We look in history and find that the Pope and the religious system of the Papacy came out of the Roman Empire, and was a supreme religious power for over 1200 years. Here is history on this...
"They may say, indeed, that for the first three hundred years there was no Pope seated at Rome. But, then, for twelve hundred years there had been; and, during that period, all the nations of Europe, and some part of America, had become Christian, and all acknowledged the Pope as their head in religious matters; and, in short, there was no other Christian Church known in the world, nor had any other ever been thought of. Can we believe, then, that Christ, who died to save sinners, who sent forth his gospel as the means of their salvation, would have suffered a false Christian religion, and no other than a false Christian religion, to be known amongst men all this while? Will these modest assailants of the faith of their and our ancestors assert to our faces, that, for twelve hundred years at least, there were no true Christians in the world? Will they tell us, that Christ, who promised to be with the teachers of his word to the end of the world, wholly left them, and gave up hundreds upon hundreds of millions of people to be led in darkness to their eternal perdition, by one whom his inspired followers had denominated the "man of sin, and the scarlet whore"? Will they, indeed, dare to tell us, that Christ gave up the world wholly to "Antichrist" for twelve hundred years?
Source: History of the Protestant Reformation in England and Ireland, Showing How That Event Has Impoverished and Degraded the Main Body of the People in Those Countries, by William Cobbett, published in 1832 in New York by John Doyle, 12 Liberty-street; and Thomas Doyle, Market-street, Providence R.I., pages 6 and 7.
And they admit it...
Rome has been a government under the Popes for some twelve hundred years." [h=3]Source: Complete Works of the Most Rev. John Hughes, Archbishop of New York, 1866, Volume 2. pg. 778"[/h] ... the right to her Temporal Sovereignty is an integral right of the Church as constituted by her Divine Founder. It has prevailed de facto for more than twelve hundred years, and has been possessed de jure by Divine Natural Law from the beginning of Christianity, ... [h=1]Source: The Victories of Rome and the Temporal Monarchy of the Church, 5th edition, By Kenelm Digby Best, London, 1906, pg. xii.[/h]
These time periods occur eight times in scripture:
Daniel 7:25, "time, times and a half".
Daniel 9:27, "half one set of seven".
Daniel 12:7, "time, times and a half".
Revelation 11:2, "42 months".
Revelation 11:3, "1260 days".
Revelation 12:6, "1260 days".
Revelation 12:14, "time, times and a half".
Revelation 13:5, "42 months".
We read in Revelation 13:5-7:
Revelation 13:5-7 King James Version (KJV)
5 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.
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
"They may say, indeed, that for the first three hundred years there was no Pope seated at Rome. But, then, for twelve hundred years there had been; and, during that period, all the nations of Europe, and some part of America, had become Christian, and all acknowledged the Pope as their head in religious matters; and, in short, there was no other Christian Church known in the world, nor had any other ever been thought of. Can we believe, then, that Christ, who died to save sinners, who sent forth his gospel as the means of their salvation, would have suffered a false Christian religion, and no other than a false Christian religion, to be known amongst men all this while? Will these modest assailants of the faith of their and our ancestors assert to our faces, that, for twelve hundred years at least, there were no true Christians in the world? Will they tell us, that Christ, who promised to be with the teachers of his word to the end of the world, wholly left them, and gave up hundreds upon hundreds of millions of people to be led in darkness to their eternal perdition, by one whom his inspired followers had denominated the "man of sin, and the scarlet whore"? Will they, indeed, dare to tell us, that Christ gave up the world wholly to "Antichrist" for twelve hundred years?
Source: History of the Protestant Reformation in England and Ireland, Showing How That Event Has Impoverished and Degraded the Main Body of the People in Those Countries, by William Cobbett, published in 1832 in New York by John Doyle, 12 Liberty-street; and Thomas Doyle, Market-street, Providence R.I., pages 6 and 7.
And they admit it...
Rome has been a government under the Popes for some twelve hundred years." [h=3]Source: Complete Works of the Most Rev. John Hughes, Archbishop of New York, 1866, Volume 2. pg. 778"[/h] ... the right to her Temporal Sovereignty is an integral right of the Church as constituted by her Divine Founder. It has prevailed de facto for more than twelve hundred years, and has been possessed de jure by Divine Natural Law from the beginning of Christianity, ... [h=1]Source: The Victories of Rome and the Temporal Monarchy of the Church, 5th edition, By Kenelm Digby Best, London, 1906, pg. xii.[/h]
If only those who claim they are Christians when it comes to biblical prophecy would look at the plain Word of God, they would see what even a simple plowboy could tell them, it shows a straight path through history to the End Times. We see the kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome as prophecy shows actual events to occur throughout the history of Christianity from the time of Daniel until Last Days and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. If one looks, one will find that this was the viewpoint of almost all Protestant Reformers and their churches from the Reformation into our era, but then something changed, something came in that blinded and distorted what had been plain.
Satan as always the adversary, had his followers bring in seeds of doubt which wiped away the understanding, bringing in false ideas that biblical prophecies concerning the Last Days refer to events which took place in the first century after Christ's birth so thus nothing applies to the true history that prophecy shows. Another seed of doubt is brought in by those who say all or most of the prophecy the Bible gives us is in the future, shortly before the Second Coming, so we have nothing which we can apply it to so can ignore what it shows, and all the truth of history notwithstanding.
If one follows what history gives us, suddenly the events line up, Alexander the Great is shown just when he appears in the flow of events given in prophecy, the Roman Empire comes right after, just as prophecy gave all the way to the Last Days. So why have so many Christians even among the churchs of the Reformers given up what they once held. What have they given it up for, can it be doctrines of demons and ideas from the adversary, can that be.
In prophecy days are symbolic of years. The 70 weeks of Daniel 9:24 being the most commonly known example. Seventy weeks is 490 days, but actually means 490 years. So why is it not a year equal to 365 days as we hold today? Well in ancient times the year was held to be at 360 days. The fact that the prophets understood a year as 360 days is well attested, and can be seen in the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation as seen in the use of "time, times and half a time" (i.e. 1+2+0.5=3.5), "1,260 days" and "42 months". These references represent a period of 1260 years (based on the 360 day Jewish year multiplied by 3.5). Divide 1,260 days by 42 months and you will get a 30-day month, as 12 months of 30 days equals 360-days in a yearThese time periods occur eight times in scripture:
Daniel 7:25, "time, times and a half".
Daniel 9:27, "half one set of seven".
Daniel 12:7, "time, times and a half".
Revelation 11:2, "42 months".
Revelation 11:3, "1260 days".
Revelation 12:6, "1260 days".
Revelation 12:14, "time, times and a half".
Revelation 13:5, "42 months".
We read in Revelation 13:5-7:
Revelation 13:5-7 King James Version (KJV)
5 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.
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Well lets look, history shows us that the 1260 days in Biblical prophecy match up and are the 1260 years in which the Roman Catholic Church did in fact "war against the saints". It was one of the major reason for the Protestant Reformation. These 1260 years ended in 1798. The Protestants Reformers and theologians understood and saw that the Catholic Church, from 538 AD to 1798 AD was in fact the antichrist power that Daniel prophesized about. Daniel said that that the saints would be given to his hand for "a time and times and half a time". A time represents a year in the Hebrew 360-day year. So 3 1/2 times is 3 1/2 years. This equals 42 months based on the biblical 30-day month--or 1,260 days. In Thessalonians 2 Paul told us when the 1260 years would begin. It was when the "restrainer" was removed.
So who was the restrainer of this antichrist? Nearly all early church fathers and early Protestant theologians agree that the restrainer was not the Jews at the fall of Jerusalem or a King or the "Holy Spirit" as some try to say. The restrainer that had to be removed before the arrival of that antichrist power was the Roman Empire.
Why this prophesy of Daniel is so important is that it happened exactly as prophesized. The Roman Empire began to disintegrate in the late 4th and early 5th century as invasions overwhelmed the capacity of the Empire to govern and mount a coordinated defense and the Roman Caesar "restrainer" was being removed. The 1260 year period when the antichrist power would preside over the dark ages, with its persecution and inquisitions, etc began a little later in 538 AD after the Roman Empire and the Caesars ruling at Rome had collapsed to allow another power to come in and the eastern empire ruler Emperor Justinian issued his famous decree that made the Pope the legal "Head of all the Holy Churches". This began the prophesized reign of that antichrist with its false rites, sacrament's, and system of worship. Add 1260 years to 538 AD and we come out to 1798 AD, when this evil system ended.
So what does the plain of history shows us in 1798 AD? Napoleon's army under General Berthier entered Rome with his French troops and took down this antichrist power. The Papacy was abolished, the pontifical ring was removed, and the sitting Pope, Pope Pius VI was sent to France, where he died in exile. The Biblical prophecy happened just as given, but many try to hide the truth of the matter or say the Day/Year Principle is not applicable, and yet it fits as said in a trial, 'like a glove'.
