July 12: PROPHETIC PARALLEL #3
If anyone has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. Revelation 13:10
The third parallel between Daniel 11:40-12:3 and Revelation 13 is that both prophecies refer to the world’s last era; the span of time that will bring us to the close of history for our fallen world. In Daniel, this period is called the time of the end (Daniel 8:17; 11:35, 40; 12:4,9). This last era has a definite beginning: the inflicting of what seemed to be the deadly wound to the beast [that arose] out of the sea (Revelation 13:1,3). The beginning of the time of the end was the act that ended the 1260 days (prophetic years) of papal supremacy (Revelation 11:3; 12:6. This period is also called forty-two months in Revelation 11:2 & 13:5 and a time, times, and half a time in Daniel 7:25; 12:7; Revelation 12:14).
This long, dark period in world history came to its end when the pope was kidnapped by order of Napoleon in 1798. The pope was taken into captivity and the papacy was declared at an end. The papal office had required the sword and captivity for countless millions, and the same happened to him. For over twelve centuries, the office of the papacy used civil power to enforce its religious teachings. It is estimated that fifty to a hundred million people were taken into captivity: to dungeons (located below cathedrals), tortured and killed for “heresy”; for not believing what the fallen church was teaching. The idea of coercion by civil authorities is proof – in and of itself – that such a system is antichristian.
The patience and the faith of the saints most definitely played a role as they continued to live out their love for the Son of God and their heavenly Father. It was the arm of atheism, led by Napoleon, that took the pope off of his throne. It is not likely that Mr. Bonaparte knew he was fulfilling prophecy when he pulled the rug out from under Rome.
This attack is described in some translations thusly: At the time of the end the king of the south shall push at [the king of the north]. (Daniel 11:40) The concept translated push at is from a Hebrew word that means to gore. It refers to a beast wounding another beast with its horns. This is a good translation, as a beast in Bible prophecy is an earthly government. And horns symbolize power. The term little horn (Daniel 7:8; 8:9,12) refers to papal Rome which harnessed other powers—those of civil governments—to carry out its wishes against dissenters.
Both Daniel and Revelation make it clear that the sudden ending of papal supremacy marks the beginning of the next era: the time of the end. The papal power is being healed (Revelation 13:3) but has yet to recover the unhindered authority she had in the past. The self-styled universal church will again command civil powers to enforce her dogmas. During the time of the end, she will resume that authority—with the help of a new civil power—and impose her mark upon the world. In the eyes of the world, she will be healed. Millions (or billions) will marvel and follow along. But in the eyes of the LORD, she will have become a dwelling place of demons.
We would have healed Babylon, But she is not healed. Forsake her… Come and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God. Jeremiah 51:9a,10b (see also Revelation 18:2,4)