The Little Horn identified (Daniel 7 and Revelation 13)

Prophetic key for symbols in prophecy
Prophetic key used on simple verse Isaiah 4:1 may be helpful before you go on
The Little Horn identified

The points of identification examined in this lesson (from Daniel 7 and Revelation 13) make it clear that this little horn power would arise in during the fall of the Roman Empire and during the time that the 10 barbarian tribes ruled much of western Europe.

It would mix paganism with true worship of God.

It would command people to worship it (thereby making it a religious power).

It would persecute those who disagreed with it.

It would blaspheme the God of heaven.

It would reign for 1260 years.

It would receive a deadly wound, recover from it, and have “all” the world worship it once again.

Its boldest claim would be that it had changed the times and the law.

We can take these marks of identification, go to any encyclopedia or history book, examine the history of the Dark Ages when the Bible said this power would arise, and we would discover that there is only one power that meets every one of these identifying marks. That power is the Papacy. Please remember that we are not talking about individuals. We are talking about a system that is in opposition to God. There are many good, sincere people in the Catholic religion who love and serve Jesus. God loves them, and in mercy He has sent them this warning so that they might not be deceived by this power.

Let’s re-examine the identifying marks of Daniel 7 and Revelation 13 and see how clearly the Papacy has met every one of these marks of identification.

DANIEL’S MARKS OF IDENTIFICATION

It arose among the ten nations

As the Roman Empire fell and the world was taken over by the barbarian tribes, another power began that became a unifying power. That power was the Papacy. No other such power arose among the ten tribes after the fall of the Roman Empire.

Three horns were removed

In 533, Roman Emperor Justinian declared that the Bishop of Rome was the head of all the Christian churches. However, Rome was in the hands of Ostrogoth Theodoric the Great. Although Theodoric treated Catholics well, he was Arian in belief (a Christian heresy). Justinian set out to rescue Rome from Arian hands and place a pope of his choosing there (the other popes had been elected by the Arians). In 534 he sent Belisarius to capture Rome. Under new king Witigis, the Arian Goths allowed Belisarius to simply walk into Rome. While there, he deposed pope Silverius and placed Vigilius (chosen by Justinian) in his place in 538.

By 540 the Ostrogoths had surrendered to Belisarius, but he was recalled by Justinian. In his absence they began rebelling again under a new leader named Totila. In 546 and 549 Totila captured Rome and eventually all of Italy. However, he was eventually defeated and by 562, Ostrogoths were heard of no more in Italy. Thus was the end of the third horn that was uprooted to make way for the little horn. The other two (the Heruli and Vandals) had already been defeated.

Eyes like the eyes of a man

At the head of the Papacy sits a man, making the decisions that affect the lives and souls of thousands of people

It had a mouth which boasted against the Most High

Consider these three points:

In the book of Daniel we have learned that God does not want us to mix together paganism and Christianity. But, as pagans came flooding into the church after Constantine supported Christianity, the church changed the doctrines for early Christianity. To make it easier for the pagans to adjust to Christianity, pagan practices were incorporated into the Christian faith. For example, the pagans were use to worshipping gods and goddesses, whereas Christians worshipped only one God. Therefore, the church introduced the practice of praying to the saints. This took the place of the household gods of paganism. In addition, Christianity had no female deity, so the Papacy elevated Mary to take the place of Jesus as the only mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5). There were many other pagan practices that Rome Christianized during this period.

“We are told in various ways by Eusebius, that Constantine, in order to recommend the new religion to the heathen, transferred into it the outward ornaments to which they had been accustomed in their own. It is not necessary to go into a subject which the diligence of Protestant writers has made familiar to most of us. The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees, incense, lamps, and candles; votive offerings on recovery from illness, holy water; asylums; holidays and seasons, use of calendars, processions, blessings on the fields; sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images at a later date, perhaps, the ecclesiastical chant, and the Kyrie Eleisen, are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by their adoption into the Church.”

John Henry Cardinal Newman, “An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine,” Longmans, Green & Company, London, 1920. p. 373

Who can forgive sins but God alone? (Mark 2:7) Yet the Papacy claims to be able to forgive men of their sins:

“And God himself is obliged to abide by the judgment of his priest and either not to pardon or to pardon, according as they refuse to give absolution, provided the penitent is capable of it.” “Duties and Dignities of the Priest” by Liguori P. 27.

“Were the Redeemer to descend into a church, and sit in a confessional to administer the sacrament of penance, and a priest to sit in a confessional, Jesus would say over each penitent: ‘Ego te Absolovo’, the priest would likewise say over each of his penitents, ‘Ego te absolvo’, and the penitents of each would be equally absolved.” Ibid., P. 34

“The priest holds the place of the Saviour himself, when, by saying ‘Ego te absolvo’, he absolves from sin.” Ibid.

The Jews tried to stone Jesus because he claimed perogatives of God. (John 10:33). Consider the following claims by the Catholic Church:

“Hence priests are called the parents of Jesus Christ: such is the title that St. Bernard gives them, for they are the active cause by which he is made to exist really in the consecrated Host.” Ibid., p. 32

“Thus the Priest may, in a certain manner be called the creator of his Creator, since by saying the words of consecration, he creates as it were, Jesus in the sacrament.” Ibid.

“All names which in the Scripture are applied to Christ, by virtue of which it is established that he is over the church, all the same names are applied to the Pope.” “On the Authority of Councils,” 1619 ed., book 2, ch. 17.

“We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty,” “The Great Encyclical Letters of Leo,” XIII, page 304

“Thou are the shepherd, thou are the physician, thou art the director, thou are the husbandman; finally, thou art another god on earth.” Christopher Marcellus “Oration in the Fifth Lateran Counsil,” Session IV (1512) in Mansi SC, Vol. 32, Col. 761 (Latin).

When you examine the Roman Catholic quotations cited above, there can be no question that the papacy has boasted against the Most High and has combined paganism with Christianity.

Make war with the Saints

The results of the Inquisition and many other persecutions of various religious groups are well know facts. To the Catholic church they were heretics, to others they were saints — true believers of the Bible and it’s teachings.

Think to change times and laws

Later in this lesson series we will detail how the Roman Catholic Church tried to accomplish this.

To reign for 1260 years

When do we date the beginning of the rise of the little horn to power?

After Belisarius placed Vigilius in Rome in 538 (The first pope chosen by Justinian after he had declared the Bishop of Rome the head of the church) Vigilius was called to Constantinopal to settle a dispute. It was while Vigilius was away that Totila captured Rome and later that the Ostrogoths were defeated. In 556, Pelegius (elected by Justinian to replace Vigilius’ who had died on his way back to Rome) returned to Rome. The Bishop of Rome, the declared head of the Church, while not in Rome during the complete demise of the Ostrogoths, remained the only Bishop of Rome. So, the dating of the start of the Bishop of Rome as the head of all the Christian church begins with Vigilius in 538.

Later, during the reign of Gregory the First (590-604), were laid the foundations for the Papal States and temporal Papal authority.

The rise of the little horn was slow. It started small but grew in power. The three Arian tribes were uprooted. Among them and in thier place the little horn began to gain power.

Exactly 1260 years later, in 1798, Berthier, French general under Napoleon, invaded the Vatican and took the pope prisoner.

An assortment of popes had been taken prisoner and killed through out the history of the Roman church. However, it is significant that it was the French, who in 1798 rejected God and embraced atheism, that dethroned the pope, because 1290 years (Daniel 12:11) before, in 508 AD, the Franks under Clovis became the first of the tribes to embrace the teachings of Rome and reject Arianism.

IDENTIFICATION MARKS

FROM REVELATION

It received its power, seat and great authority from the Dragon

The dragon primarily represent Satan (Revelation 12:9). However, the devil works through various agencies, in this case, Pagan Rome. When the Roman emperors moved the capital of the failing Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople, they left the pope as the power in Rome. The power of the Caesars supported the bishop of Rome by elevating him above all the other bishops in Christianity. Truly Pagan Rome gave the Papacy his power, seat, and authority. The Papacy is a continuance of the first phase of the Iron legs kingdom.

It received a deadly wound

When Berthier, the French general, took the Pope prisoner in 1798, he inflicted the deadly wound. Many thought the Papacy had come to its end and could never recover. Indeed it had received a deadly wound.

The deadly wound was healed

In 1929 Mussolini restored the Vatican to the Pope, making him again a secular as well as a religious ruler. Today the Vatican is recognized by many governments on earth. Even the United States of America sends an ambassador to the Vatican, recognizing the Vatican State as a secular as well as a religious state. The United States does not recognize any other religious organization in this way. It is against the Constitution to do so. As one observes the developing Papacy today, one sees indeed the whole world wondering after this power.

People worshipped this power

One only has to watch the acts of obeisance that people pay to the head of the papacy to know that this power is an object of reverence and worship. During his 1260 year reign, few earthly governments dared defy this power. He held the keys to life and death for thousands of individuals.

It spoke great words against the Most High

It was to reign for 42 months (42 months = 1260 days)

It made war with the saints

All the world worships it today

(For fulfillment of the above four marks of identification, see points D, E and G under Daniel 7 and this exhibit.)

It has a number that adds up to 666

Notice that Revelation 13-18 does not say the number 666 is written out. Rather it says that to discover the number of the beast, one must calculate the number of the beast, or add it up. An ancient Hebrew custom was to add up the numerical values for the letters in people’s names. That would then be the person’s number. The Bible says the beast has a number, and the numbers add up to 666. One of the titles take by all bishops of the Roman Church in Latin is Vicarius Filii Dei, meaning “Vicar of the Son of God.” Please notice below that the Roman numeral value of the letters of this name add up to the Biblical 666:

V I C A R I U S

5 1 100 1 5 112

F I L I I

1 50 1 1 053

D E I

500 1 501

T O T A L 666

Any one of the above points by themselves or in select groups may be shown to apply to this or that person or organization, but altogether they can only apply to the Roman Catholic Church.
This is something you should pay attention to also. click on The final warning for more.