June 16: UNTIL . . . THE TIME OF THE END BEGINS

And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time. Daniel 11:35

Toward the end of the 1260 years of papal supremacy, the spirit of persecution was somewhat restrained, but not destroyed. Whenever opportunity arose, this persecuting spirit manifested itself. This was especially the case in England. The religious atmosphere was in flux, depending upon the religious identity of the ruling monarch: Catholic or Protestant. For example, the queen known as “Bloody Mary” was a staunch Catholic. She was resolved to be a mortal enemy of the Protestant cause, which had relatively recently taken root in England. For over a thousand years, England had been a Catholic country. This widespread belief system included a rule that one who challenged religious authority was deemed a heretic. The crime of heresy was on the same level as treason: punishable by death. The most common, long-accepted, execution method across Europe was public burning at the stake. God’s faithful people throughout the environs of the old Roman Empire knew of this risk; yet, they overcame . . . by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death (Revelation 12:11).

Daniel reminds his readers that the time of the end would begin at God’s appointed time. This time would be clearly marked by the taking away of papal supremacy. If this application is correct, the time of the end began in 1798. This is when the papacy was overthrown by the French – by order of Napoleon.* Since that time, the papacy has not had its ability to wield the power it possessed during the Dark Ages. But what seemed to be a mortal wound (Revelation 13:3) will turn out to be temporary. This wound will soon be completely healed, and the papacy will aggressively resume its agenda of world dominance, backed by unparalleled civil power.

Just as in Jesus’ day and during the Dark Ages, the religious authorities never actually carried out executions. Religious leaders were “judge and jury”, followed by the civil authority who played the role of executioner.

Throughout the 1260 years, the cruel and twisted representations of God by the established church—distinguished by the use of force and coercion—had fostered an enormous, and growing, class of atheists who repeatedly declared: “If that is the god you serve, I want nothing to do with him.” The French Revolution was marked by the public burning of Bibles, based on the assumption that God was a tyrant, just as He had been represented by the church of Rome. Paul addressed his own people, the Jews, for the corruption that had prevailed among them and a similar “high and mighty” attitude:

You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written. Romans 2:23-24

See also Isaiah 52:5; Ezekiel 36:22; Matthew 5:5; 11:29-30; John 14:15; 1 John 5:3

*Napoleon’s general Berthier marched his troops into Rome, removed the pope from his throne, and set up a secular government. To the world, this seemed the end of the papacy.