LESSONS FOR BIBLE CLASSES.
By G H. BELL
LESSON VII.—THE PAPAL PERSECUTION.
1. When was the decree issued that made the bishop of Rome head of all the churches? 2. By whom was this decree issued? 3. Did the decree take effect as soon as it was issued? 5. Which one of these kingdoms was subdued last? 6. When were they driven from Rome? 7. When was the papacy fully established? 8. How did it become fully established? 9. What statement is made in Dan. 7:25, in regard to the continuance of the papal rule? 10. What statement is made in Rev. 13:5, in regard to the same thing? 11. How many years would that be? 12. How many days would this make, reckoning thirty days to the month, and twelve months to the year? 13. Was this the Jewish method of reckoning time? 14. What verses in Rev. 12 mention the same time? 15. How is the time given in verse fourteen of that chapter? 18. Then how long was the church of Rome to have power to persecute the people of God? 19. When did this period commence? 20. When did it terminate? 21. What hostile army entered Rome in A. D. 1798? 22. What form of government was proclaimed? 23. What was done with the pope? 24. What scripture was fulfilled by this? 25. When was another pope chosen? 26. What power had the popes exercised before that time that they have not been able to exercise since? The decree that constituted the bishop of Rome head of all the churches was issued by the emperor Justinian in A. D. 533, but the decree could not take effect at that time, for the Vandals, the Heruli, and the Ostrogoths opposed it. Of these, the Ostrogoths were the last to be subdued. They were driven from Rome A. D. 538. The pope of Rome then became the head of all the churches, and the papacy was fully established. In the last part of Dan. 7:25, we learn that this papal supremacy was to continue for a time, times, and the dividing of time. Rev. 13:5, referring to the same thing, says that power was given him to continue forty-two months, which would be just three years and a half. Three years and a half, reckoning thirty days to the month and twelve months to the year, according to the Jewish custom, would make 1260 days. In Rev. 12 the same period is referred to, and is given in the fourteenth verse as a time, times, and half a time, and in the sixth verse as 1260 days. So we see that according to the prophecy the church of Rome was to have power to persecute the people of God 1260 years; and since this period commenced in A. D. 538, it must have terminated in A. D. 1798. On the tenth of February, 1798, Berthier, a French general, entered Rome, proclaimed a republican form of government, took the pope prisoner, and for a time the papal rule was suspended. This is regarded as a fulfilment of Rev. 13:10; for he who had made captives of so many innocent Christians was himself taken into captivity; and he who had so many times used the sword [the military power] to persecute and destroy God's people, was now subdued by the sword [the French army]. Two years later another pope was chosen; but since 1798 no pope has had the power to depose kings, or to persecute the saints, as the popes had done before that time. G H. BELL.