XXXII. The Fifth Head of the Beast of Rev. 13:1-10
By Milton C. Wilcox
"Let the Revelation speak and tell what is truth. . . . Uplift Jesus as the center of all hope."
Copyright, 1910, by Milton C. Wilcox
XXXII. The Fifth Head of the Beast of Rev. 13:1-10
A Brief Review
BRIEFLY to review the ground over which we have passed, we have learned:
That the woman of Revelation 12 symbolizes the church of Christ;
That the Man Child born of that woman is our Lord Jesus Christ;
That the dragon is, as expressly declared, a symbol of Satan in his relation to the work and people of God through earthly systems of government under his control;
That he at first fell from heaven and "drew after him the third part of heaven's sons," the angels;
That in his conflict of the pre-advent ages with Michael our Lord, culminating in the crucifixion and its attendant events, our Lord was not only victorious in Himself, but assured eternal victory to all who trust in Him;
That the dragon's watching and waiting before the travailing church began with her captivity in Babylon; and that with Babylon began that perverted system of Church-and-State government which has intoxicated, perverted, and cursed, with a curse than which there is none heavier, all the nations of the earth; and that the first head in this system of government through which Satan has especially wrought, is Babylon;
That the same system was continued throughout Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Pagan Rome, under the latter of which the Man Child was born, who gloriously conquered in the conflict, and was caught up to God and His throne;
That following this defeat the dragon — Satan — continues his work by persecuting the woman, the church, even to the end, he, the devil, being behind every persecuting power, and the instigator of all the persecution;
That in chapter 13 we have presented before us not the symbol of Satan as the chief instigator of persecution, but his active agent, Church-and-State governments, symbolized by a wild composite beast of seven heads and ten horns, the horns contemporaneous and the heads successive;
That this beast shows the unity of the satanic principle and system manifest in the four beasts of Daniel 7,—lion, bear, leopard, and ten-horned beast,—in Daniel they being represented as separate and distinct empires, in the Revelation as one continued system under seven heads, each head giving a distinct character to the beast or system during the time it exists;
That the head, or form of Church-and-State government, which followed Pagan Rome, was Papal Rome, during the continuance of which head the beast was a papal beast;
That Papal Rome received its power and seat and authority from the dragon, the devil, and exercised it during a period of 1,260 years.
Some Primary Considerations
But before enlarging upon the specifications given in our recent studies of Rev. 13: 1-10, we wish to present before the reader two very important considerations: (1) why these prophecies are given, and why we present this exposition of them; (2) a definition of terms relative to the Papacy, and the various phases of the Papacy. An understanding of these will help materially to an understanding of the prophecy in question.
I. Object of the Prophecy
God's object in giving this prophecy, is the same as His object in giving all prophecy. It is stated by Peter, who speaks of the "more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts" (2 Peter 1: 19); and again, as stated in Rev. 1: 1, it is given "to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass." God gives light to lead men out of darkness. He points out the evil and the good in both principle and practise, that we may shun or refuse the evil and choose the good. He does not present before us the evils of the Jewish nation, the sins of Sodom, or the corruptions and persecutions of apostate Christianity, because He hates any soul in connection with any of them. He reveals the past, with its evil and evil consequences, that by it we may take warning. He has warned us against the development of the Papacy, not because He does not love the men connected therewith, but because the system is evil.
It is for this cause that we expound these prophecies. It is that we may show to those who may be connected with the papal system, both within and without the Roman Catholic Church, that the SYSTEM is evil and tends only to evil ends. Against one soul connected with it we bear no ill will, no malice. We war not with men, but with principles of evil which pervert righteousness and truth, mold characters for evil, elevate THINGS above MEN for whom Christ died, and turn men into demons. We entreat the reader to lay aside all prejudice and examine the underlying principles. If they are evil, reject them; if they are good, lay hold of them. God will care for the rest.
II. A Definition of Terms
By the term "Papacy" we refer to that system of ecclesiastical government known as the Roman Catholic Church, of which the pope is the supreme head. Many of its principles are, however, dominant in organizations outside of that body. By the Temporal Power of the Papacy we refer to the rule of the succession of popes over the States of the Church, which began with the grant of Pepin, King of France, in 755, and ended with the utter taking away of his dominion in 1870. The Ecclesiastical Power of the Papacy, or Roman Catholic Church, may be said to have begun at the Council of Nice, 325, when the Roman Catholic Church was established by law, through the Emperor Constantine. The Spiritual Domination of the Papacy, the power by which it possessed the means to persecute, began in that period of 533 to 538, and ended in 1793 to 1798, and will again be restored. These phases may, perhaps, best be set forth by the following diagram:
The Ecclesiastical Authority or Power of the Papacy, or Roman Catholic Church, is that which she possesses in common with other ecclesiastical organizations. While logically it leads to a union with the State, it can exist and flourish separate from the State. In this condition it holds only that power and influence over its membership which its teachings, admonitions, and anathemas have upon the hearts, consciences, and fears of its devotees. This power and this authority lie WHOLLY WITHIN THAT BODY ITSELF apart from civil power. It elects, chooses, or appoints its own rulers and orders, from pope to nun. It possessed this power previous to its Spiritual Domination and Temporal Power; it possessed it after it lost them, and it is not dependent upon them.
Its Spiritual Domination began in 533-538. This is marked by two important events. In 533 Justinian, Emperor of Rome, declared that the bishop of Rome should be "Head of all the Churches." The account of this, says Croly, is "to be found in the 'Annals of Baronius,' vol. 7, p. 194, fol. Antwerpe." In Justinian's letter, addressed to "the most holy archbishop of our city of Rome, and patriarch," occur the following statements:
"Therefore we have made no delay in subjecting and uniting to your Holiness all the priests of the whole East. . . . We can not suffer that anything which relates to the state of the church, however manifest or unquestionable, should be moved without the knowledge of your Holiness, who are the Head of all the Holy Churches."
The letter also mentions that the incumbent of the rival see, the archbishop of Constantinople, was "desirous in all things to follow the apostolic authority of his Blessedness," the Pope of Rome.
The same year, March 25, in a letter to Epiphanius, Justinian refers to his letter to the bishop of Rome, and, says Croly, "repeats his decision, that all affairs touching the church shall be referred to the pope, 'Head of all Bishops, and the True and Effective Corrector of Heretics.'"
In the same month of the following year, 534, the Pope returned an answer repeating the language of the Emperor, applauding his homage to the see, and adopting the titles of the imperial mandate. He observes that, among the virtues of Justinian, "one shines as a star, his reverence for the apostolic chair, to which he has subjected and united all the churches, it being truly the Head of all; as was testified by the rules of the Fathers, the laws of princes, and the declaration of the Emperor's piety."
This letter of Justinian is not all the evidence of this action concerning the see of Rome. THE 131ST EDICT OF THE "NOVELLAE" OF THE JUSTINIAN CODE, ON ECCLESIASTICAL TITLES AND PRIVILEGES, CHAPTER 2, STATES, "We therefore decree that the most holy pope of the elder Rome is the first of all the priesthood." Upon the archbishop of Constantinople was bestowed second rank. THE NINTH EDICT STATES THAT IN ROME "was the supremacy of the pontificate."7But this decree could not be carried out at once. Italy was possessed by the Arian Ostrogoths, who believed, at least to a limited extent, in religious liberty. This was pre-eminently true of Theodoric, who reigned till 526. The next year Justinian came upon the stage of action, with the ambition "to unite all men into one faith." As above shown, he elevated to the head of the church the bishop of Rome, the incumbent of which at that time was John I. After the death of Theodoric the Arian Ostrogoths had become divided. Justinian began his crusade against them by sending Belisarius against the Arian Vandals of Africa, over whom Gelimer was King. This expedition was in the interests of the faith. Belisarius was successful, and Gelimer was captured and the Vandals overthrown in 534. The Arian worship was suppressed, and the Catholic Church established. Having suppressed the Arians and established the Catholic faith in what were the Vandal dominions, in 536 Belisarius entered Italy. He entered Rome December 10 of the same year. But this was not the conquest of Italy. The Gothic nation, aroused, besieged Belisarius in Rome. Says Gibbon:
The whole nation of the Ostrogoths had been assembled for the attack, and was almost entirely consumed in the siege of Rome. One year and nine days after (538), they were utterly defeated, and Rome was in the hands of Belisarius. It was the third kingdom plucked up before the unholy ambitions of the Papacy, as set forth in Dan. 7:8, 24. These were as follows: Heruli, 493; Vandals, 534; Ostrogoths, 538.
The Papacy
Here began the supremacy of the Papacy, or its Spiritual Domination, as a world power, acknowledged as such by the ruling power of earth. It was then truly "Head over all the Churches" and "the True and Effective Corrector of Heretics." And altho this power was not at once exercised, here it began in decree, and here it began in the prophecy. This acknowledgment was the basis of its persecuting power. Here the papal head came fully into existence as having control of this evil system of Church-and-State government. In fact, that union of Church and State perpetuated the system. To the Papacy was given the power to define heresy and declare what its punishment should be, and its decrees were executed by the civil power, except where God's providence interposed to check her unholy ambition and revengeful spirit.
What Makes a Persecuting Power?
It is in the light of persecuting powers or different phases of one great world-wide persecuting system, that the heads are presented in prophecy; and a persecuting power is always made up of a union of Church and State. To this two things are essential:
It must be a religious power or it will not persecute;
It must have civil power to enforce its decrees or it can not persecute.
The Roman Catholic Church has no power to persecute even in Italy to-day. The Papacy exists there, but only as an Ecclesiastical Power. For a hundred years and more the Federal Government of the United States has not persecuted. It would not in the very nature of the case, because it had no connection with the church. But let the civil power acknowledge the claim of the ecclesiastical to define heresy and to declare its punishment, and a persecuting power is immediately formed. As regards the beast, a new head springs into existence.
The destruction of that head — of a persecuting power — may be accomplished either by destroying the ecclesiastical system, which would be nearly equivalent to destroying the people who espouse it; or by the taking away of the civil power, the power to punish heresy. Either would be a deadly blow, but the former would be almost impossible and entirely improbable.
Civil Power of the Papacy
The third phase of the Papacy, as shown in the diagram, is her civil or temporal authority, which began under grant of Pepin, 755, of the States of the Church, and ended in 1870, when Victor Emmanuel wrested from the pope his last vestige of Temporal Power. The taking away of this power is thus set forth in Dan. 7: 26:
But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
The Spiritual Domination of the Papacy, of the 1,260 years, ended in 1798. The "judgment" here referred to is that mentioned in verses 9 and 10, which began in 1844.
"THEY shall take away his dominion." "They" evidently refers to the other horns, or the governments symbolized by them. And history upon this point confirms the prophecy. In 1844 the States of the Church had an area of 16,000 square miles, and a population of 3,000,000. Four years afterward began the revolution in France and Northern Italy. This greatly affected the Papal States. In the following year they revolted, but through the aid of the French were brought to submission. Peace reigned outwardly till 1859, when the slumbering fires of revolution were again manifest in the revolt of Romagna, which was not opposed. This province was annexed to Sardinia in 1860. The same year the provinces of Umbria and Marches revolted, and placed themselves under Victor Emmanuel. These provinces were also annexed to Sardinia. Thus from 1848 to 1860 the consuming process had reduced the territory of the Papacy from 16,000 square miles to 4,500, and its population from 3,000,000 to 700,000. In 1870 the last vestige of temporal dominion was taken away.
This temporal dominion over a few provinces in Italy must not be confounded with the Spiritual Domination over the nations for 1,260 years. Having these phases of the Papacy before us, all of which are set forth in the Word of God, we need but briefly to consider the specifications of the prophecy, as given in our last. The first four verses of the chapter outline the beast in his entire career, including his deadly wound, and his restoration to power. Verses 5 to 10 read as follows:
And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them; and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
If any man have an ear, let him hear.
He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity; he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
Here are the specifications:
a. A mouth speaking great things and blasphemies against God and His name (Verses 5, 6.) It is therefore a religious power, which blasphemes God.
b. It should continue forty and two months. (Verse 5.) The same period is elsewhere called "a time, times, and a half," "a thousand two hundred and threescore days." (See Dan. 7: 25; Rev. 11: 2, 3; 12: 6, 14.) As short-lived beasts are used to symbolize long-existing dynasties, kingdoms, or systems of government, so to be consistent, short periods of time are used to symbolize longer periods. A year is a "time." (See Dan. 4: 16; 11: 13, margin.) According to the Bible mode of reckoning time, there are thirty days in a month (compare Gen. 7: 11; 8: 4), and twelve months in a year, making 360 days in a year. A "time," one year, "times," the dual number, two years, and a "half time," three and one half years, equal forty-two months, 1,260 days; this, according to symbolic time, "a day for a year" (Eze. 4: 6), symbolizes a period of Spiritual Domination, for this head, of 1,260 years.
c. It is a power which works against the very truth of God, God's name or character, His dwelling-place, and His angels. (Verse 6.)
d. It makes war with the saints, and overcomes them, killing them with the sword. (Verses 7, 10.)
e. He had power over all nations, tongues, etc. (Verse 7.)
f. All those who are not Christ's will yield to his worship. (Verse 8.)
g. He will finally receive a death stroke, and by violence his power shall be taken away. (Verses 10, 3.)
h. Yet shall the death stroke be cured, and the beast in that form shall live again. (Verse 3.) Still other specifications are given of the same power in Dan. 7: 8, 20-25. There is but one power or system to which these specifications in toto apply, during this period, and that is to that system of Church-and-State government known as the Papacy.
Let us consider them more fully:
1. GREAT WORDS AND BLASPHEMIES. — There have been blasphemous powers many. The whole beast-system, from Babylon to the end, is blasphemous. It necessarily becomes so by putting man in the place of God. In this the papal system stands pre-eminent. To blaspheme is "to speak of God or divine things in terms of impious irreverence." In no more effectual way can this be done than to attempt to degrade God to the level of man by exalting man to the place of God. The apostle Paul declares that "the head of every man is Christ" (1 Cor. 11: 3), but in the system of the Papacy the pope is placed at the head, with numerous subheads between. This is manifest in his claim to be the infallible interpreter of the Word of God, thus taking the place of the Spirit of God; in the claim of authority to forgive sin, thus assuming the place of God; in the claim of the transmutation of the wafer into the body and blood of Christ, thus making the priest a creator, and Christ subject to him; in his claim to try, judge, and pronounce sentence upon heretics, thereby assuming greater authority than that of Christ (John 12: 47); in the titles arrogated to popes and bishops contrary to God's Word and thus blasphemous; and in many other ways has the papal system spoken great things and blasphemies. Among its self-assumed titles are "Arbiter of Heaven and the Lord of the Earth," "the Master of the Universe," "Vicar of Christ," "Most Divine Head of All Heads," "Light of the World," "Lion of the Tribe of Judah," etc.
2. PERIOD OF CONTINUANCE. — The special time when it should exist as a persecuting power, when the saints and law of the Most High should be given into its hand (Dan. 7: 25) is 1,260 years. As shown above, this period of its Spiritual Domination began in 533-538, to which if 1,260 years be added we are brought to 1793-1798.
3. THE BLASPHEMY OF GOD'S NAME, ETC. — God's name is a symbol of His character of goodness and mercy. (See Ex. 33: 18, 19; 34: 6, 7.) But by no power has God's goodness and mercy been put so far away from man as by the Papacy. In Jesus Christ every soul may approach, boldly approach, the throne of Infinite Grace, and find pardon and help. God is not at enmity with us; it is "the carnal mind" that "is enmity against God." (Rom. 8: 7.) He loves us and longs to save us. But the Papacy makes God one afar off, who needs to be placated by purchase or penance, around whom is a cordon of saints and bishops and priests whose good favor the poor soul must solicit before it can approach God's presence. Thus has it blasphemed His name, or character. It has brought into the Christian church the pagan
