Bible Readings for the Home

Chapter 44

A Remarkable Symbol

At what time was Rome divided into ten parts?
Between the years 351 and 483 A.D.

After the ten horns had arisen, what was seen coming up among them?
"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." Daniel 7:8.

After speaking of the subjugation of the three powers by the "little horn," what comparison does he draw between the subduing power and the others?
"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." Daniel 7:24.

How was this power to use its authority?
"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." Daniel 7:25.
NOTE. - The pope calls himself "the vicar of Christ." Leo X blasphemously styled himself "The lion of the tribe of Judah." Leo XII allowed himself to be called "The Lord our God." Pope Martin V called himself "The most holy and most happy, who is the arbiter of heaven and the lord of the earth, the successor of St. Peter, the anointed of the Lord, the master of the universe, the father of kings, the light of the world."

How has the papacy worn out the saints?
By its relentless persecutions of Christians, having put to death more than fifty million during the period of its supremacy.
NOTE. - 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 orthodox Christians were slain in less than thirty years after the institution of the order of the Jesuits. The Duke of Alva 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." Scott's Church History. 

What change has the papacy sought to make in the law of God?
It has expunged the greater part of the second commandment, in order to establish the adoration of images, dividing the tenth to complete the number ten. It has also abolished the fourth commandment (as far as its power extends) by substituting the first day of the week for the seventh. See Catholic Catechisms; also "Plain Talk about the Protestantism of Today," page 213; "The Catholic Christian Instructed," chapt. 23; "A Sure Way to Find out the True Religion," pages 95, 96.

How long was the papacy to have power over the saints, times, and laws?
"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." Daniel 7:25.

Where is this expression of time found in the New Testament?
"And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." Revelation 12:14.

How is this same period again represented?
"And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." Revelation 12:6. (These days, being in symbolic prophecy, are themselves symbolic.)

What is the rule for reckoning symbolic days?
"Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel. Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year." Ezekiel 4:3-6. (See also Numbers 14:34).
NOTE. - "So Ezekiel 4:6, 'I have appointed thee each day for a year: where the prophet was symbolically to bear the iniquity of Israel as many days as they had sinned years. In this usage we find authority for interpreting days in prophecy as denoting years." George Bush, Prof: of Hebrew and Oriental Literature in New York City University, Notes on Numbers 14:34.

What event marked the close of this period?
In February, 1798, Berthier entered Rome at the head of the French army, and taking Pope Pius VI prisoner, established a republic in Rome. The pope died in exile the following year. For over two years there was no pope. See Chambers's Cyclopedia, art. Pius.

What was to take place before the dominion should be entirely taken away?
"But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end." Daniel 7:26.

Where in this chapter is this judgment first spoken of?
"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." Daniel 7:10.

How soon after this did the pope lose his temporal dominion?
In September, 1870, when Rome, no longer supported by the French, who had been defeated by the Germans, surrendered to Victor Emmanuel. Possession of the pope's dominion was formally taken Oct. 2, 1870. -See Chambers's Cyclopedia, art. Italy.

By what means is the beast to be destroyed?
"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." Daniel 7:11.

What is the "burning flame" that is to destroy the papacy?
"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." 2 Thessalonians 2:8.

THE 1260 DAY PROPHECY

A.D. 538 through A.D. 1798

THE PROPHECY OF DANIEL

"Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another." Daniel 7:2,3.

"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. 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." Daniel 7:7,8.

"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." Daniel 7:16. 

"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; 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. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;" Daniel 7:19-21.

"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." Daniel 7:25.

THE PROPHECY OF REVELATION

"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 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. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months." Revelation 13:1-5.

The Bible predicted that the terrible little horn power of Daniel 7 and 8 was to rule the world for 1260 years. It has been well-known for centuries that this little horn of Daniel 7 and the first beast of Revelation 13 symbolize the papacy. Also called the "man of sin" (2 Thessalonians 2:3,4), and the "antichrist" (1 John 4:3) , the papacy was definitely prophesied to have this ruling power for 1260 years. When did this predicted time span begin and when did it end? Read on.

THE AMAZING 1260 DAY
PROPHECY

Here is the amazing prophecy of the 1260 days; also called the "time, times, and dividing of time," and the "forty-two months."

A day stands for a year in Bible prophecy (Numbers 14:34, Ezekeil 4:6). A "time" in prophecy is the same as a year (Daniel 11: 13, margin and Revised Version). This time-span prophecy is first mentioned in Daniel 7:25, where we are told that it is the length of time that the terrible "little horn" power was to bear rule and destroy God's people. During that time it would also try to change God's Law: "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." Daniel 7:25.

This, in Hebrew, equals "a time, 2 times and half a time." Using the ancient reckoning of 360 days to a year, 360 + 180 + 720 = 1260. And since a day is equivalent to a year in Bible prophecy, this little horn power would rule for 1260 years. In Revelation 12:6 we are told that the persecution would continue for "a thousand two hundred and threescore days:" which is 1260 prophetic days, or years. (Also note Revelation 11:3).

The God of heaven gave this important prophecy in yet a third way: The little horn of Daniel 7 and 8 is the same as the first beast of Revelation 13: "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months." Revelation 13:5. (Compare Revelation 11:2.) Forty-two months equals 1260 days. And Revelation also calls this time prophecy the "time, and times, and half a time" (Revelation 12:14), just as Daniel does.

When did the little horn, symbolizing the papacy, have this rule? The decree of the emperor, Justinian, in A.D. 533, recognized the pope as the "head of all the holy churches" (Code of Justinian, Book 1, title 1, section 4). The overwhelming defeat of the Ostrogoths in the siege of Rome, just five years later (A.D. 538) was a death blow to the third of the three horns that were uprooted (see Daniel 7:8). With the year 538, then, begins the 1260 years of this prophecy of papal domination, which would extend to 1798. In that year as the Reign of Terror continued in the French Revolution and the Roman Catholic religion was set aside in France, the French army, under Berthier, entered Rome and took the pope prisoner. The date: February 10, 1798. The imprisoned pope died in exile the following year in Valence, France. A great cry was heard, "Catholicism is dead." The papacy had received the "deadly wound" of Revelation 13:3. But we are told that the wound is to be healed, and that the time is coming when all the world will "wonder after the beast." (Revelation 13:3).