July 4, 2022

And he [the earth beast] exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. Revelation 13:12

When Napoleon had the pope removed from his throne in 1798, the 1260-year reign of the first beast—the papacy—came to an end. Or did it? In reality it came to a temporary pause, but has slowly been swelling in power ever since. John the Revelator was shown one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded and his deadly wound was healed (v.3).

As the papacy has been recovering from its deadly wound, the United States has grown from a seedling to a well-known military and economic power. In a sense, the USA has stepped into the role of policing the world.

As was papal Rome (Daniel 7:21, 25; Revelation 13:7), the USA, in clasping hands with the papacy, will eventually become a persecuting power that will compel worship that is out of harmony with scripture and against individual conscience. As it exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, the command will likely be couched under the heading of “preservation of the earth.” As the earth beast begins to speak like a dragon (13:11), it will move into the role of false prophet (16:13) and urge everyone in the world to declare allegiance to the antichrist, to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

These things may seem unlikely in light of the founding principles of our country. But already an about-face has occurred. Persecuted Christians came to these shores to escape papal rule. And now North American Protestantism is clasping hands with papal Rome as we quietly glide toward a one-world system of government that combines church and state. This is the image to the first beast (13:14) that reigned unhindered from AD538-AD1798.

Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. Revelation 13:10b