December 11: DAMAGE CONTROL
The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition. Revelation 17:11
The repeated notion of the beast that was, and is not is the Master Teacher’s way of helping us to see past appearances and gain understanding of the identity of eschatological Babylon. The eighth … is of the seven [heads]. The phrase that was, and is not suggests that this entity — one of its heads (13:3), at least — had been wounded to the point of death; he temporarily faded from view, yet survived. Now he is returning “from the dead.” It is a caricature and counterfeit of Christ’s death and resurrection; a vulgar presentation meant to obscure the I AM of all creation.
The “resurrection” of the papacy is nothing more than a thorough ‘public relations makeover’, albeit superficial. On the surface, it looks appealing and enticing. Papists are pursuing a conciliatory tactic in order to gain influence. No one who watches the news will doubt that the popularity of papacy is wildly escalating. The massive wealth and power behind the worldwide ecumenical movement adds to the impression that God is blessing the movement. But, behind it all is that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world (12:9). In addition to all of this worldly glamor, Paul tells us what will be added to it: convincing signs and lying wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:9). The beast…is going to perdition. Do not allow yourself to be pulled into the vortex of his power (see Hebrews 10:35-39)!
Rule number one in public relations, in any sort of crisis, is damage control! When the leaders of the Reformation and other Bible scholars* publicly fingered the papacy as the office of the Antichrist, two of the defenses launched were 1) the silencing of those who spoke up and those who believed them, and 2) denied access to the Word of God. But two more defenses emerged, and are gaining steam still today, from an assignment to develop “scholarly” lines of thought to deflect attention away from the papacy. Both of them emanate from the upper echelons of papal leadership. 1) Preterism: assigning fulfillment of Bible prophecy entirely to past events in order to point to an ancient Greek king, Antiochus Epiphanes, as the Antichrist. 2) Futurism: assigning the identity of Antichrist to a future and as yet unknown character. These two lines of thought were manufactured by assignment to the secretive, Jesuit wing of Catholicism. They point in opposite directions on history’s timeline. A cunning tactic indeed! But one need only to study the Bible to see the rollout of world history, prophecies that have truly been fulfilled, and the loving hand of God presiding over the affairs of men. Beware that the newer English translations of the Bible have been subtly modified with alterations, margin notes, additions, and deletions to support both Preterism and Futurism. A comparison of modern translations with older ones reveals the evidence of tampering. Tragically, both leanings, especially Futurism, have many followers among Christians of today.
You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. Deuteronomy 4:2 (see also 12:32 and Revelation 22:18-19)
*To name a few: John Calvin, Thomas Cranmer, John Huss, Jerome of Prague, John Knox, Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, William Tyndale, John Wesley, John Wycliffe, J.A. Wylie, Ulric Zwingli