As we have already studied, the beast powers of Revelation 13:1-18 and 14 represent a worldwide system of false worship. But there’s more.
Read Revelation 13:5; Revelation 12:6, Revelation 12:14; and Daniel 7:25. How long would this power dominate the religious landscape in the previous centuries?
The beast would continue for a period of specific duration of time in history. In symbolic time prophecies, a prophetic day equals a literal year. In Numbers 14:34 we read: “for every day a year” (RSV) — applying the Bible principle of counting a day for a year. Again, God says, “I have appointed thee each day for a year” (Ezekiel 4:6).
Image © Phil McKay at Goodsalt.com
This principle has repeatedly proven itself accurate in interpreting biblical time prophecies, such as with the 70 weeks of Daniel 9:24-27. Calculating the time period mentioned in Revelation 13:5 of 42 months, with 30 days in a month, we come up with 1260 prophetic days or literal years. The ancient calendars regularly had 360 days per year.
In the fourth century, the Roman Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity throughout the empire. When he moved his capital in A.D. 330 to Byzantium to unite the eastern and western parts of his empire, it left a leadership vacuum in Rome. The pope, then, filled this void. He became not only a powerful religious leader but also a political force to be reckoned with in Europe. In A.D. 538, Justinian, the Roman emperor, officially granted the Roman bishop the role of the defender of the faith. The medieval church exercised great influence from A.D. 538 to A.D. 1798, including the terrible persecution mentioned in the introduction to the lesson. Napoleon’s General Berthier took the pope captive in A.D. 1798, in exact fulfillment of the prophecy.
Berthier and his army captured Pope Pius VI and unceremoniously removed him from the papal throne. The blow to the papacy was serious, but, according to Revelation 13:12, the deadly wound would be healed, and the world would hear more from this power — a lot more.
| Think about how amazing biblical prophecy is and how it reveals to us God’s knowledge of future events. What should this fact teach us about why we can trust the Lord’s promises, even the ones we don’t yet see fulfilled? |
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