July 23: PROPHETIC PARALLEL #14

And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him. Daniel 11:45

Here, Daniel succinctly describes the overall method by which the king of the North works to intercept worship for himself. By setting up forms of false worship that people will pay homage to, he plants himself between the seas, meaning peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues (Revelation 17:15) and the glorious holy mountain, signifying God’s dwelling place.

Daniel was shown in vision the placement of tabernacles (or tents) for worship of the deceiver between the people and God. This description is accompanied by numerous references to deceptive worship in Revelation 13. Worship, parallel #14, is the central issue in both of the prophetic passages we have been comparing. Isaiah had been shown the intentions of the leader of fallen angels who said in [his] heart, “I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north” (Isaiah 14:13). In Revelation 13, none of the five references to worship are worship of the Lord Jesus or our heavenly Father. The two beasts of this chapter represent two systems that are former enemies.

The beast that rose up out of the sea (v.1) is the Dark Ages system that harnessed the power of civil governments to enforce worship as defined by the Roman Catholic Church. Those who protested against practices out of alignment with God’s word were labeled “heretics” and driven into hiding. Many crossed the Atlantic to escape persecution.

The beast that came up out of the earth set up a new system with two horns like a lamb (v.11). With the purpose of making a distinction between the first four and the last six of the Ten Commandments, the founding fathers of our nation agreed that civil government can and should enforce laws protecting families, property, and safety – aspects of human relations covered by the last six Commandments. At the same time, they agreed that it is entirely inappropriate for any government to try to control man’s relationship with God. Every person should be free to worship according to conscience; this includes the freedom not to worship.

These two systems, once at odds with each other, are becoming “friends,” which might sound good, except that it’s at the expense of truth (see Luke 23:12). Protestants, who were well on their way to fully rediscovering the simplicity that is in Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2-3) have fallen away from the pursuit of pure Biblical practices (Revelation 3:1-3). They have forgotten their protest against false worship! As for the “Mother Church” (Revelation 17:5), she has stood by her list of ancient pagan practices introduced into the Christian church during the 3rd and 4th centuries (Revelation 2:18-23). She pronounces herself infallible and teaches that her wayward children (Protestants) will return to her (Isaiah 47:8-9). God has stated plainly that this Babylonian system is not going to change (Jeremiah 51:9; Revelation 18:2,4).

Jesus said, “Why do you transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? …Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. …And in vain they worship Me teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. …Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Matthew 15:3,6,9,13