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Series Code: TAM
Program Code: TAM000010S
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00:30 Let's pray. Our beloved heavenly Father, today we're going to
00:37 study a very important subject; a subject upon which 00:42 the Christian world, to a great degree, is confused. 00:46 We're going to discuss the identity of the beast 00:50 that rises from the sea. 00:51 Therefore, Father, we ask for the guidance 00:55 of Your Holy Spirit. 00:56 We ask that You will give us understanding, that we might 00:59 understand things as You understand them. 01:02 And, Father, I ask that everyone who listens to this 01:08 presentation, and watches it, might have clarity of thought 01:12 to know who the beast is, and how to escape its power. 01:16 And we thank You for hearing our prayer, for we ask it in the 01:21 precious name of Jesus, Amen. 01:24 During the next four presentations we are going to 01:30 study some very important things about the third angel's message. 01:34 This evening we're going to study about 01:38 Revelation's sea beast. 01:40 The third angel's message says, If anybody worships the beast. 01:44 Then in our next lecture we are going to study 01:48 about the land beast. 01:50 It's a beast that rises from the earth in Revelation 13:11-18. 01:55 Then in the following lecture we are going to talk about the 02:00 image to the beast. 02:03 And after that we will discuss the number of the beast. 02:08 So we have several very important lectures coming up, 02:12 and I hope that you'll make it a point to be here to listen 02:16 to these important lectures. 02:17 Now in order to understand the sea beast of Revelation 13, 02:21 we have to go back to Daniel 7. 02:24 So I'm just briefly going to review the content of Daniel 7. 02:28 There we have four beasts. 02:30 The first beast is a lion, the second is a bear, the third is 02:34 a leopard, and the fourth is a dragon beast, 02:37 or a non-descript beast. 02:40 The lion represents the kingdom of Babylon. 02:45 The bear represents the kingdom of the Medes and Persians. 02:49 The leopard represents the kingdom of Greece. 02:52 The dragon beast represents Rome; 02:58 represents the Roman empire. 03:00 So in Daniel 7 we have clearly delineated four kingdoms: 03:05 Babylon, Medo Persia, Greece, and Rome. 03:10 Now it's interesting to notice that this fourth beast, 03:15 the dragon beast, which represents Rome, 03:18 has four stages of existence. 03:21 In other words, it has four consecutive stages of dominion, 03:25 this fourth beast. 03:27 I'd like to go to Daniel 7:23, 24, where we find these stages 03:34 of dominion of the fourth beast, Rome. 03:37 It says in Daniel 7:23, 03:55 So the first stage of this fourth beast, which represents 03:59 Rome, is this dragon beast ruling by itself. 04:05 It has no horns. It is just governing as a beast. 04:10 But now I want you to notice that there's a second stage 04:14 to this fourth beast, to Rome. 04:16 Daniel 7, and notice verse 24. 04:24 Actually, yes, verse 24. It says: 04:36 So what do the ten horns represent? ten kings, 04:40 or kingdoms that will arise from this fourth kingdom. 04:43 So now we see two stages of this fourth beast. 04:47 First of all the fourth beast ruling by itself. 04:50 Then after it rules for awhile, we're told that ten kings, 04:56 or kingdoms, will come out of this kingdom. 04:59 In other words, this kingdom will be divided. 05:02 And that's exactly what happened to Rome. 05:04 See the Roman empire governed by itself for an 05:07 extended period of time: from the Old Testament, 05:11 168 B.C. all the way to 476 A.D. 05:15 But what happened in 476 A.D. is that the Roman empire was 05:20 divided into ten kingdoms, as a result of the barbarian 05:25 invasions from the Northern sector of the empire. 05:28 And so you have the dragon beast by itself. 05:30 This is the Roman empire. 05:32 Then you have the ten horns, which represent Rome, 05:36 in a divided state, as a result of the barbarian invasions. 05:39 But now I want you to notice that there's a third stage. 05:42 Daniel 7:24 and 25. 05:48 It says there in verse 24: 05:55 After which? after the ten. 06:23 So we have three stages of this fourth beast clearly delineated 06:28 in Daniel 7:23-25, the dragon beast ruling by itself. 06:35 That's the Roman empire. 06:36 The dragon beast with the ten horns. 06:38 That's the divided Roman empire. 06:40 And it was fully divided in the year 476. 06:43 And then, among those ten kingdoms of Western Europe, 06:48 you have a little horn that arises, and this little horn 06:53 rules for time, times, and half a time. 06:56 Now what does this little horn represent? 07:01 I'm going to go through these characteristics very fast, 07:04 because I'm going to come to one specific point that I want to 07:08 dwell on most of the lecture. 07:10 Let's notice ten characteristics of this little horn, 07:15 which identifies clearly what it represents. 07:19 First of all, the little horn rises after 07:23 the ten are in place. 07:25 The ten are the divisions of Rome, 07:28 what today is Western Europe, which means that the little horn 07:33 was going to arise after the year 476, when the Roman empire 07:38 was divided, because the little horn rises among the ten, 07:42 and after the ten. 07:44 So the first two characteristics that show who this little horn 07:47 is, is first of all it rises after the ten horns; 07:51 secondly it rises among the ten horns; 07:54 thirdly it rises from the dragon. 07:57 So let me ask you, must the little horn be Roman? Of course. 08:01 It rises from the head of the fourth beast. 08:03 The fourth beast is Rome. 08:04 So this little horn must be Roman. 08:08 4. He uproots three of the ten kingdoms. 08:13 5. He speaks great words against God, which Revelation 08:17 identifies as blasphemies. 08:20 6. He persecutes the saints of the Most High. 08:25 He persecutes the saints of God. 08:27 7. He rules for time, times, and half a time. 08:32 And, by the way, that is equivalent to 1,260 days. 08:37 But in prophecy days are equal to years, which means that the 08:41 little horn governs for 1,260 years. 08:46 Characteristic 8. The little horn thought that he could 08:53 change God's holy law. 08:55 Characteristic 9. The little horn thought that he could 09:00 change God's times. 09:02 And 10. And this is what we're going to dwell on especially, 09:06 the little horn will have another period of dominion 09:10 after its power was taken away at the end of the 1,260 years. 09:16 In other words, the little horn has two periods of dominion: 09:19 a past stage, and a future stage. 09:22 Now the question is, What does this little horn represent? 09:26 I'm going to be open and frank with you. 09:30 There is only one power in the world that fits every single 09:35 one of these characteristics that we've taken a look at, 09:38 and that is the Roman Catholic Papacy. 09:41 And let me go quickly through the reasons why. 09:44 1. Did the papacy rise after Rome was divided? Yes. 09:53 Did the papacy arise among the nations of Western Europe? Yes. 09:58 Did the papacy rise from Rome, the fourth beast, 10:03 the fourth kingdom? Yes. 10:05 Did the papacy uproot three of those kingdoms? Yes. 10:09 I wish I had time to talk more about that. 10:11 The Vandals, the Heruli, and the Ostrogoths were uprooted 10:15 by the papacy, because they did not agree with 10:18 the papacy's theology. 10:19 The great words are blasphemies, are defined in the Bible as 10:24 someone who claims to be God on earth, and someone who 10:26 claims to have the power to forgive sins. 10:29 Does the papacy claim, at least did it claim in the past, that 10:32 the Pope is the representative of God on earth? Absolutely. 10:36 Does the papacy say that it has the right to forgive sins? 10:39 Absolutely. It's called the confessional. 10:42 Did the Roman Catholic Papacy persecute the saints 10:46 of the Most High? It most certainly did. 10:48 You know of things, for example, like the Inquisition. 10:52 Did the Roman Catholic Papacy rule for exactly 1,260 years? 10:58 Absolutely. From 538 to 1798. 11:03 Did the papacy claim to have power to change God's holy law? 11:07 Absolutely. You look in the Catechism's, and we're going to 11:11 talk more about this in a future lecture, you'll find in the 11:14 Catechism's that the second commandment has disappeared. 11:18 So when you take out one commandment, you still have to 11:22 have ten, so the Catechism's divide the tenth 11:24 commandment in two. 11:26 And they say, Don't covet your neighbor's goods, 11:28 and don't covet your neighbor's wife, as if those are two 11:31 separate and different commandments. 11:33 Furthermore, the papacy, as we're going to study, 11:36 has claimed to have the power to change God's holy day of rest 11:40 from Sabbath to Sunday. 11:42 That's where the observance of Sunday really originates. 11:45 Furthermore, the papacy made the attempt 11:49 to change God's times. 11:51 Now I don't have time to get into all of this issue about the 11:53 times, but the word times in Scripture is referring to 11:57 God's prophetic calendar; how God says that prophetic events 12:01 are going to take place or transpire. 12:03 And if I had time I would talk to you about two Roman Catholic 12:07 priests who actually established two rival methods of 12:11 interpreting prophecy. 12:13 One is preterism, established by Luis De Alcazar, who said that 12:17 the prophecies about the antichrist were fulfilled 12:20 in the past with a nasty individual 12:21 called Antiochus Epiphanes. 12:23 And another one arose, Francisco Ribera, who said that prophecy, 12:27 you know, all those prophecies about the antichrist, 12:30 they're going to be fulfilled in the distant future. 12:32 And so what happened is God's prophetic calendar, which showed 12:36 that the papacy was fulfilling these prophecies, was changed 12:40 to the past, and to the distant future. 12:43 Certainly the papacy attempted to change God's prophetic times. 12:48 So every single detail fits the Roman Catholic papacy to a T. 12:54 Now I mentioned that the papacy actually has two 12:58 stages of dominion. 13:00 Now let me explain that in Daniel 7 the second stage of 13:04 the dominion of the papacy is implicit. 13:07 It's not explicit. 13:08 In other words, we know that it's there, 13:11 but it's not explicitly there. 13:13 You say, How do we know that? 13:14 Well, Daniel 7:26, 27 tells us something very important. 13:20 It says there: 13:26 That is the little horn's dominion. 13:46 Question: Is the little horn the power that is going to be ruling 13:51 when Jesus comes? Yes, because it says here that dominion will 13:56 be taken away from him and given to the saints of the Most High. 14:00 That means that the papacy must have two periods of dominion: 14:05 one in the past 1,260 years, and one in the future, where it will 14:10 control, basically, the political systems of the world, 14:14 as we're going to study, and will be destroyed 14:16 by the brightness of the coming of Christ. 14:19 And so, clearly this prophecy is pointing towards 14:24 the Roman Catholic papacy. 14:26 Now I'd like to review then the four stages of this fourth 14:33 beast that we're talking about in our lecture today. 14:37 The first stage of this fourth beast is the fourth 14:41 beast ruling by itself. 14:42 That's Rome, the Roman Empire. 14:45 The second stage is Rome in a divided state; the ten kingdoms 14:51 that came forth from Rome. 14:52 The third stage is the little horn ruling 14:55 during the 1,260 years. 14:58 And the fourth stage is when the little horn rises once again 15:03 to power at the end of time. 15:06 Now Revelation 13:1-10 describes this same power, 15:14 only it doesn't call this power the little horn. 15:18 It calls this power the beast. 15:21 In fact, go with me to Revelation 13:1, 2, 15:26 Revelation 13:1, 2. 15:30 You're going to see an immediate link with the 15:34 prophecy of Daniel 7. It says: 15:52 Question: Do we have the same beasts in Revelation 13:2 15:57 as we found in Daniel 7? Absolutely. 16:00 Is there a link then between Daniel 7 and Revelation 13? 16:07 Absolutely. You have a lion, a bear, a leopard, a dragon, 16:13 and, by the way, Revelation 12 says that the 16:15 dragon has ten horns. 16:17 And then the dragon with ten horns gives his 16:19 power to the beast. 16:21 So I want you to notice this. 16:23 In Daniel 7 you have lion, bear, leopard, dragon, 16:26 ten horns, little horn. 16:28 In Revelation 13 you have lion, bear, leopard, 16:32 dragon, ten horns, beast. 16:36 In other words, the little horn is the same as the beast, 16:40 because you have the same sequence of powers. 16:43 And not only the same sequence of powers, but the beast does 16:46 the same things that the little horn did for the 16:48 same period of time. 16:50 Notice Revelation 13, so that you can catch the clear 16:53 reference to the same activities, and time period of 16:57 the beast that the little horn exercised. 16:59 Revelation 13:5: 17:04 This is the beast. 17:08 Is that what the little horn did? Absolutely. 17:10 And he was given authority to continue how long? 42 months. 17:15 Is that the same as time, times, and a half time? Absolutely. 17:20 3.5 times, or 31/2 years times 360 days each year, is 1,260. 17:26 42 months, times 30 days each month is 1,260. 17:32 It's the same time period. 17:34 And notice what it continues saying. This is verse 7. 17:48 So let me ask you, Is the sequence of powers the same in 17:52 Daniel 7, and in Revelation 13? Absolutely. 17:55 Are their activities the same? Absolutely! 17:59 So there's two ways we can know that the little horn is 18:01 the same as the beast: 1. Because it's the same 18:05 sequence of powers. 18:06 2. Because the little horn, and the beast perform the same 18:11 activities during the same period of time. 18:14 But you remember that in Daniel 7 we noticed that 18:19 the second stage of the little horn is implicit. 18:23 We know that the little horn's going to be ruling when Christ 18:25 comes, so it's going to have another stage of power, 18:29 or another stage of dominion, but it doesn't come out real 18:33 clearly in the text. 18:34 But in Revelation 13 it comes out very clearly that the little 18:39 horn has two stages, or the beast has two 18:42 stages of existence. 18:44 Notice Revelation 13:3. 18:54 Who was mortally wounded? 18:58 One of the heads of the beast. 19:01 And that was it, right? he received a deadly wound; 19:05 finished forever. No, it says: 19:17 So do we have four stages, clearly, of this Roman power, 19:23 this number four power. 19:25 Do we have four stages, very clearly? Yes. 19:27 We have the dragon by itself. 19:29 We have the dragon with the ten horns. 19:31 We have the dragon with the little horn. 19:33 The little horn receives a deadly wound. 19:35 And then the deadly wound is healed. 19:37 That's stage number four. 19:39 Rome, Rome divided, Papal Rome in its first stage, 19:44 1,260 years, and then Rome recovering its power after 19:49 it receives the deadly wound. 19:51 Now we need to ask some critical questions about this deadly 19:57 wound that the beast received at the end of the 1,260 years. 20:01 Here are the questions that we're going to attempt to answer 20:05 in the last part of our study today. 20:09 With what weapon was the beast wounded? 20:13 What weapon gave the beast it's deadly wound? 20:17 Question 2 is going to answer Question 1. 20:21 What does the sword represent? 20:24 See, the beast received the deadly wound with the sword. 20:29 What does the sword represent? 20:31 3. How and when did the beast acquire the sword, 20:36 because the Bible says that he killed with sword, 20:38 and he would be killed with the sword. 20:40 So the question is, How did the beast acquire the sword 20:43 so that he could kill with that sword? 20:45 4. What is the meaning of the deadly wound? 20:50 In what sense was the beast wounded to death? 20:54 5. What keeps the deadly wound from healing? 20:58 Because this beast convalesces for awhile. 21:02 What keeps the deadly wound from healing? 21:05 And finally, when and how will the wound be 21:09 healed, and by whom? 21:10 Now, first of all, we want to talk about the weapon that 21:14 wounded the beast. 21:15 Revelation 13:10 tells us what weapon wounded the beast. 21:20 It says there: 21:26 Which is what the beast did; you read the context. 21:40 What did the beast use the sword for? 21:43 The beast used the sword to kill. 21:47 And the same sword that the beast used to kill would be the 21:50 sword that would what? would give it the deadly wound. 21:54 Someone might object and say, Well, Pastor Bohr, 21:58 but it doesn't really say there that the beast was 22:01 killed with the sword. 22:03 It says, Whoever kills with the sword, 22:05 will be killed with the sword. 22:07 But notice verse 14 of chapter 13. 22:10 And here it's explicit that it was the beast that killed 22:12 with the sword, and the beast that was killed with the sword, 22:15 or received the mortal wound. 22:17 It says in Revelation 13:14, 22:28 Now listen to this. 22:33 So who was wounded with the sword? the beast. 22:37 So the beast used the sword to kill. 22:39 And the same sword that it used to kill was going to 22:43 give the beast the deadly wound. 22:46 So the question is, what is the sword? 22:50 Well, in the Bible the sword has two different meanings. 22:56 Let's go to Ephesians 6:17 where we have the first 23:01 meaning of the sword. It says: 23:12 So what does the sword represent in the first instance? 23:16 It represents what? the word of God, the Bible. 23:18 Let me ask you, To whom did Jesus give this sword? 23:21 We studied this in our last lecture. 23:23 To whom did He give this sword? 23:25 He gave this sword to the church. Right? 23:28 And how does the church use this sword? by preaching the word of 23:32 God through the power of the Holy Spirit, right? 23:35 This sword belongs to the church. 23:37 But let me ask you, Does the Bible speak about 23:41 a different sword? 23:42 It most certainly does. 23:43 By the way, this is not the sword that wounded the beast. 23:47 You say, How do we know that it wasn't this sword 23:50 that wounded the beast? 23:51 Because the prophecy says that the beast killed with the sword, 23:55 and he would be killed with the sword. 23:57 Let me tell you, the papacy did not use the 24:00 Bible to kill people. 24:01 In fact it forbade, for a long time, the reading of the Bible. 24:05 And so it cannot mean the Bible here. 24:08 The sword must represent something 24:11 different than Scripture. 24:12 And in the Bible, by the way, symbols are flexible. 24:16 They can have different meanings in different context. 24:20 So the question is, What does the sword represent? 24:23 Romans 13:1-4 has the answer, Romans 13:1-4. 24:42 What is meant by the authority, by the way? 24:44 All the times it's used here? 24:46 It's referring to the government, 24:47 the civil government. 24:58 These are civil rulers. 25:06 That is of the civil government? 25:18 Now don't miss this point. 25:34 Is there another sword in Scripture? Yes. 25:37 What is that sword? 25:38 It's the sword that is in the hand of the civil power. 25:41 Now listen to what I'm going to say. 25:43 Is this sword the Bible? No. 25:46 This sword is the mandate that God has given to the civil power 25:53 to punish violations of civil law. 25:57 Not religious law, but civil law, as we studied 26:01 in our last lecture. 26:03 In other words, there are two swords. 26:04 One sword has been given to the church, and the other sword 26:08 has been given to the state. 26:10 The sword that has been given to the church is the Bible. 26:12 The sword that has been given to the state is that of civil power 26:17 and inflicting penalties on those who violate civil law. 26:21 Let me ask you, Did Jesus establish both 26:24 of these kingdoms? 26:25 Did He establish both swords? 26:28 Of course He did. Did Jesus say, Upon this rock 26:32 I will build My church? 26:34 He most certainly did. 26:36 He said to Peter, I will give you the keys to the kingdom? 26:40 And He wasn't only speaking to Peter. 26:42 He was speaking to all of the apostles. 26:44 In other words, the church is one kingdom, and the church has 26:48 the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 26:51 But did God also establish the civil power? Yes. 26:54 Because in Romans 13 it says clearly that 26:57 he is God's minister. 26:59 Now you remember when the mob came to arrest Jesus 27:03 in the garden of Gethsemane. 27:05 There was one disciple, Peter, who wanted to defend 27:10 the kingdom of Christ. 27:11 And how did he want to defend it? 27:13 Supposedly he was the first pope, although we know that 27:18 Biblically and historically, that's not true. 27:20 But, anyway, he took out his sword, and he swung at 27:23 the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. 27:27 And he wasn't aiming for his ear. 27:29 He was aiming for his head, but he missed. 27:32 And what did Jesus say to Peter? 27:34 He said, Well done, Peter. 27:36 Defend My kingdom with the sword. 27:37 Make everybody obey Me. 27:39 Is that what He said? No! 27:42 Notice the very interesting words that Peter spoke 27:48 and that Jesus used to rebuke Peter. Matthew 26:52. 28:02 Are those words very similar to Revelation 13:10, where it says 28:06 that he who kills with the sword must be killed with what? 28:10 with the sword. This is speaking about the sword, 28:13 the literal sword that is used to defend Christ's kingdom; 28:16 the sword of the state, of the civil power 28:19 to defend Christ's kingdom. 28:20 And Christ would have absolutely nothing of it. 28:22 A little bit later Jesus was in Pilate's court, John 18:36. 28:28 Pilate asked Jesus, Are you a king? 28:31 And notice what Jesus said. 28:35 How many kingdoms did Jesus recognize? 28:37 He recognized two kingdoms. He said: 28:47 They would use the physical sword. They would fight. 28:57 So the question is, what is the deadly wound? 29:01 We can only understand the deadly wound if we understand 29:05 what the sword is. 29:06 The sword that is spoken of in this prophecy is 29:10 the ability of using the civil power to those 29:14 who disobey civil law. 29:17 But what happened with the beast? 29:19 The beast is a religious power, right? 29:22 And the beast used the sword to punish everyone who was not 29:26 in agreement with the beast's theology, 29:30 or belief system, or teachings. 29:32 Are you understanding what I'm saying? 29:34 In other words, as we've studied before, it's the church taking 29:38 the sword of the state to punish dissenters 29:41 who are not in harmony with her. 29:44 And the sword that the church used, the sword of the state 29:48 that the church used to kill, would be the sword that would 29:51 arise to give her the deadly wound. 29:55 In other words, the deadly wound is nothing less or more 29:58 than taking away from the hand of the church 30:01 the sword of the state. 30:03 In other words the state was going to turn against the church 30:07 that had used the power of the state to persecute people 30:10 who did not agree with the church. 30:12 Now the question is, How did the papacy obtain the sword? 30:16 Well, between the year 300 and the year 476 A.D. there were a 30:22 series of barbarian invasions into the Roman Empire. 30:28 The last Roman Emperor was Romulus Agustulus, 30:32 and he was deposed in the year 476. 30:35 There was no more Emperor in Rome. 30:37 As a result, Rome became a kingdom without a ruler. 30:41 Everything was turned upside down. 30:43 The empire was in disarray, in a chaotic situation. 30:49 And in this chaotic situation the barbarian kingdoms enticed 30:56 the Bishop of Rome to bring law and order to the empire. 31:01 And he accepted not only the role of being the spiritual 31:07 leader of these kingdoms, but also the civil, or the political 31:12 leader of these same nations. 31:14 Allow me to read you some very interesting statements written 31:19 by historians about this event. 31:21 Notice this is from Cardinal Henry Edward Manning, 31:28 a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. 31:29 He explains what happened when the empire fell apart. He says: 31:49 At least he believes so. 31:57 What happened when the successor of Peter, as he calls him, 32:02 took over the reins of the civil government? What happened? 32:05 The chains what? fell off. 32:07 So he says: When by divine intervention the chains fell off 32:23 He further states this: The papacy... 32:33 So the papacy, while Rome was in place and governing, 32:37 was what? restrained, because he says: 32:47 Listen to this. 32:51 So what is the liberation of the papacy? 32:54 the falling off of the chains. 32:56 It means that now the papacy can govern, not only in religious 32:59 affairs, but also in what? in civil affairs. 33:03 And so he says, The papacy 33:16 That's a political power. 33:20 By the way, this is what the apostle Paul was talking about 33:23 in 2 Thessalonians 2:6, 7. 33:26 Have you ever read about the mysterious restrainer 33:28 that needed to be removed for the man of sin 33:33 to manifest himself? 33:34 Notice 2 Thessalonians 2:6, 7. 33:37 The apostle Paul says: 33:42 Restraining the man of sin. 33:44 See, he was restrained. 33:46 By the way, that restrainer, all of the early church fathers 33:51 say that the restrainer is the Roman Empire. So it says: 34:04 Which is the Emperor, by the way. 34:12 So what is it that liberated the papacy so that it could use 34:16 the sword of civil power? 34:18 It was the fact that the barbarian invasions threw 34:21 the Roman Empire into upheaval and chaos, 34:26 and so those nations said to the Bishop of Rome, 34:29 You need to bring law and order. 34:30 Govern upon us not only in religious affairs, 34:35 but also in civil affairs. 34:37 I want to read you some statements from some theologians 34:40 on the style of government that existed during the Middle Ages. 34:45 This statement is by James Conroy, a Roman Catholic. 34:49 He says this: 35:02 Notice this. 35:09 Who was that that they asked to rule? the Bishop of Rome. 35:13 Today he's called the pope. 35:28 Notice the terminology. 35:42 Here's another statement from another historian, 35:45 Carl Conrad Eckhardt. He says: 35:51 In other words, they had no political power. 36:01 Also the ten divisions, the ten horns. 36:14 R. W. Southern, another historian. 36:17 These are all, by the way, non-Adventist theologians, 36:21 and historians. R. W. Southern says this: 36:30 That is civil. 36:41 And John N. Figgis has this interesting comment. He says: 36:59 Are you catching the picture of what this is talking about? 37:02 What was the sword that the Roman Catholic Papacy 37:05 had in its hand? It was the sword. 37:07 Not of the Bible. It didn't use the Bible to persuade, 37:10 or to kill people. 37:11 It used the civil power to accomplish its purposes, 37:15 which it took over when the Roman Empire fell. 37:17 By the way, it's interesting to read a bull 37:22 by Pope Bonifus VII. 37:25 It was written in the year 1302. 37:29 The name of the bull is Unam sanctum. 37:31 And notice how he interprets the two swords. 37:34 He says this: We are informed by the texts of the gospels 37:38 that in this church... 37:41 That is the Roman Catholic Church. 37:42 ...and in its power are two swords. 37:46 So the church has how many swords? 37:47 According to the Bible, how many swords does the church have? 37:50 one. According to the Roman Catholic Church, how many swords 37:53 does he have? two. 37:55 Notice: We are informed by the texts of the gospels that in 37:58 this church, and in its power, are two swords: namely the 38:03 spiritual and the temporal. 38:05 Both, therefore, are in the power of the church. 38:09 That is to say, the spiritual and the material sword. 38:14 But the former, that is the spiritual, is to be administered 38:18 for the church, but the latter, that is the temporal, 38:22 by the church. The former in the hands of the priest. 38:26 In other words, Scripture in the hands of the priests; 38:29 and the latter by the hands of kings and soldiers. 38:33 That's the temporal sword. 38:34 But notice how it ends. 38:36 But at the will and sufferance of the priest. 38:39 Are you catching what this, what Revelation is talking about? 38:43 Revelation 13, when it says, He who kills with the sword 38:47 will be killed with the sword. 38:48 How did the papacy kill with the sword? 38:50 It did not do it as a church, it actually influenced 38:54 the state to do it. 38:55 Do you remember our last lecture where we talked about what 38:58 happened to Jesus? 38:59 Could the church execute the penalty upon those, 39:03 upon Jesus Christ? Absolutely not. 39:06 So what did they have to do? 39:08 They had to go to Pilate, and they had to get the help 39:11 of the civil power to kill Christ. 39:13 Is that the very same thing that happened during the 39:16 Middle Ages when the saints of the Most High 39:18 were killed by this power? Absolutely. 39:20 That's what prophecy teaches. 39:22 So the question is, What happened in 1798? 39:25 It must be that the sword that the beast used to kill, 39:29 that sword arose and gave it the deadly wound. 39:33 So who would give the deadly wound to the beast? 39:35 It would have to be the what? the state. 39:38 The civil power would have to give the papacy the wound, 39:41 because the sword represents the civil power. 39:44 So if he killed with the sword of the civil power, 39:47 and that sword is going to hurt him, or is going to give him the 39:51 deadly wound, it must mean that the civil power would give 39:54 the church the deadly wound. 39:56 And that's exactly what happened in 1798. 39:59 1798 was the culmination of the French Revolution. 40:03 The French Revolution started in 1789, and it was a reaction 40:10 against kingly intolerance, and it was against priestly 40:14 power wrongly exercised. 40:16 And on February 12, 1798 General Berthier, the general of the 40:21 troops of Napoleon Bonaparte, entered Vatican City, 40:24 arrested Pope Pius VI, and took him prisoner to France 40:29 where he died in exile. 40:32 And so everybody thought that the papacy, at this point, 40:35 had been killed by this civil power of France. 40:39 In fact, let me read you some interesting statements from 40:41 historians where they say that everybody thought that 40:44 the papacy was dead. 40:46 And these are secular historians. 40:47 Notice this first one. 40:49 The papacy was extinct. 40:52 Not a vestige of its existence remained. 40:55 And among all the Roman Catholic powers, not a finger was 40:59 stirred in its defense. 41:01 The Eternal City had no longer prince or pontiff. 41:07 It's bishop was dying captive in foreign lands. 41:10 And the decree was already announced that no successor 41:13 would be allowed in its place. 41:16 In another quotation Joseph Rickaby says this 41:20 about the French Revolution, and the deadly wound. 41:23 No wonder that half of Europe thought Napoleon's veto... 41:26 The veto means that Napoleon had said, No more pope's. 41:30 No wonder that half of Europe thought Napoleon's veto would 41:33 be obeyed, and that with the pope the papacy was dead. 41:38 Another: T. H. Gill in his book, The Papal Drama, says this about 41:43 what happened in 1798: Multitudes imagined that the 41:47 papacy was at the point of death and asked, Would Pius VI 41:52 be the last pontiff? and if the close of the 18th century would 41:56 be signalized by the fall of the papal dynasty. 42:00 And one further quotation: The papacy had suffered its deepest 42:03 humiliation, and appeared to be annihilated. 42:07 Notice the terminology: appeared to be annihilated. 42:10 The revolution also dealt it the wound, which it seemed did not 42:16 want to heal until far into the 20th century. 42:20 And the ironic thing is that the first nation that gave the Roman 42:23 Catholic Papacy temporary power was Clovis, King of the Franks, 42:27 in the year 508. That's why France is known as the eldest 42:31 daughter of the papacy. 42:32 And the very nation that first gave temporal power 42:36 to the Roman Catholic Church withdrew that power, 42:40 ironically, from her in 1798. 42:43 The French Revolution was a catastrophic 42:46 event for the papacy. 42:47 In fact, in the aftermath of the French Revolution, 42:51 country after country, in the Western world turned democratic. 42:55 They were emancipated from the power of the church during the 42:59 Middle Ages, using them to persecute the 43:02 saints of the Most High. 43:03 And it appeared that the papacy was dead. 43:06 Prophecy tells us that the deadly wound was 43:10 going to be healed. 43:12 Notice Revelation 13:3. 43:16 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded. 43:21 What was it wounded with? with a sword. 43:23 What did the beast wound with? the sword. 43:27 And his deadly wound was healed, and all the world marveled 43:31 and followed the beast. 43:32 Let me ask you, If the deadly wound is removing the sword 43:36 from the hand of the beast, what must be the healing 43:40 of the deadly wound? 43:42 It must be restoring, once again, the sword to the hand 43:46 of the beast so that the sword can use the civil power, 43:49 once again, to persecute. 43:50 Are you with me or are you not with me? I hope so. 43:54 Now the question is, Why hasn't the mortal wound healed yet? 43:59 Let me read you a statement by Malachi Martin, 44:02 Roman Catholic Jesuit. 44:04 He wrote in 1986 a very revealing statement. 44:08 I don't think he really realized what he was writing, 44:11 and the prophetic implications of it. 44:13 But he said in 1986: For 1500 years and more Rome... 44:20 He's talking about the Roman Church. 44:22 ...Rome had kept as strong a hand as possible in each local 44:27 community around the wide world. 44:29 So notice, for 1500 years Rome had kept a strong hand in every 44:35 local community around the world. 44:36 And then he says this: By and large, and admitting some 44:41 exceptions, that had been the Roman view. 44:44 What had been the Roman view? exercising power with the what? 44:48 with a strong hand, right? 44:52 That had been the Roman view. 44:53 So he says: By and large, and admitting some exceptions, 44:59 that had been the Roman view until 200 years of inactivity 45:05 had been imposed upon the papacy by the major secular 45:10 powers of the world. 45:12 What is it that keeps the deadly wound in place? 45:16 The major secular powers of the world, because they have not 45:20 allowed the papacy to climb on them again. 45:23 They have not allowed the papacy to use them. 45:26 Are we starting to see changes, even within 45:28 the United States of America? 45:29 We most certainly are. 45:31 We're seeing the church trying to appeal to the 45:35 arm of the state in order to get her agenda across. 45:39 Now let me ask you, if he wrote this in 1986, and he says that 45:43 200 years of inactivity have been imposed by the papacy, 45:46 by the major secular powers of the world. 45:48 If you go back 200 years where do you arrive? 45:51 You arrive at the time of the French Revolution. 45:54 He's saying, The French Revolution imposed 200 years 45:58 of inactivity upon the papacy. 46:00 And that inactivity is imposed by the major secular 46:03 powers of the world. Are you with me? 46:05 Ellen White wrote 100 years before Malachi Martin wrote, 46:11 and notice what she says. 46:12 Let the restraints now imposed by secular governments... 46:19 Who imposes the restraints? 46:20 Who imposed the restraint back in the time of the Roman Empire? 46:24 the civil power. But when the civil power was removed, 46:28 and the sword was given to the church, the chains fell off. 46:31 The restrainer was gone. Are you with me? 46:33 So when it receives a deadly wound, is this power restrained 46:36 again by the secular powers of the world? Yes. 46:39 Let the restraints now imposed by secular governments 46:42 be removed, and Rome be reinstated in her former power, 46:47 and there would speedily be a revival of her 46:51 tyranny and persecution. 46:53 Let me ask you than, What is it that keeps the 46:56 deadly wound in place? 46:58 The fact that the state does not allow itself to be used 47:02 as the state was used during the Middle Ages. 47:05 When will the deadly wound be healed? 47:07 When the sword, which turned against the papacy, will arise 47:12 and be given once again to the Roman Catholic Papacy to do what 47:18 she did during the 1,260 years. 47:20 Allow me to read you a very telling statement by 47:23 John W. Robbins. He's a reformed theologian. 47:26 He's not a Seventh-day Adventist. 47:28 He quotes actually Ayn Rand, who wrote this in 1967. 47:35 Notice what it says: The Catholic Church has never given 47:38 up the hope to re-establish... 47:41 What does re-establish mean? 47:43 Must have lost it, right? 47:46 The Catholic Church has never given up the hope to 47:50 re-establish the medieval union of church and state. 47:53 So are church and state united today? No. 47:56 She needs to re-establish it, right? 47:57 With a global state, and a global theocracy 48:03 as its ultimate goal, the Roman Church state is a hybrid; 48:08 a monster of ecclesiastical and political power. 48:14 What kind of power? ecclesiastical and what? 48:17 political power. It's political thought is totalitarian. 48:22 And whenever it has had the opportunity to apply its 48:26 principles, the result has been bloody repression. 48:30 If during the last 30 years it has softened its ascertains 48:35 of full supreme and irresponsible power, 48:38 and has murdered fewer people than before, such changes in 48:42 behavior are not due to a change in its ideas, but to a change in 48:46 it's circumstances. 48:48 Folks, because it has a deadly wound. 48:51 Notice what he continues saying. 48:54 The Roman Church state in the 20th century, however, 48:57 is an institution... 48:59 This is not a Seventh-day Adventist. 49:00 I don't think he interprets Revelation 13 the way we do. 49:03 But he says, The Roman Church state in the 20th century, 49:06 however, is an institution recovering from a mortal wound. 49:10 If, and when,... We would not say if, we would say when. 49:14 But he says, If, and when, it regains its full power, 49:19 and authority, it will impose a regime more sinister than any 49:26 the planet has yet seen. 49:28 What's going to happen when the beast receives 49:31 the sword once again? 49:33 It is going to have worldwide dominion, and it is going to 49:36 persecute like it did in the past, 49:38 no matter what it might appear like right now. 49:40 By the way, Dave Hunt caught this. 49:43 He wrote a book called, A Woman Rides the Beast. 49:47 Now a lot of the ideas in that book I don't agree with, 49:50 because I think there's a lot of error, but one thing that he 49:53 gets straight is that the woman that rides the beast represents 49:57 the Roman Catholic Church, and the beast represents 50:01 the civil powers of the world. 50:02 He got that right. 50:03 Now notice what he says. 50:05 Do you remember we spoke about this system being the harlot? 50:08 Notice what Dave Hunt says. 50:10 Why do world leaders want to get in bed with the Vatican? 50:14 Do you notice the fornication metaphor being used there? 50:18 The heads of state in today's world all recognize that the 50:23 pope wields a power, which in many ways is even 50:26 greater than their own. 50:27 It is not only Catholicism's 900 million subjects, and enormous 50:32 wealth that causes the world's most powerful governments to 50:35 call to make friendly relations with the Roman Catholic Church. 50:38 It is because Vatican City citizens are found in great 50:42 numbers in nearly every country. 50:43 They constitute an international network that reaches into the 50:48 inside circles of the world's power centers. 50:53 Malachi Martin wrote a book, a very famous book, 50:57 The Keys of This Blood. 50:58 He speaks about three systems that are vying for the dominion 51:02 of the world: capitalism, communism, 51:05 and Roman Catholicism. 51:07 And I want you to notice what he says. 51:08 This is a Jesuit priest. 51:10 By the way, he died under mysterious circumstances. 51:13 Notice what it says in The Keys of This Blood, page 18. 51:15 There is one great similarity shared by all three of these 51:19 global escapetitors: that is communism, capitalism, 51:22 and Roman Catholicism. 51:23 Each one has in mind a particular grand design for 51:27 one world governance. 51:28 What do each one of them want? one world what? governance. 51:32 Their geo-political competition is about which of the three 51:37 will form, dominate, and run the world system that will 51:43 replace the decaying nation system. 51:46 And then in some chilling words on page 16, he tells us this: 51:52 No holds barred, because once the competition has been 51:56 decided, the world and all that's in it: our way of life 52:00 as individuals, and as citizens of the nations, our families, 52:03 and our jobs, our trade, and commerce, and money, 52:05 our educational systems, and our religions, and our cultures, 52:09 even the badges of our national identity, which most of us have 52:13 always taken for granted, all will have been powerfully, 52:17 and radically altered forever. 52:19 No one can be exempted from its effects. 52:22 No sector of our lives will remain untouched. 52:26 Nobody who is acquainted with the plans of these three rivals 52:30 has any doubt but that only one of them can win. 52:37 Is that chilling? Does that tell you what the objective of 52:41 the Roman Catholic Church is? 52:42 It's world dominion by once again sitting on the civil 52:46 powers of the world to dominating control 52:48 as she did in the past. 52:50 You say, Well, she sounds so nice now, so conciliatory. 52:54 That's true! But let me say folks, and I say this solemnly, 52:58 that's the way the Devil works. 52:59 The Devil doesn't work openly. 53:01 He works underground. 53:03 He makes evil look good, and he makes good look evil. 53:08 Now what about the time frame? 53:10 How soon, in the mind of Malachi Martin, is this dominion 53:14 going to take place? 53:15 He says in his book, The Keys of This Blood, pages 15-16, 53:21 the following: As to the time factor involved, those of us who 53:26 are under seventy will see at least the basic structures 53:31 of the New World government installed. 53:34 And he says, under the Roman Catholic Papacy. Remember this. 53:39 Those of us under 40 will surely live under its legislative 53:44 executive and judiciary authority and control. 53:48 You need to get a copy of that book and read it. 53:53 I mean it's not covert. 53:56 There's nothing hidden there. 53:57 It openly tells you what the objective of the 54:00 Roman Catholic Church is. 54:01 And, by the way, Malachi Martin says it's inevitable that the 54:07 papacy is going to be the winner, because God has 54:09 willed it that way. 54:10 That's why he calls it The Keys of This Blood. 54:13 God has said that that's the way it's going to be, 54:15 and no human being can prevent it. 54:17 Now here's the big question: How is this deadly wound 54:25 going to be healed? 54:26 Who is going to bring about its healing? 54:30 And how is it going to happen? 54:37 We're going to study this in our next lecture: 54:41 Revelation's Land Beast. 54:44 We're going to find that the deadly wound will be healed 54:48 by the most unlikely nation in the world. 54:53 A nation that rises from the earth, and has two horns 54:58 like a lamb, but ends up speaking like a dragon. 55:02 You say, Pastor Bohr, what nation in its right mind 55:07 would return the sword to the papacy, knowing the historical 55:11 track record of the papacy? 55:13 What nation in its right mind would do such a thing? 55:17 The problem is that this nation is not going to be 55:20 in its right mind. 55:22 Remember when we talked about the wine of Babylon? 55:27 The wine of Babylon makes people drunk. 55:30 And when they're drunk they can't think straight. 55:34 Jeremiah 51:7 says that through the wine of Babylon 55:37 the nations became mad. 55:40 In Hebrew it means that the nations became deranged; 55:46 mentally ill, if you please. 55:49 The nations became as a result of drinking the wine of Babylon, 55:53 which are her false doctrines. 55:55 One of those great false doctrines is the idea that the 55:59 church has two swords. 56:00 And the church cannot only preach God's word, 56:03 but the church can also use the sword of the state to punish 56:07 dissenters who do not agree with her doctrines, 56:09 and don't do exactly what she says. 56:12 Now if you live in the United States you know that some 56:15 amazing things have happened in the last few years: 56:18 Some ex-president's kneeling before the body of John Paul II, 56:24 the pope visiting the White House, receiving a standing 56:31 ovation in the United Nations, and many religious leaders 56:38 coming to a cathedral in New York when he visited 56:44 the United States, including representatives from practically 56:48 every major Protestant denomination. 56:51 And each one of these leaders... 56:53 I watched it on television. 56:54 The Protestant churches came forward and shook his hands, 56:58 and some of them even giving him a bow, and saying some 57:01 real kind words to him. 57:03 Listen, if they understood Bible prophecy as it was 57:06 understood 200-250 years ago, they wouldn't even come 57:10 anywhere near this system. 57:12 But people have forgotten the roots of prophecy. 57:16 So, folks, don't miss the next exciting episode in this series: 57:21 The Beast That Rose From the Earth. |
Revised 2023-04-20