Daniel 7 - Gentiles are wild beasts

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Gentile nature is to kill and conquer and dominate

DANIEL 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.

Winds speak of war and strife. This is the world's state due to Gentile aggression and one country's desire to conquer and subdue other countries.

The Gentile desire of one person to dominate others in politics, religion, and money.

"Heaven" is the spiritual dimension.

So this vision will indicate the spiritual nature of these battles between the nations. The spiritual battles go on unseen, behind the scenes. We only see their physical manifestation. Religious people seek to dominate others. This ended up as competitive Christianity with each church claiming to be better than the other churches. Yet not a single end-time prophecy or parable says anything good about any end-time church.

The spirit that motivates the ambitions of the Gentile nations' power struggles and church competitiveness is ugly.

DANIEL 7:3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from one another

The sea represents the restless masses of people swept around by the currents of fashion, opinion, tradition, and personal ambitions.

Satan desires to rule the earth. He had to learn how to achieve this goal.

Four heathen nations were able to set up dominant kingdoms that enabled Satan to develop some of the dangerous and effective religious ideas of Nimrod. Nimrod, the hunter of souls with his deadly bow of religious deception and his arrows of lies. Deception is thus a bowman without an arrow.

JEREMIAH 9:8    Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit:

GENESIS 10:9   He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said,

Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.

:10   And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel,

and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

They put the quotes of this great man before the Lord. What Nimrod said, in order to explain the Mysteries, was more important than what God said.

"I have a quote" replaced "It is written".

Nimrod began the world's first kingdom which forced a group of people to live under Nimrod's domination. But the kingdom did not last too long. Satan had much to learn before he could set up a worldwide kingdom.

The Babylonian Mysteries drifted on unnoticed until Babylon emerged as the strongest nation in the Middle East. The real danger of Babylon lay in Nimrod's evil "mystery religion" that lived on with the Babylonian priesthood and its High Priest called the Pontiff who claimed to be the successor of Nimrod. This gave the Pontiff much authority amongst the heathen nations where Nimrod was regarded as the Real Deal. These Mysteries of Babylon were guarded by the many antichrist spirits that would later undermine the church. Thus Daniel was following them as they moved from Babylon in the East to the West, ending in Rome.

The Babylonian Mysteries had a priesthood whose aim was eventually to elevate a man who could stand on earth in the place of the gods until this uplifted man became a god himself.

Four kingdoms meant continuity was a problem. A strong kingdom grows weak and gets overthrown. That was the biggest problem that Satan had to learn how to solve in order to set up a worldwide religious and political Empire. These four kingdoms were an effective learning curve for him so that he could finally launch his masterpiece, the Roman Catholic Church. It took him a long time to realize that conquering the earth was not possible as a physical kingdom. He had to do it as a church spiritual power and a Big Business money power. Leaving it to other dictators to provide the military power.

The problem of succession always loomed large in history.

A talented leader is followed by a far less talented son. In the long term, this is fatal.

Daniel first saw these four kingdoms, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome, as a man's image.

Symbolizing Satan's desire to elevate some powerful man to the Godhead who speaks as the Voice of God.

606 - 539 BC  Babylon was the head of gold.

The superman Nebuchadnezzar built up the head of gold with its brilliant Mysteries of Babylon. Much wealth built up the prestige of the Pontiff. But his grandson Belshazzar was a drunken failure. The glorious start did not last long. But Satan was learning. His final church needed wealth (the head of gold) to spread these wrong ideas. The Vatican is the world's wealthiest organization.

539 - 331  BC  Persia the silver arms and chest.

The superman Cyrus conquered many nations and then built up the world's biggest Empire. A ruthless centralized organization was set up to run this massive Empire. The crushing power of organization made slaves of the conquered nations.  The next important lesson was learned. The Vatican would finally be set up as the nerve centre to ruthlessly control 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide by keeping them away from the King James Bible.

But even the very strong Persian Empire could not withstand the greatest military genius that the West ever produced, Alexander the Great.

The problem of succession. Either the son was a pale imitation of a talented father or else there was a far more talented person, like Alexander the Greek, outside the system who posed an effective military threat. So the Greeks were able to conquer the Persians.

331 - 146  BC  Greece the belly and thighs of brass.

Superman Alexander the Great was such a successful fighter that when he conquered Egypt he called himself the son of god. When he conquered Afghanistan by means of ruthless ethnic cleansing then he called himself god. He was dead within 4 years because Jesus had a ministry of fewer than 4 years. If you want to be God, then you have to work fast. Only Jesus managed the ministry of God on earth in such a short time. Thus only Jesus was truly God.

But Alexander introduced to the West the idea of worshiping a man as a god. The Greeks developed philosophy which made them brilliant in defense of errors. Thus unscriptural ideas like Trinity, Christmas, and Good Friday would later undermine the church and enshrine error.

146 BC - 476 AD  Rome was the two legs of iron,  the Western and Eastern Empires.

Rome ruled by force what it captured with a blood-soaked sword. They reduced areas to a wilderness and then called it peace.

Opposition was ruthlessly eliminated as they greedily grasped taxes from the people.

The metals grew harder but lost their value.

This describes us, Gentiles. In the pursuit of our greedy ambitions, our natures become harder, and we lose our human values.

But pagan Rome reached the limits of how big an Empire it could build. It was then killed by the barbarians but resurrected to power on the ruins of the pagan Roman Empire as the Roman Catholic Church.

Satan began a new learning curve. How to develop a church that could rule the world. The tiny Vatican, the world's smallest country, would rule the biggest church of 1.4 billion Catholics.

In this second vision, Daniel saw the same four kingdoms as vicious and dangerous beasts. This illustrates the savage and violent spiritual nature of the Gentile kingdoms.

The nature of the serpent beast was introduced into the human race at Eden, through Eve.

She was punished for being pregnant by the serpent. If Adam, her lawful husband, was the father of the child Cain then God could not punish her for being pregnant.

Look at what God said as to why He punished her. She was pregnant!

GENESIS 3:16    Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception;

Cain was a murderer who killed his brother Abel and then became the only person in history who tried to lie to God.

"Am I my brother's keeper?"  Claiming he did not know where his brother was.

Now Daniel sees that this vicious urge to kill and conquer and dominate is what motivates the Gentile nations.

DANIEL 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.

The first kingdom was Babylon, which lay between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, which corresponds to present-day Iraq. The Mediterranean sea, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf are shown in blue on this map. The Empire of Babylon is shown in green on this map.

Babylon Pontiff flies to heaven taking the place of God

Satan always wanted some man, a Pontiff, as the infallible "Voice of the gods" that people would listen to rather than the Scriptures that are the real Voice of God.

63-0630   THE  THIRD  EXODUS

for they can hear plainly the God's Voice, calling, through His Word

...  Listen to the Bible, the Voice of God calling to you in this day.

Someone who could fly to heaven and then return

to stand on the earth in the place of their gods.

It’s the all too common wrong habit of projecting God into human figures in order to boost their authority to divine status and quell any opposition to their views. After all, who can argue with God?

This involves elevating a man to the Godhead.

In AD 382 Bishop Damasus of Rome was called Pontiff by the Roman Emperor Theodosius. That title remains to this day.

The Pope was declared to be infallible in 1870.

His first title is Bishop of Rome.

His second title is "Vicarius Christi". In place of Christ.

How did Satan successfully get these three characteristics of Mystery Babylon into the church?

Daniel sets out to trace this slippery "trail of the serpent" from ancient Babylon to the modern-day Vatican City.

Wings represent a religious priesthood that can fly up to heaven and speak as the Voice of the gods. You cannot argue with these religious leaders, you must just obey them. Or else.

The Babylonian priesthood were the successors of Nimrod, the original rebel against God.

Their High Priest was the Pontiff.

Their aim was to combine in one man both king and Pontiff.

In Nebuchadnezzar, they succeeded according to this inscription of his.

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,

the prince exalted, the favorite of Marduk,

the pontiff supreme,

the beloved of Nabu, the serene, the possessor of wisdom, who the way of their godhead regardeth, who feareth their lordship, the servant unwearied, . . . the wise, the prayerful, the maintainer of Esagilla and Ezida, the chiefest son of Nabupalassar, king of Babylon, am I.

The lion is the king of the beasts.

Nebuchadnezzar was the powerful, charismatic warlord who conquered the territory around Babylonia. He built up the city of Babylon, in Babylonia (the Empire of Babylon), into the world's greatest city and trade centre. We Gentiles are fooled into thinking that power, importance, wealth, and big impressive buildings are what life is all about.

Babylon was symbolized as a golden head and a vicious lion.

Golden but deadly. This is the lure of false religion.

Wings enable a bird to fly into the air and symbolize going up into heaven to obtain the Will of the gods.

Thus wings represent the link between heaven and earth. The eagle is the king of the birds and flies higher than most other birds.

The winged lion is thus the political king on land (the lion) and also the spiritual pagan high priest or Pontiff of the air (the eagle) as he could fly higher and get closer to heaven so that he could stand "in place of" the gods and speak as the Voice of the gods.

This combined in one man the roles of political warlord or king of the state and spiritual high priest or Pontiff of the religious community (that today we would call the church).

Thus, the spirit of Babylon fuses together the church and the state.

Politics and religion, which produce a deadly dance of death, were combined in one man in Babylon.

One man, Nebuchadnezzar, was both king and High Priest of the Babylonian Mysteries. One man ruled people politically by telling them how to live as well as ruling them spiritually by telling them what to believe.

This is far too much power for any man to have over another.

This is a warning against ministers of the Gospel who get involved in politics.

Since this is the nature of the Mystery Babylonian religion, we realize that the Babylonian religion opposes Truth.

In the Old Testament, God never allowed a king to perform the functions of a priest. Church and state are supposed to remain separate. Wings on a lion are unnatural. Thus it is a perversion to combine religious and political power in one person.

But look at one of the old flags of Italy. It shows a winged lion with a sword or dagger (to kill) and a godly halo.

This represents a holy killer—a religious murderer.

Think of the "Christians" that the Popes inspired to go on the Crusades. They murdered, plundered, and raped in the name of God. Unspeakable outrages marred the whole hideous history of the Crusades. And the Popes assured them that that was the way to salvation.

Many wore a red cross on their shields (a red cross is also shown in the flag), and almost all wore a red cross on the shoulders of the tunic that they wore over their hearts. Unfortunately, the cross outside their hearts could not hide the devil that was in their hearts. These crusaders were simply religious jihadists. Killing in the name of God. This was real religious perversion as their motive was to secure loot and land.

And this generated the revenge of the extremist Muslim terror jihadists of today. They also think that killing and robbing are the way to salvation.

Now, look at the badge of Pope John 23 ( Ruled from 1410 -1415 AD ). It also has a winged lion.

So by their own admission, the winged lion of Babylonian religious error found its way into Italy and into the papacy. At least we know where it is now.

When three Hebrews refused to believe in bowing down to a graven image, Nebuchadnezzar tried to kill them in the fiery furnace.

The first Gentile kingdom forced people to worship the image of a holy man.

The last Gentile church age will force people to worship a holy man. Either the Pope or William Branham who is now, wrongly, claimed by his followers to be the Voice of God and as such they pretend that he is Infallible and his quotes are the Absolute that can replace Scripture. A sad misinterpretation of his great ministry. His quotes came to

reveal the Scriptures so that we could understand the written Word

62-0714 THE  UNCERTAIN  SOUND
The Gentile nation was issued in with King Nebuchadnezzar with unknown tongues and interpretation, and goes out the same way?

[Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin]

Issued in by a worship of an image of a man, holy man, Daniel (which was Belteshazzar),

the image of Daniel, to make everybody worship that image of a holy man, and go out the same way?

So religious persecution against those who rejected the Babylonian beliefs was born in Babylon.

Forcing people to worship popular error instead of truth.

One man had power over their religious beliefs as well as telling them what their political beliefs should be.

This was one of the mysteries of Babylon that the political head was also the religious head of the nation.

Thus, believers are forced to believe that they have to have this holy man elevated up between them and the gods.

Only this spiritual "high flyer" knew the will of the gods. No one else, as an individual, could get up close to the gods. This was the foundation of Babylonian religion.

Today, it means your submission to a holy man who is needed between you and God.

64-0823M  QUESTIONS  AND  ANSWERS.1

But those who can accept the Word in Its fullness,

not me preaching It, because It's the Bible says so.

Those who accept that is free, because they--the Word's already been judged.

65-0725M  THE  ANOINTED  ONES  AT  THE  END  TIME

So we'll know, to prove this, back and forth, by the Word; not by some man's idea, some theory.

I don't care who he is; any other man,

myself or anybody else,

"If he speaks not according to the law and the prophets, there is no Light in him."

See? That's what the Bible said. "Let every man's word be a lie, and Mine be true,"

regardless who it is.

Nebuchadnezzar was also the lion king who could enforce his own political will on the nation.

This was the nature of the spirit of Babylon:

a force-driven fusion of religion and politics to enslave the people to one man's will.

Think of the Pope today who is also called Pontiff. A religious leader who is up to his eyebrows in politics.

Thus Daniel is tracking down how the Mysteries of Babylon eventually ended up in Rome and became the inspiration of the Roman Catholic Church which is called Mystery Babylon by Saint John in the Book of Revelation.

Nebuchadnezzar was so full of pride and full of himself.

"Is not this great Babylon that I have built?"  Historians say that he put up twice as many buildings as any other king in ancient history. Making bricks from sun-baked mud was the biggest single industry in Babylon because they had hardly any stones they could build with.

Don't we Gentiles easily get a similar swollen ego when we are successful? We really think we are wonderful.

But God chased Nebuchadnezzar into the wilds of nature, where he lived like a beast, which was the true nature of his vicious kingdom. He is symbolized as the head of the Gentile image in Daniel's first vision. Thus his violent anger against anyone who contradicted him, the head, generated a savage desire to kill those who refused to obey him. The body, the nation, must obey its head. Nebuchadnezzar was a  dictator who demanded the right to rule people who were forced to obey him, or else. This beastly nature ran through the Persian, Greek, and Roman empires and finally into the Roman Catholic church that arose from the pagan Roman Empire's ruins. The body is controlled by the thoughts from the head.

Seven years passed, symbolic of the wild and vicious spirit of the unsaved Gentiles who would be obedient to the ruthless dictates of the pagan Roman Empire and then the Roman Catholic Church during seven church ages when believers in the Bible were ruthlessly persecuted and killed.

Then God plucked off his wings. No longer did Nebuchadnezzar regard himself as the link or high priest between God and man. He was just an ordinary man that God had allowed to become a king. But that did not make him important nor did it elevate him spiritually above others.

His power and success had only succeeded in corrupting him.

Thus actually, all along, he was simply a sinner who needed the grace of God in his life. This made him no different from anyone else. The only great One is God himself.

No human is above any other person in the sight of God from a spiritual point of view, because we humans have no wings whereby we can elevate ourselves above another.

This is the attitude that God wants from us Gentiles if we are to be ready for His Second Coming at the end of the seven church ages.

Persian bear was biggest Empire due to central control

DANIEL 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.

A ruthless and brutal central authority is needed to hold a vast kingdom together.

Raised onto one side, one shoulder would be above the other one. The Medes rose up to power first. Cyrus, the king of the originally small Persian empire (shown in the white oval of the next map), was the Median king's grandson. Then the Persians conquered the Median empire under their great king Cyrus but he was lenient and gracious and regarded the Medes as associates in a partnership. The Persians were the dominant partner in the Medes and the Persians' Empire, which finally occupied all the next map's brown areas. Lying on one side, a bear can only strike out in one direction, in front of itself, not behind itself. So if the bear was lying in a north-south direction, with its head to the north, (the Great Bear is the constellation of stars that dominates the northern skies - from which we get the word "arctic") and then if it raised up on one side with its back to the east,  Daniel would see it striking out mainly towards the west as well as south into Egypt. The three ribs in its mouth represent three key territories conquered.  Babylon, Lydia which contained the city of Pergamos, and Egypt. Why only three?

Cyrus conquered many territories as he set up the first worldwide empire. He conquered way to the east towards the borders of India. Daniel ignores all this as the bear lies with its back to the east.

Why?

Daniel is not concerned with how big the Persian empire was, he is concerned with the territory that would be used to protect and promote the mysteries of Babylon. These Babylonian mysteries would pervert and corrupt Christianity during the seven church ages. They were the ancient enemy of truth and Daniel was tracking their progress. We need to know all about our enemy. Nothing from the vast eastern Persian Empire was as dangerous to the truth as the Babylonian mysteries were. So Daniel ignored what was happening in the Eastern Persian Empire.

When Babylon fell to the army of Darius the Mede in 538 BC,  the Pontiff or high priest of the Babylonian mysteries, fled with all of his treasures westwards. The Medes and the Persians were east of Babylon, so there was no point in going east. Cyrus had already conquered Pergamos twice, so he was unlikely to go back there again.

Religion has always been a lucrative career giving the leader power and wealth.

Especially, the power to take away the wealth of the people who believed in him.

So the Pontiff wanted a new city where he could continue to practice his mysteries. After wandering around, he finally settled in the small city of Pergamos (Pergamos is the Greek spelling of Pergamum), which was in Asia Minor. Asia Minor was a very wealthy country. The nearby city of Sardis became the western source of Persian gold. Trade routes ran through Asia Minor so there was great scope for prosperity. Wealth and political power were needed by the  Pontiff to help spread his mysteries. But Pergamos would remain rather unnoticed for the next 200 years of the Persian rule.

The massive Persian Empire had to have a centralized control with efficient but cruel organization skills.

(Thus Satan learned that a worldwide Roman Catholic church system needs a ruthlessly efficient organization to act as a nerve centre. This would later be the main function of Vatican City).

Then Alexander the Greek conquered the Persian Empire and died soon afterward. Twenty years of vicious in-fighting saw four ruthless Greek generals carve up his empire. In 301 BC, general Lysimachus took over the territory around the city of Pergamos. The city of Pergamos blossomed as a city and conquered the surrounding areas to form the kingdom of Pergamum which quickly rose up to as a wealthy territory in Asia Minor. The descendants of the Babylonian Pontiff seized the opportunity to rise from obscurity and became king-priests of this rising power of Pergamos from 281 BC, starting with their first king Attalus I to whom they offered the position of Pontiff.

So one rib in the bear's mouth represented Babylon and its surrounding Babylonian empire, where the mysteries of Babylon originated. The other rib represented the city of Pergamos and its surrounding kingdom of Lydia (as Asia Minor was called in those Persian days) which is where the Babylonian mysteries hibernated during the Persian empire. The kingdom of Pergamum replaced the kingdom of Lydia when the Greeks rose to power.

Going from Babylon to Pergamos was the path taken by the mysteries of Babylon.

Cyrus conquered both of these territories.

What about the third rib?

Cambyses, the son of Cyrus the Persian, then conquered Egypt and died on his way back to Persia. So Egypt was the third rib. Many pagan Egyptian beliefs and their widespread idolatry were incorporated into the Babylonian mysteries, which became a clever hybrid mix of Babylonian and Egyptian paganism.

Egyptians had a clever trinity of three people on a throne. Mother, father,and son.

This idea would spread into the Roman Catholic church as they replaced the mother with the Holy Ghost.

Similarly, in the Old Testament, Israel was sandwiched between Babylon (symbolizing the religious error of modern-day denominations and churches) in the north and Egypt (symbolizing worldliness) in the south, and the Jews had to resist these two influences. Christians today are caught up between the pull of denominational and church religious error and the pull of worldliness.

Many of the mysteries of Babylon were intertwined with the pagan beliefs of Egypt. Egypt and Babylon were the two oldest civilizations in the Middle East, and the Babylonians adopted many pagan ideas from Egypt. In AD 274 the Roman emperor Aurelian took the Egyptian worship of the sun god and included that in the Babylonian mysteries by declaring December 25 as the birthday of the sun god because it is just after mid-winter and so it is when the sun is beginning to get warmer.

Around AD 350 Pope Julius I adopted 25 December as the birthday of the Son of God, which became known as Christ's mass. Today it is called Christmas. Protestants thus celebrate a Roman Catholic mass which is unscriptural. The Bible never asked us to celebrate the Lord's birth. 25 December is unscriptural and is not the Lord's birth date.

"Merry Christmas" is totally unscriptural as a greeting.

Paul regarded celebrating a certain day each year as a complete waste of time.

GALATIANS 4:9   But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements,

whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

:10   Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.

25th day. 12th month. Christmas time. Every year.

GALATIANS 4:11   I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

If we celebrate Christmas or any annual day of the Roman calendar, Paul regards us as being a waste of his time.

The Egyptians also believed that their gods formed a trinity of Isis, Horus, and Seb. Their temples have an altar cloth with their three initials on it, IHS.  This idea was also absorbed into the Babylonian mysteries and is still found today in the Catholic and Methodist churches.

Egyptian sun god worship was represented by a round wafer that symbolized the round disc of the sun. The priests put this in the mouths of the people. The wafer was never broken. This wafer got into the Babylonian mysteries, and today an unbroken round wafer is still put into the mouths of the people who attend the Roman Catholic Mass and the Protestant Anglican communion services.

The Protestants are the daughters of the Roman Catholic church.

Jesus broke the bread that He used for the ceremony after the last supper.

Egyptians used an obelisk, a tall stone column with a pointed top, as part of their sun worship as it pointed up to heaven and acted as a sundial. Today a large obelisk stands in St Peter's square in the Roman Catholic Vatican City to remind people of Egypt's contribution to the Babylonian mysteries.

So Egypt, the inspiration behind many of the Babylonian mysteries, was the third rib in the bear's mouth.

In Pergamos the Pontiff became a god and king

DANIEL 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.

The Greeks basically took over the Persian empire and pushed on to India in a rapid military campaign that lasted about ten years. The leopard is an animal that moves fast.

Alexander the Great was the first man to be worshiped as a god in the Western world, Greece.

When Alexander the Great died his generals fought for 20 years before splitting what was left of the empire into four kingdoms for the four surviving generals. Cassander took over Greece, Ptolemy took over Egypt and Seleucus took over Syria and what was left of the eastern empire. The portion that is called the kingdom of Thrace which is next to Greece and the area around Pergamos, went to Lysimachus. Shown in black on the next map.

These four men also considered themselves to be god-kings, just like Alexander. They were the four fowl wings as they were not nearly as impressive as Alexander or Nebuchadnezzar.

But Lysimachus ruled the territory in Asia Minor that included the city of Pergamos where the mysteries of Babylon were incubating.

The Babylonian priesthood later offered the position of Pontiff (who stood in the place of the gods and was thus now regarded as a god himself thanks to Alexander's example) to the king of Pergamos who became a god-king. These Babylonian mysteries were regarded as the most genuine heathen mysteries because the Pontiff was a successor of Nimrod. A long line or succession of Pontiffs went back in history all the way to Nimrod.

From Daniel's viewpoint, as he tracked down religious deception, Lysimachus had the most important part of Alexander's empire. Even though his rule there was brief. But the Mysteries of Babylon would remain in Pergamos for a long time until they moved to Rome after 133 BC.  In 63 BC Julius Caesar bribed his way to be elected as Pontiff. Julius Caesar became the most famous Roman which gave great prestige to the position of Pontiff. Then pagan Roman emperors were called Pontiff until AD 382 when the Christian Roman emperor Theodosius gave the title of Pontiff to Damasus, who was Bishop of Rome. Theodosius, as a Christian, did not want to be the high priest of the Babylonian mysteries. But it was fine for the leader of the Christian church to be the Pontiff of the heathen mysteries.

REVELATION 2:12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;

:13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest,

even where Satan's seat is:

and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

"Satan's seat". The Devil inspires the Babylonian mysteries as they enthrone Satan in the hearts of the people. They are the opposition to the Truth. They are very dangerous and will undermine the faith of many.

Antipas is a combination of anti and Pappas  (father)  from which we get the word, Pope. So Antipas was anti-the Pope. And he was killed for his beliefs. No one actually knows who he was. From a human point of view, he was an unknown opponent of the papacy. But God keeps a record of his name in the Book of Life, which is far more important than any human fame.

REVELATION 2:15  So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.

Nico means to conquer.  Conquer the laity (the people in the church).

How? By elevating a holy man above the congregation who are then subject to this man's will. This recreates the priesthood of a man who is spiritually above the rest (using the fowl wings to fly higher than everyone else) so that there is a human leader between God and the individuals in the church.

The quotes of this human leader replace the Word of God.

The people love to obey the church leader more than they love to obey the Bible.  God hates this. There must be no man between you and God. There cannot be if God is truly dwelling in your heart. Then it is just between you and Him.

Rearrange the letters of ITALY, and you can get LAITY (the congregation).

Pagan Rome conquered Italy. Then the Pope conquered the laity, the people in the church.

The Pope could more efficiently control the churches if they were each dominated by a priest. Then he basically only had to tell the priest what to do, and the priest had authority over the people to get them to do the Pope's will.

The Protestants copied that system by raising up a pastor to control and dominate each congregation. The word "pastor" only appears once in the New Testament. In Ephesians, it is mentioned only as fourth out of five ministries. Thus a pastor has no Biblical authority to control a church.

EPHESIANS 4:11And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

In the Old Testament, Jeremiah mentions the word pastor eight times. In six of those verses, the pastor is severely criticized and condemned.

JEREMIAH 23:1   Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.

:2   Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold,

I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.

God is obviously not impressed with pastors.

I CORINTHIANS 12:28
And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

When it comes to setting ministries in the church, Paul did not even mention pastors.

Teachers are needed to teach the Bible because pastors cannot prove many of their doctrines just from Scripture. Pastors cannot prove, just from the Bible, that the pastor is the head of the church.

People claim that a pastor is a shepherd. No Scripture says this. It is just a human invention and tradition.

A pastoral ministry is to help people with personal problems, family problems, work problems, and strengthening their personal relationship with God.

A Bible teacher, who only teaches from the Bible, is the person who establishes doctrine.

In the east, in Persia, their king was worshiped as a god. This did not happen in the west.

When Alexander conquered Persia, the Persians then began to worship Alexander as a god. At the end of his life, he demanded that the Greeks worship him as a god.

Thus Alexander was the first western king to be widely worshiped as a god.

When his four Greek generals carved up his empire, they adopted most of Alexander's ideas and thus regarded themselves as gods in the tradition that Alexander had started. So each general became the link between his kingdom and heaven.

This was symbolized by the four wings that exalted these leaders to heaven.

But they were wings of a fowl, not an eagle.

The quality of human gods was not that good anymore. Each one was regarded as a god on earth, but only within the limits of his small kingdom. Plus there were three other nearby rival gods.  So the four gods that now existed were not nearly as impressive as when there was one god, Alexander, who had outshone all four of them.

But these four men brought to the western world the idea of worshiping a human leader as a god.

This was all part of the Babylonian mysteries.

The Babylonian mysteries survived in Pergamos but they needed a more powerful sponsor if they were to spread worldwide. So in 133 BC Attalus III who was Pontiff and god-king of Pergamos gave his kingdom to the Romans in his will.

He had no heir and was very wealthy (like so many religious leaders of today are wealthy).

He knew that a civil war would break out on his death as rivals fought for his wealth and power. To avoid this, he left his kingdom to Rome in his will. He correctly guessed that Rome was the rising power as they had beaten the Carthaginians in North Africa and the Greeks.

The mysteries of Babylon moved from Babylon to Pergamos and then on to Pagan Rome.

The wealth of Asia Minor that then flowed into Rome after they took over Pergamos was responsible for a wave of corruption that swamped the Romans. In 63 BC Julius Caesar bribed his way to becoming elected as Pontiff of the Babylonian mysteries.

He then led an army to conquer Gaul (France) to get the loot to pay back his debts. As he rose to supreme power in Rome, so the prestige of the Babylonian mysteries also rose with him.

Soon he was the most powerful man on earth. The Babylonian mysteries had the best sponsor available.

A monster to crush and destroy all opposition

DANIEL 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.

This scary monster was a perversion.

It did not look like any natural animal. The iron of the legs in Daniel's image now was reflected in the savage teeth of the monster.

The pagan Roman empire would crush all opposition.

How was the pagan Roman monster different to the three kingdoms that were before it? The Babylonians, Persians, and Greek empires died and they never rose to world dominance again. The pagan Roman Empire re-invented itself as the Roman Catholic church that set out to rule the world as a church and financial power.

Perversion. When the pagan Roman Empire died in AD 476 then its cruel pagan spirit resurrected on the ruins of the pagan Roman Empire as the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church perverted the Bible into unscriptural beliefs like Trinity, Christmas, Good Friday, a Bishop becomes a one-man-head of the church. The iron of paganism rusted as the Roman church became baptized paganism. Water rusts iron. Christianity got perverted into unscriptural Catholic beliefs like Pope, Cardinal, Archbishop, worship Mary, Lent, etc.

Each pagan Roman emperor would carry the title of Pontiff.

In AD 379 the new Roman emperor in the east, Theodosius I, was appointed. In AD 382 he called himself a Christian and refused this title of Pontiff. He then gave the title of Pontiff to his uncle Damasus who was Bishop of Rome. When he died in AD 395, Theodosius officially split the empire into two halves, represented by the two iron legs of Daniel's Gentile image.

This monster, shown above, represents the western half of the Roman Empire because that is where the pagan Babylonian mysteries ended up when they got to Rome.

In AD 450 Pope Leo I  established the title of Pontiff as belonging to the Pope. This helped raise his prestige amongst the invading barbarian tribes.

10 of the tribes who conquered Rome built up the Pope

In AD 452 Pope Leo gave much money to Attila the Hun to stop him from attacking Rome. Plague and lack of food from the devastated countryside were probably Attila's main reasons for turning back. However, this meeting really gave the Pope a big boost in the eyes of the people. As Pontiff, he was the high priest of the pagan Babylonian mysteries and as such, with his glorious garments, he really impressed many of the barbarians who were very superstitious.

DANIEL 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.

Why was Rome different from the other three empires?

The other three empires faded out when a stronger empire conquered them. Rome in turn was not conquered by a stronger empire but rather by a horde of many barbarian tribes.

Then, as the Roman empire collapsed and faded away, Rome's power changed from being an Empire and

the spirit of pagan Rome resurrected itself to become the Roman Catholic church built on pagan Roman traditions.

Then Rome conquered its conquerors.

As a church, Rome conquered its barbarian conquerors by eliminating three non-Trinitarian tribes, the Heruli, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths.

For the next almost 1400 years there would be no opposition to the Trinity doctrine. No wonder that almost all of the modern-day churches believe in the Trinity.

But its pagan traditions created a perverted set of beliefs that drew further and further away from the Bible.

DANIEL 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.

This is is a little puzzling as far more than ten tribes broke up the western Roman Empire.

But in this vision, Daniel is following the spiritual trail of the Babylonian mysteries.

After the death of Julius Caesar, eastern areas of the Roman empire, like Pergamos, began to worship him as a god.  Then in 27 BC his great-nephew Augustus became the first emperor of Rome. He was worshiped as a god in the city of Pergamos while he was still alive.

Thus the idea of worshipping a man as a god entered the Roman world.

The Babylonian mysteries were taking root in Rome.

The third emperor Caligula was convinced that he was a god. So was the fifth emperor Nero who was the last of Caesar's line. Thus the doctrine of worshipping a man as a god, Caesar worship, was then established in Rome.

This concept would eventually move over to the Pope.

Kings and emperors would have to prostrate themselves by lying flat on the floor in front of him and kiss his feet. So Daniel is interested in those tribes which not only broke up the Roman Empire but also played an important role in the subsequent rise to power of the Roman Catholic Church.

There were ten of those tribes that helped with the death and resurrection of the pagan Roman spirit which died as an Empire and rose up from the dead as an organized denominational Catholic Church.

The first tribe was perhaps the most savage, the terrifying Huns. They had strong bows and fought from horseback. Symbolic of the bowman of Revelation Chapter 6 describes the start of the rise of the spirit of antichrist as it grew in the Roman church as a false teacher. So the bowmen Huns began the destruction of the Roman empire and, unintentionally, contributed to the rise of the Pope. They came from central Asia and pushed the barbarian tribes that were along the borders of the Roman empire, into the Roman empire. So, they were the main engine for change.

In AD 378 the Huns first appeared in the eastern Roman empire where they helped the Goths kill the eastern Roman emperor Valens and eliminated 20,000 Roman soldiers at the battle of Adrianople in the worst Roman disaster since the war against Hannibal. This started the decline of the Western Roman Empire.

How did this help the Roman Catholic church? Theodosius I was appointed eastern Roman emperor in Constantinople in AD 379, to replace Valens, and he later refused the title of Pontiff. He then recognized the Pope as being spiritually superior to him and gave Damasus, the Bishop of Rome, the title of Pontiff in AD 382. Thus the Babylonian priesthood, having lost their main figurehead who was the Roman Emperor, now entered the Roman Catholic Church. The Pope became the figurehead and Pontiff of the Babylonian Mysteries.

Attila died the next year after Pope Leo spoke to him. This left Pope Leo with an incredible boost to his reputation as the man who had peaceably faced down this terribly savage and brutal king of the Huns. No other church could compete with that reputation. The Huns then disintegrated after Attila's death. By killing emperor Valens, who was Pontiff, the Huns opened the door to Theodosius who became emperor and refused to be Pontiff. The next most powerful man in the Roman empire was the Pope. So the title of Pontiff belonged to Pope Leo I and it helped him to stand up to Attila the Hun, making the Pope very famous.

Theodosius made one huge mistake in 395 AD when he died. He divided the Roman empire officially into two halves to be shared by his two unhappy and useless sons. This decision seriously weakened the western Roman empire. The western empire started to go down. It had one good general Aetius who used one barbarian tribe to defeat another one. Divide and conquer tactics. Aetius combined with the Goths to just beat Attila's Huns but he did not destroy the Huns, in case he needed their help against other barbarians. This made the Western emperor suspicious and he killed Aetius. After that, the western empire was in turmoil.

The Roman church, with a strong man as Pope, became an island of stability in a restless sea of barbarian invasions, killing and plundering.

People who were previously anti-Catholic now looked to the Roman church for food, leadership, and spiritual guidance as their world collapsed around them in chaos.

Saved Christians, the foolish virgins, will do the same when Los Angeles sinks into the sea and the American economy collapses causing great harm to the world economy.

The Roman Popes rose to the occasion and effectively began to help run the civil administration of Rome when the civil authorities struggled with service delivery.

The Roman church will take over America but will lead it to ruin.

The Huns helped get rid of emperor Valens. He was replaced by emperor Theodosius who foolishly split the empire, which really weakened the western empire.

As the western Roman emperors became more useless and ineffective, so the power of the Popes rose in the city of Rome as they took over more and more of the civil administration.

Their competence in the civil government of Rome made many other churches look to them for leadership as the western empire collapsed into turmoil.

So the Huns savaged the Roman empire, and in the process, ironically, they gave a great boost to the prestige of the Pope.

DANIEL 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.

The barbarians were carving up the Roman empire. The Huns fragmented after Attila's death.

One of their splinter groups, the Heruli, chose the barbarian Odoacer as their king. He was also a general in the Roman empire. In AD 476, Odoacer declared himself king of Italy, and the western Roman empire was finished. He was a capable ruler but had one huge problem, as he did not believe in the Catholic Trinity. His tribe was Arian in belief, which was an alternative view of the Christian godhead as two Persons, Father and Son. Rather similar to the Jehovah Witnesses. That was unacceptable to the Pope. The Heruli were heretics and must be removed. The Trinitarian belief was the foundation of the Babylonian mysteries which had to be protected at all costs. Mysteries do not want a clear-cut answer. They thrive on fuzzy concepts.

We humans need to see a picture of what we believe in.

A fuzzy picture is essential if we are to be fooled.

So three People, each of Whom is God, but Who do not make three Gods but only make one God. That is nicely fuzzy. The human mind keeps bouncing back between one and three without ever getting a clear picture. This is essential for the spread of error, especially when people believe in words like Trinity which are not in the Bible. Fuzzy pictures take people away from Scripture.

"God the Son" is unscriptural.  Yet the "Son of God" is Scriptural. Why?

"Who cares?", say the Trinitarians because they cannot answer the question.

With a fuzzy interchanging of one and three, we no longer have to be specific. Any rough approximation is fine.

The Babylonian mystery trap has caught us and we are lulled into thinking that we do not have to prove everything we believe by Scripture, but we happily continue with the delusion that we can use unscriptural words to explain our beliefs. "God the Holy Ghost". "One God in three Persons". "Second Person of the Godhead" are simply unscriptural.

So how were these non-Trinitarian heretics removed from Italy so that the Pope could rise to power without their unwanted opposition? Remember Nebuchadnezzar and the fiery furnace? He was the big boss of the Babylonian Mysteries and he did not like anyone who disagreed with him.

Emperor Zeno in Constantinople had a bright idea. Theodoric was king of the Ostrogoths and he lived in the Balkans between Italy and the eastern Roman empire. He often raided the eastern Roman empire and made a nuisance of himself. So Zeno invited Theodoric to eliminate the Heruli by moving into Italy and taking over. The Ostrogoths attacked ferociously and by 493 Odoacer was dead and the Heruli exterminated. One barbarian horn had been plucked out. But all was not well as Theodoric and the Ostrogoths were also Arian. How could they be removed from Italy so that it could be a proper Trinitarian country, free from heresy?

In 527 Justinian, a fervent Trinitarian, became emperor of Constantinople.

The Vandals, also Arians, occupied North Africa which was the breadbasket of Italy. The Vandals had a large navy and they acted as pirates in the Mediterranean sea. Justinian needed to send his army to Italy by sea, so before invading Italy, Justinian needed to secure North Africa and capture or destroy the Vandal navy. This is exactly what the Allies had to do in the Second World War. Before they could attack Italy, they had to defeat the Germans under Rommel in North Africa.  They could only then attack the Germans in Italy, starting at the toe of Italy and working their way up.

Belisarius was a famous general. He sailed from Constantinople, which was the capital of the eastern Roman empire, and landed in North Africa in AD 533, and defeated the Vandals by AD 534. This quick victory was an illusion. When he sailed back to Constantinople the Moors in North Africa revolted and for years there were senseless wars fought by incompetent leaders. When this endless fighting was over, there were few survivors and North Africa was devastated. North Africa never really recovered and the loss of her food production drove Italy and Europe towards famine.

But one result was sure. The Arian Vandals had been eliminated. The second horn had been plucked out.

This left the road clear for Belisarius, in AD 535, to sail from North Africa to Italy which was ruled by the Arian Ostrogoths, and attack them.

But this was a titanic struggle that would last about 20 years. The battles raged up and down Italy. Rome was besieged and taken five times. Belisarius was recalled to Constantinople to fight the Persians. Emperor Justinian used Greek mercenaries who looted and plundered the countryside. An old general Narses was finally sent to Italy. He had to call in help from the Lombard barbarians before he finally beat the Ostrogoths. The few surviving Ostrogoths left Italy at their own request. Italy faced plague, famine, and a devastated countryside. Milan and Rome lay in ruins. The cost of eliminating the Vandals and the Ostrogoths was so severe that it drove Italy and Europe into the Dark Ages.

However, by the time general Narses sent the Lombards back to where they came from, they had enjoyed their brief stay in Italy and were determined to return and conquer Italy for themselves.

But the third Arian horn, the Ostrogoths, had been plucked out, and now there was no opposition to the Trinity in Italy.

As the barbarians had advanced into Europe and North Africa, many people had donated their properties to the Roman Catholic church to stop them from falling into barbarian hands. By AD 600 the church was the largest single landowner in the West. The authority of the Pope was spreading. A very efficient civil service was created by the Popes to run the church estates.

Sixteen years after the Ostrogoths were eliminated from Italy, the cruel Lombard tribe of pagan barbarians then invaded in AD 568 and took over big chunks of Italy, including modern-day Lombardy,   where they decided to stay. The Franks had meanwhile occupied Gaul which is modern-day France. In AD 739 the Lombards captured Rome and looted it. The Pope, now in desperation, approached the Franks in Paris and made a deal with the Franks. The Pope would crown their would-be king to give him official approval. In return, the Franks would protect Rome from the Lombards. The Frankish king Clovis converted to Catholicism under the influence of his Burgundian wife. His son Pepin chased the Lombards away from Rome and finally, his grandson Charlemagne conquered the Lombards and absorbed them into his kingdom.

The Lombard threat had driven the Pope into the arms of the Catholic Franks.

Crowning the Frankish kings gave the Pope the precedent to crown any other king in Europe. So the influence of the Pope spread as barbarian leaders were anxious to keep in with him because they were far more legitimate in the eyes of the people once the Pope had crowned them.

The Lombards played a key role by forcing the Pope to move away from the protection of the Roman emperor in Constantinople and to begin negotiations with the barbarian tribe of the Franks. The Franks who lived just north of Italy was the most powerful of the barbarian tribes.

With their backing, no other tribe could threaten the Pope.

In AD 800 Leo III crowned Charlemagne as emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and this gave the Pope huge prestige as well as the right to crown kings and emperors.

Other tribes wanted the Pope to crown their kings. The authority of the Pope was growing.

By 1200, Pope Innocent III was the dominant figure in Europe.

Money power and commerce were moving away from the Mediterranean sea towards the north and west of Europe because the Muslims had conquered North Africa and much of the Middle East by AD 700. Monasteries began to penetrate the territory of the barbarians in the north and west of Europe. The main monastery was Cluny, built in the territory of the Burgundian tribe (modern-day Burgundy). The influence of Cluny spread far and the monasteries like Cluny that were Roman Catholic were the most successful. New monasteries gained their prestige by having the Pope as their head.  The Pope's influence continued to rise as the Catholic monasteries spread out far and wide with their conversion of the pagan barbarians. The red arrows show how the influence of Cluny monastery spread the influence of the Pope as the head of the church.

The pagan Anglo-Saxons invaded England and pushed the non-Catholic Christians westward into Wales.

The Anglo-Saxons accepted Catholicism in AD 664 at the Synod of Whitby. The Catholics set up rival monasteries that opposed the Irish monasteries set up by Columba, the fourth church age messenger, who had been based on the island of Iona, from where he had moved into Scotland and then set up a monastery at Lindisfarne.

Using the pagan's respect for Saint Peter as the gatekeeper to Heaven, the Catholic monasteries got the backing of the barbarian tribal leaders and they undermined much of the work that Columba's monasteries had achieved.

The Catholics claimed that Peter would only let you into Heaven if you obeyed the Pope. The pagan tribes fell for this doctrine.

The Anglo-Saxon Catholic missionaries then spread Catholicism into Northern Europe.

So the Burgundian and the Anglo-Saxon monasteries checked the opposition of the other non-Catholic monasteries and spread the influence and authority of the Pope into North and West Europe.

Western Europe was settled by the Visigoths in Spain (shown in green) and the Suevi in Portugal (the small white portion surrounded by green). They were originally Arian but the Suevi were the first barbarians to convert to Catholicism.

The Arabs and Moors from North Africa conquered Spain and Portugal but a remnant of the Visigoths and Suevi remained unconquered and fought back over the centuries to finally defeat the Arabs and Moors.

During the occupation of Spain by the Muslims, the Visigoths and Suevi found it very beneficial to be Catholic as that gave them the support of the Catholic Franks in France as well as the support of the Popes.

Then after Columbus sailed to America in 1492 and the Portuguese conquered Brazil. The Portuguese also sailed east to open up the world's trade routes and establish colonies that they looted and controlled, shown in red. These countries then had to accept Catholicism which spread the Pope's influence worldwide. The Portuguese Empire is shown in red.

The Spanish conquered and looted the empires of the Incas and Aztecs in America. Their Empire at one stage spread over much of the Americas and Mexico. All these Spanish areas shown in blue became Catholic.

Thus Spain and Portugal opened up the rest of the world to the influence of Catholicism and the rule of the Pope spread worldwide.

Ten barbarian tribes had played their role in breaking up the Roman Empire but had also succeeded, intentionally or unintentionally, in helping with the rise of the Roman Catholic Church to be a dominant influence in Italy and then Europe and then overseas, worldwide.

The little horn is the Vatican

DANIEL 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.

The eyes of a man. How human beings see things. We have a love of power and a love of wealth. Worldly power and success is our human idea of what is important.

Pope Gregory VII  (1073 - 1085) made the following statements:

The Pope can be judged by no one on earth.

The Roman church has never erred, nor can it make mistakes.

Excommunicated Catholics are now judged as heretics, worthy to be tortured and burnt to death.

The Pope now is equal to the Son of God.

The Pope is infallible. This was declared in 1870.

Pope Urban II in 1095 launched the first Crusade by promising salvation to those who went to Palestine and killed the Muslims. Jerusalem was taken in an awful massacre of the Muslims living there.

Pope Innocent III (1190 -1216) claimed that the Pope is the Vicar of Christ. He stands in place of Christ.

The Pope's fourth Crusade in 1204 attacked and plundered Constantinople from Christians instead of attacking and conquering Jerusalem from the Muslims.

In 1209 he launched the Crusade against the non-Catholic Albigensian Christians of southern France. Several hideous massacres were carried out over the next twenty years.

In 1302 Pope Boniface VII claimed that there was no salvation outside the Catholic Church. You can only go to heaven if you are in subjection to the Pope.

Pope Sixtus IV (1471 - 1484)  This Pope licensed brothels in Rome which earned him 30,000 ducats a year.  He sold indulgences for the dead. Pay now and your dead family members will get out of purgatory. Prayer cannot save you; only money can.

In 1478 he blessed the Spanish Inquisition and set it on its path to imprison, torture, and burn alive heretics and suspected heretics. The terrifying efficiency of this religious killing machine was the equivalent of Hitler's awful death camps.

Pope Alexander VI (1492 - 1503) divided between Portugal and Spain the spoils of native slaves and wealth expected from the overseas New World.

Pope Pius V (1556 - 1562) attended all sessions of the Roman Inquisition and then afterward went to the torture chamber where he sentenced to death all those found guilty of heresy because they were Protestants. He sent his papal army to help the king of France in his religious war against non-Catholic Huguenots with the express orders that they must kill all Huguenot prisoners.

In 1572 when 3,000 Huguenots were killed in Paris on St Bartholomew's Eve,  Pope Gregory XIII celebrated this massacre by leading special "Te Deums" in Rome.

His joy increased in the following weeks as the killings spread through France until about 50,000 Huguenot men, women, and children were murdered.

Pope Gregory XIII had the authority to change the calendar that had fallen out of step with Nature's seasons by removing 10 days from the October calendar in 1582. Most of the world now follows this calendar which is a testimony to the authority of the Pope in the eyes of the world.

The Jesuit Pope Leo XIII (1878 - 1903) said "Anathema on the one who says: the Holy Spirit does not want us to kill the heretic".

These are just some of the claims that the Popes have made during their history.

These statements merely express their human lust for power and wealth.

The spirit behind these statements does not in any way reflect the Spirit of Christ.

So what spirit does it manifest?

The Vatican City is bringing the world to Judgement Day

DANIEL 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.

A judge wears a woolen wig to show that he is under submission to the Law of the land.

Just like a woman has long hair to show that she is under submission to her husband.

The scene suddenly changes to Judgement Day.

Our human thrones of kings and judges, where judgement was passed that was based on human laws, will be cast down. When God judges, His Judgements will be based on the Bible.

Churches say that the Ancient of Days is "God the Father". But the Old Testament never mentions "God the Father".

JOHN 5:22   For the

Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:

The Bible is clear.

The Father judges nobody.

The Judge is the Son, Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the Word of God so we will be judged by the Word of God.

JOHN 12:48   He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him:

the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Jesus wears the white woolen wig of a Judge.

This is exactly what we also see in Revelation. Jesus wearing the Judge's while woolen wig.

REVELATION 1:14   His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow;

This Judge is in submission only to the Word of God.

Daniel sees the rise of the Roman Catholic Church and the next thing he sees is Judgement Day.

This means that it is the Roman Catholic church, and it's brand of unscriptural denominational Christianity that has swept through the Protestant churches, that is taking mankind to the Judgements of God.

DANIEL 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.

Ten times ten is 100. There are 100 sinners for each Bride member that ministers to her Husband.

Sinners vastly outnumber the Bride. The true church, as the bride of Christ, is with Him on Judgement Day.

A wife ministers to her husband who is the head of the wife. But the true believers are a minority, one in a hundred.

One percent!  God's Truth is rejected by the vast majority.

So, people ultimately get away with nothing. Everything that they did wrong or believed wrong will count against them on Judgement Day.

DANIEL 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.

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

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

The world will have its cruel and corrupt rulers and kingdoms. But they only last for a while. In the end, the born-again Christians who stayed true to the Bible will possess the earth.

Today popularity rules, going with the majority flow, but tomorrow those who were rejected will reign.

The meek shall inherit the earth.

DANIEL 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;

This was the terrible Roman Empire that conquered western Europe.

Daniel ignores the eastern Roman Empire.

The mysteries of Babylon went west, not east.

DANIEL 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.

This beast only had one head.

Thus it is not the same beast that John saw in Revelation Chapters 13 and 17.

That beast had seven heads. Daniel's beast was the pagan Roman empire. John's beast was the Roman Catholic church that sits on the seven hills of Rome. The mother harlot of all the daughter Protestant denominational harlots that came out of the mother.

The little horn of Roman Catholicism turned out to be stronger than the other barbarian tribes.

The barbarians faded as the nation-states developed in Europe. The terror of Napoleon spread around Europe to rival the terror that Attila the Hun spread through the Roman empire.

To combat Napoleon the people began to group together as a nation.

After Napoleon, Europe had nations and the barbarians were just a memory from past history.

Napoleon imprisoned the Pope and later the Pope was confined to the Vatican in 1870 when Italy became independent. So it seemed that the Catholic church had also faded away. But the spirit of Rome is a survivor of note.

In 1929 Mussolini, dictator of Italy recognized the Vatican as an independent state, the smallest state or country in the world. Daniel's little horn.

The Pope had by then given up trying to conquer territory for himself and he emerged, far more powerfully, as the leader of a combined church and political power, as well as a growing financial power.

The Catholic church now has worldwide recognition as a spiritual-political power with great financial clout. The barbarian tribes are no more, but the Roman Catholic church is here to stay.

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

Around AD 400 the Catholic bishop Augustine of Hippo said it was fine to persecute heretics, who are people that disagree with the Pope. Some historians call Augustine the Prince of Persecutors.

About AD 450 Pope Leo I  said that Augustine meant you can kill heretics.

Then the killing machine started. It went on for more than 1000 years during the Dark Ages and the counter-reformation that the Catholic church launched to oppose Luther's reformation.

Eventually, tens of millions were killed because they opposed the Roman Catholic church. In certain areas like southern France, the Albigenses were wiped out.  The Waldenses had to flee into the Alps and live there. The Huguenots and the Pilgrim fathers had to flee overseas.

DANIEL 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.

Eventually, God will settle the score. Satan's error may triumph on earth but the saints must exercise patience. God will eventually make His move. We must just keep on believing.

DANIEL 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.

The religious denominational system of Roman Catholicism and its Protestant daughters will take over the world. Believers who oppose this religious juggernaut will be stomped on and scattered as they break into small pieces.

The iron in the feet of Daniel's Gentile image was broken into pieces.

The clay represents the true believers. The iron represents the Roman Catholic church.

Breaking into pieces was pagan Rome's policy of divide and conquer. In the Roman Catholic church this became Nicolaitanism where the clergy was broken away from the laity or congregation. Then the clergy was elevated above the congregation

The pagan Roman spirit was present in the first two church ages to oppose and persecute true believers. This pagan spirit entered the Roman Catholic Church at the time of the Nicaean Council of AD 325 and by AD 450 the Roman church became a persecutor of non-Catholic Christians.

DANIEL 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.

Daniel mentions the 10 barbarian tribes who helped to destroy the Roman Empire but then also helped the Pope to rise in power in Europe and the world.

For the Pope to rule in Italy, free from any non-Trinitarian Arian heretics, the three Arian tribes of the Heruli, Vandals, and Ostrogoths had to be eliminated. After that, there was no opposition to the teachings of the Trinity for the 900 years of the Dark Ages until the Reformation started. So the Trinity was just accepted as truth by default. Even today people are shocked if they hear that someone questions the Trinity. People were so brainwashed with Trinity that even the brave Martin Luther did not dare to oppose the idea.

The papacy is different from the other tribes.

These tribes conquered the territory of the Roman Empire. But the Pope in the end was confined to the Vatican City, and gave up any claims to a territorial kingdom. From there he emerged to dominate the world as the head of the biggest church on earth, as he extends his spiritual kingdom amongst 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide. As the spiritual leader of more than a billion people, he has huge religious and political influence. Financially the Pope has vast resources. He plays a major role in world affairs due to his spiritual prestige and authority. Now his kingdom fights for the hearts and minds of people and uses those spiritual weapons of denominational religion

His main aim is to draw people away from Scripture. He has become amazingly successful in his drive for spiritually dominating the world and getting the Protestants away from belief in the King James Version of the Bible. Hardly any Christians prove their beliefs just from Scripture any more.

Divide and conquer. He has separated people away from the written Scriptures.

Fewer and fewer people read the King James Bible any more.

Roman Catholic Church changed Bible times and Laws

DANIEL 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.

"Speak great words against the most High".  Very little that the Pope says is Scriptural.

A typical example was indulgences whereby you were forgiven your sins by paying money. The Blood of Jesus is the only forgiveness for sin when we repent and accept Him as our personal Saviour.

Eating the wafer or host at a Mass is claimed to save you. Totally untrue.

Then the Popes encouraged men to go on the Crusades and gain salvation by killing Muslims. Completely unchristian.

For another example, he has turned God into a Trinity and thus deprived God of His Name. There is no one Name for three People. So Christians are fooled into believing that the three Titles of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are the Name of God. Thus Christians can no longer say what the Name of God is.

Today water baptism is done in many ways that the churches reasonably tolerate. The only way that is not accepted is to baptize in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. This opposes the Trinity picture of three Persons in the Godhead. Yet this is how Peter baptized in Acts Chapter 2 Verse 38. Ironically, the Catholic church regards Peter as their first and most important Pope. Yet they do not follow his instructions.

The Pope's claim that we can only go to heaven if we are subject to him is a complete contradiction of Jesus being the only Way as well as being the only Door to heaven.

"Wear out the saints".  Pope Leo I  began killing non-Roman Catholics around AD 450.

Tens of millions of non-Roman Catholics were killed during the Dark Ages and the counter-reformation. Prosperous Christian communities were wiped out. Christians were forced to flee deep into the Alps or flee overseas to find safety.

Then there followed the terrifying efficiency of the Vatican-inspired Inquisition, especially the Spanish Inquisition. These horrific killing machines remind us of the brutal death camps of the sadistic dictators like Hitler in Poland, Stalin in Russia, and Mao in China during the 20th century. The true church has had a hard time from endless Roman Catholic persecution and terror.

False Roman Catholic doctrine like Trinity, water baptism in the titles of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Good Friday, Christmas, and having one man as the head of each church would flow into the Protestant churches. With all the churches believing these things, it would wear out those people who tried to be Scriptural as they would be continually opposed by the churches.

"Change times".  Our calendar was changed by Rome. In 45 BC pagan Julius Caesar changed the calendar by adding 90 days to make it match the seasons. 23 days had already been added in February and he added another 67 days between November and December. The year 45 BC was a year of confusion as it lasted 445 days.

He also introduced the idea of a leap year, adding an extra day every four years.

This was the Roman Julian Calendar

But every 128 years after that, the calendar slipped 1 day out of step with the seasons.

In 1582 Pope Gregory XIII changed the calendar by removing 10 days from October to make it fit in with the seasons. He introduced the idea of not having a leap year each century unless the century can be divided by 400.  So 1900 was not a leap year but 2000 was.

This was the Roman Catholic Gregorian Calendar.

The Pope changed the time for the Communion (which the Catholics call a Mass) from the nighttime (after supper) to the morning service because that is more convenient. The Protestants have followed the Catholic example and celebrate the Lord's breakfast instead of the Lord's supper.

The Pope changed the sabbath day from Saturday to Sunday. The Protestants have followed.

But that is wrong,

Having a church service on Sunday is fine because the early church did that, but that does not make Sunday the sabbath day.

Sabbath means rest. The true rest is rest from our sins and this cannot happen until we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit whereby Jesus dwells within us and controls our lives. Only then are we at rest from our former sins as the Holy Ghost frees us from the desire to sin. Then we do not go back again to our former sinful, unsaved ways. In the same way, God created and rested on the seventh day but never went back to His creative works after that because He had finished creating. If Saturday is the rest day or sabbath day, then you work, rest on Saturday and go back to work again. That is not what God did.

Sunday is a day to worship and learn about God. Our sabbath day is not Sunday, it is the day we receive the Holy Ghost baptism and thus rest from our former sins. We do not go back to our old ways of drinking, smoking, gambling, lying, cheating, etc.

HEBREWS 4:10   For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

We were never asked to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Around AD 350, Pope Julius I made 25 December the birthday of the Son of God. This was copied from the birthday of the Roman sun god that was declared in AD 274 by the pagan Roman emperor Aurelian, a few days after he had beheaded the Bishop of Rome.

"Change laws"

There is very little about the Roman Catholic church that is Scriptural. So they introduced many changes that are not in the Bible.

They invented purgatory where your soul goes until someone pays for your release.

They have an unbroken round wafer that they give the people but the people do not get any wine for their (communion) mass.

They believe this wafer is the actual body of the Lord and the wine is the actual blood of Jesus,

You must be in submission to the Pope in order to obtain salvation.

You must confess your sins to a priest.

Their churches are full of idols and graven images.

Priests are not allowed to marry.

They have added extra books, the Apocrapha, to the Bible.

They invented an unscriptural hierarchy of archbishops, cardinals, and the Pope to run the church.

The worship of Mary.

The list of unscriptural laws that the Roman Catholic church wants us to obey just keeps growing.

The Dividing of time is the 7 church ages

DANIEL 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.

This is a difficult sentence.  "Time" can be interpreted as a year. "Times" could then be two years. A dividing of "time" is then half a year.

If this interpretation is correct, that adds up to three and a half years which is the length of great Tribulation that is listed as 42 months or 1,260 days.

A "score" means twenty.

REVELATION 11:2
But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
:3   And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

The Roman Church system will oppose true Christians UNTIL great Tribulation starts.

At that time Jesus will catch His true church up to meet Him in the air and take them to Heaven. The man of sin will be the final Pope who will then take over the world, but the true Bride will no longer be on earth and will not be subject to his destructive power.

So the Roman beast will persecute the saints until the three and a half years of great Tribulation starts.

This Scripture can also be linked to Daniel Chapter 9.

This comes to the same conclusion of the church only going free when they are caught up to meet the Lord at the time of the Second Coming of Jesus.

A brief review of events after Cyrus, in 538 BC, released the Jews from Babylon to go back to Israel. They rebuilt the Temple in about 21 years after being held up for 17 years by enemies. Fifty-six years later Ezra brought the treasure back to the Temple and after another 13 years, Nehemiah rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem in 52 days. This was the year 446 BC.

Dr. Scofield places the ministry of the prophet Malachi as 397 BC. This is 49 years after the command to rebuild the city wall.

Then there was silence. No more prophets until John the Baptist burst on the scene in AD 29.

John baptized Jesus for his 7-year ministry that was cut off halfway after three and a half years. Leaving another three and a half years for the two prophets in the time of great Tribulation.

The Jews had 49 years with prophetic guidance from Zechariah and Malachi. (Time).

Then 483 years without prophets. (Times)

The last week of 7 years was divided into two times of 3½ years by being split in the middle of the week.

These years are measured in Bible years of 360 days. Our Gentile year is 5.24 days longer.

So for every 69 of our years, the Jews have an extra year, they will have 70 years.

The seven church ages fill the gap between the two halves of the last week of 7 years.

We return to the prophecy of Daniel.

DANIEL 9:24
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city,

DANIEL 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.

NEHEMIAH 2:1   And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king,

NEHEMIAH 2:8   And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house,

and for the wall of the city,

and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

Artaxerxes became king in 465 BC. If 465 BC was his first year then his 20th year will be 446 BC.

The commandment to restore the wall of Jerusalem was given in 446 BC to Nehemiah (in those days a place was usually not regarded as a city unless it had a protective wall around it).

At His water baptism, which was the washing of the sacrificial Lamb, Jesus was pointed out by John the Baptist as the Son of God when John heard the Spirit speak and say "This is My beloved Son" as the Spirit rested on Him to publically make Him the Annointed One, the Messiah. The Son of the King of Heaven is obviously the Prince. This happened when Jesus was about 30 years old so that would be towards the end of AD 29 on our calendar.

LUKE 3:23    And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age,

This time interval of almost five centuries is divided into two time periods.

Taking a day as a year it represents a time interval of 7 weeks which is 7 x 7 days which is 49 days. If a day is a year then it meant that the Jews still had 49 years in which God was dealing with them by means of the anointed prophets Zechariah and Malachi, the last of the prophets.

This would take them to about 397 BC. After that,  historians refer to as the "silent period' when for about 434 years God was silent and sent no prophet or no inspired leader to guide the Jews. Threescore (is three times twenty) and two weeks is 62 weeks which is 62 x 7 days which is 434 days or 434 years. So the Jews had a short time ("a time" is rated as 7 weeks in the prophecy) with supernatural guidance from inspired prophets and then a much longer time ("times" rated as 62 weeks in the prophecy) when the Jews were left to their own devices.

Thus when Jesus was baptized they had used up 7 + 62 which means 69 weeks of their 70-week prophecy.

The Jews only had one week left (7 days or 7 years) before the Millenium would be set up and they would rule the world.

Thus 70 Jewish years will only be 69 Gentile years.

A prophecy of 490 years = 70 x 7.  Thus this will be 7 years less on the Gentile time scale.

490 Jewish years = 483 of our Gentile years.

A day can represent a year in prophecy.

Laban said to Jacob.

GENESIS 29:27   Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.

DANIEL 9:26
And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

The people (Romans) of the antichrist prince, who shall come at the end, will destroy Jerusalem and the Temple. Thus the antichrist prince must come from Rome and he will be the final Pope.

Messiah came and was crucified after a ministry of three and a half years. Thus the last week was split in half. Jesus had the first half and then turned from the Jews to the Gentiles for 2,000 years in what is called the seven church ages. At the end of the seven church ages is His Second Coming where He takes His true church to Heaven and then the ministries of Moses and Elijah are to guide the Jews through the three and a half years of the Tribulation, which is the half-week still owing to the Jews.

Thus the 7 church ages are actually the "dividing of time".

They are the time interval between the first half of the 70th week (the ministry of Jesus) and the last half of the 70th week, the ministry of Moses and Elijah.  The church ages split the last week of the Jews into two halves and then the church ages fill the gap between the two half-weeks.

God counted time for the Jews but then stopped counting when the Jews crucified Jesus after 69.5 weeks. God will start counting again for half a week after he has caught the church up to Heaven.

DANIEL 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.

The Babylonian spirit of Mystery errors was coming down through the Persian Empire and the Greek and pagan Roman Empire (which killed Christ and the early Christians in the first two church ages until AD 312) and then it arose in the Roman Catholic Church to continue killing or deceiving Christians with its denominational spirit. One-man-human-leadership of the church will continue its deception and destroy the Bible truth until the church ages end in the catching up of the church.

Thus the Roman Catholic-inspired denominational churches will suppress and reject the true church until the "dividing of time" (the seven church ages) ends. Then the two Jewish prophets appear and the three and a half years of great Tribulation begin for all those that Jesus leaves behind.

 "The people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary ".

The antichrist prince will come and reign in great Tribulation.  His people destroyed the city of Jerusalem and destroyed the sanctuary (Solomon's Temple) in AD 70. This notorious deed was achieved by the Roman general Titus. If these are the people of the antichrist prince, then the future man of sin must come from Rome.

In AD 135 the Roman emperor Hadrian crushed the Jewish Bar-Kokhba revolt and plowed Jerusalem with a yoke of oxen. Both the sanctuary and the city had been destroyed by the Romans.

The Covenant was confirmed when sacrifices stopped

DANIEL 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:

and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week".

This does not refer to making a covenant. This refers to confirming a covenant that was previously made.

This "he" refers to God, not the antichrist prince.

God confirmed the covenant in Christ that He made with Abraham.

A covenant must be made before it can be confirmed.

(A covenant that has been confirmed cannot be broken).

I CHRONICLES 16:16
Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham,

and of his oath unto Isaac;

GALATIANS 3:17
And this I say,

that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ,

the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.

God made a covenant with Abraham and confirmed that covenant in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

There is no Scripture that says the antichrist prince will first make a covenant with the Jews and then later confirm it. The antichrist man of sin, by his evil nature, will break a covenant, not confirm it.

" And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation".

At the crucifixion of Jesus, after three and a half years of ministry, the veil in the Temple tore as God left the Holy of Holies and the Temple worship ended. The lambs they repetitively sacrificed after that achieved nothing as the Lamb of God had made His single sacrifice for sin for all time.

In AD 70 the Roman general destroyed the Temple and the city of Jerusalem. Between AD 132 - 135 the Roman emperor Hadrian killed 580,ooo Jews and exiled the rest. He built a pagan temple, Aelia Capitolina, on the Temple site. Then in AD 691 the Muslims built the Dome of the Rock on what they thought was the Temple site. Thus God made sure that the Temple site remained spiritually desolate. It remains that way to this day.

Eliminating three non-Trinitarian barbarian tribes to establish the Pope as the head of the Roman Catholic Church resulted in Italy and North Africa being devastated and left desolate between AD 533 and AD 552. This desolation would spread through Europe to initiate the Dark Ages. Famine, disease, and plague killed tens of millions in Europe.

In 1929 Mussolini recognized the Roman Catholic Vatican City as an independent city-state. That year the whole world plunged into the bankruptcy of the Great Depression.

Now the antichrist spirit of denominational Churchianity has spread from Rome to the Protestant churches and as people ignore more and more Scripture when they accept church traditions and teachings, so true faith becomes more desolate.

Faith only comes from believing the Bible.

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

Religious error will not always last. Eventually, church-goers will answer for their sins and unbelief in the Bible.

DANIEL 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.

We serve God by obeying His Word, not by obeying church traditions, however popular and acceptable they may be.

In the Millennium or the 1,000 years of peace, those people who were rejected by the churches but who stayed true to the Scripture will rule the world. That is when the reward comes.