condition in life., was exempt from her relentless rage. "When Herod died," says a forcible writer, "he went down to tbe grave with infamy; and earth had one murderer, one persecutor, less, and hell one victim more. 0 Rome! what will not be thy hell, and that of thy votaries, when thy judgment shall have come! "

Of note today- http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/history/world/wh0029.html

Issue: What role did the inquisition play in the Catholic Church?

Response: According to Pope John Paul II, "The Inquisition belongs to a tormented phase in the history of the Church, which . . . Christians [should] examine in a spirit of sincerity and open-mindedness."1 To assess the Inquisition properly, we must distinguish between the principle which undergirded it, and the actions of those responsible for implementing the principle. The principle - that the Church must guard the faith against deviations - is an obligation of divine law (cf. Mt. 18:18; 2 Tim. 1:14). The actions taken to implement the process sometimes were questionable and even deplorable. Yet, because of centuries of misinformation, we must take care to distinguish fact from fiction.

Assessing the Inquisition

The principle upon which the Inquisition was built is entirely defensible; indeed, Catholics everywhere have the duty to defend it. The Church was given by Christ Himself the mission of safeguarding the deposit of faith from distortion or corruption (cf. Mt. 28:16-20; Mk. 16:14-20; Jn. 21:15-19; 1 Thess. 2:13; Jude 3; Catechism, nos. 84-90, 172-75, 813-16).

To torture? To kill? To by any means get people to follow? No where in the Bible does Jesus ask anyone to get people to believe in that manner. So while the Catholics defend their position on the inquisition today by believing they were ordained to do so, it only further exemplifies the fact the papacy even today believes itself to be like the 'Most High'. They reaffirm what was prophetically foretold by Daniel thousands of years ago. How they distort the word of God to suit their purposes. It's more proof that indeed the papacy is that little horn speaking such great and blasphemous things.

Little Horn to "Think to Change Times and Laws." Beyond doubt another Papal action that fits perfectly.

What laws and whose ? Not the laws of other earthly governments; for it was nothing marvelous or strange for one power to change the laws of another, whenever it could bring such power under its dominion. Not human laws of any kind; for the little horn had power to change these so far as its jurisdiction extended; but the times and laws in question were such as this power should only think to change, but not be able to change. They are the laws of the same Being to whom the saints belong who are worn out by this power; namely, the laws of the Most High. And has the papacy attempted this? Yes, even this. It has, in its catechisms, expunged the second commandment of the decalogue to make way for its adoration of images. It has divided the tenth commandment to make up the number ten. And, more audacious than all! it has taken hold of the fourth commandment, torn from its place the Sabbath of Jehovah, the only memorial of the great God ever given to man, and erected in its place a rival institution to serve another purpose. See Catholic catechisms

To be continued….