The Blasphemous Horn in the Book of Revelation.

 

Do you remember the mouthy, blasphemous horn we saw in chapter two of this book? 

It is mentioned in Daniel 7:8 and Daniel 8:9-14, 23-26 as arising after Greece.  But we had questions about this because we knew Rome followed Greece.  Well, here our questions are answered.  This mouthy, blasphemous horn does arise after Greece, but we can see here that it comes out of Rome and after the Western Roman Empire had been carved up into ten kingdoms.  And this horn does uproot and subdue three of the ten kings.  When the Emperor Justinian declared the Bishop of Rome as head of the Christian churches and gave him civil powers to go with his new religious powers, three of the ten kingdoms opposed this.  The Heruli, the Vandals and the Ostrogoths fought against this new arrangement but by 538 CE the last of them had been crushed.

The Bishop of Rome, the Pope of the Catholic Church, the blasphemous horn, was now unopposed and was able to wield its unlimited powers as it saw fit for 1260 years.

 Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names…And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.  There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.  And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.  It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them….  Rev. 13:1, 2, 5-7

This beast came out of the sea, meaning it arose out of people (see Appendix 2) and the dragon, Satan, backed this beast with all his power.  Here again we see the 42 months, the1260 years, of authority, so this beast must be the same entity as the horn.  Revelation 17:9 says, The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.  The woman referred to is Jezebel, the false church, …Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots… Rev. 17:5.  The seven mountains give us her location:  the seven hills of Rome, the city where the Pope lives and from which the Catholic Church rules.  We know that a beast represents nations, kingdoms, or political powers (see Appendix 2), so the Catholic Church’s depiction here as a beast shows the political authority it wielded as well as its religious authority. 

 One thing you must remember: the Catholic Church referred to in prophecy describes the leaders of the church, those who operate with the spirit of Balaam and the Nicolaitans.  There have been millions, and there are still millions, of innocent and sincere members of the Catholic Church who do not know the truth and are led astray by the leaders of the church. 

We have not explored why the false church persecutes those who refuse to follow her lead.  Revelation 12:17 tells us that the persecuted depicted in Revelation are those who …keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.  What does this mean and why does it threaten the false church? 

 The commandments of God…

Even if we do not know exactly what the commandments are, most of us have at least heard of the Ten Commandments.  You can find them listed in Exodus 20:3-17. 

But even the Catholic Church knows that the Ten Commandments are still in effect, right?  Yes they do, as do almost all Christians of all denominations, but there is one commandment that the Catholic Church changed and that the followers of truth refused to honor.  One of the things Daniel said about the horn was that, He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in laws. (Dan. 7:25)  In the Commandments of God, which one of his laws has to do with times?  It is this one: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  (Exodus 20:8)  

Did one of your parents ever tell you “I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it!”, reminding you where you came from and who is the boss? 

That is the basic purpose behind the Sabbath commandment, although God uses much kinder words.  God set up the Sabbath after creation as a reminder to us that he made the world (Gen. 2:1) and, when we honor the Sabbath, we are recognizing God’s power and authority over us.  Often, when God is talking about himself or when others refer him to, the fact that God is the creator is included in his title.  (See Rev. 4:11; 10:6; 14:7.)  He is not called the God who said not to covet, or the God who does not like adultery (even though he did say not to covet or commit adultery).  No.  He is referred to as our creator, and in recognition of that he asks us to honor him by devoting one day per week to him.

The Jews kept what we know as Saturday, the seventh day at the end of the week, as the Sabbath day.  Jesus, when he was on earth, would go to the synagogue on Sabbath (Luke 13:10) and he called himself the Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28).  If he is our example and if he called himself Lord of the Sabbath, why would he give us an example and call himself Lord of something that was going to be changed? 

 Luke, who was writing about Paul at Corinth in the book of Acts, said that Paul went to the synagogue every Sabbath to reason with the Jews (Acts 18:4)  If the Sabbath had changed, why did Luke call the day the Jews gathered at the synagogue Sabbath?  Why not say, “Paul went every Saturday”?  The author of Hebrews says, …there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. (Heb. 4:9)  The Sabbath remains, it is not a new or a different one, it is the one that has always been.

The Emperor Constantine was the first Roman Emperor to be converted from paganism to Christianity but most of his subjects remained pagan.  At this time the church was still keeping Saturday as Sabbath but it was also observing Sunday as a holy day in remembrance of Jesus’ resurrection.  

 These days were ones of fasting and prayer. 

   The church knew that the more people it could get under its influence, the more power it would have and the more money it could make. The Catholic Church makes no apologies for its actions.  You see, the church admits openly that it changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.  (See Appendix 4)  Truly the horn made … alterations in times and in laws. (Dan.7:25) 

The true churches of God, Thyatira and Sardis, refused to obey the Catholic Church and continued to …keep the commandments of God…  They were hunted, persecuted, and suffered the Inquisitions of the Catholic Church, but they held fast.

 

Revelation: Emperor Constantine.

This is a series of chapters from my sister's book, "The End is Near. End Time Bible Prophecy Anyone Can Understand." By E.A. James

Continued from previous post:

One of the things Daniel said about the horn was that, “He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in laws.” (Dan. 7:25)  In the Commandments of God, which one of his “laws” has to do with “times”?  It is this one: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”  (Exodus 20:8)  

Did one of your parents ever say to you “I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it!” reminding you where you came from and who is the boss? 

 That is the basic purpose behind the Sabbath commandment, although God uses much kinder words.  God set up the Sabbath after creation as a reminder to us that the world was made by him (Gen. 2:1) and, when we honor the Sabbath, we are recognizing God’s power and authority over us.  Often, when God is talking about himself, or he is referred to by others, the fact that God is the creator is included in his title.  (See Rev. 4:11; 10:6; 14:7.)  He is not called the God who said not to covet, or the God who does not like adultery.  No.  He is referred to as our creator, and in recognition of that he asks us to honor him by devoting one day per week to him.

Photo by: Evelyn Simak 

The Jews kept what we know as Saturday, the seventh day at the end of the week, as the Sabbath day.  Jesus, when he was on earth, would go to the synagogue on Sabbath (Luke 13:10) and he called himself the Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28).  If he is our example and if he called himself Lord of the Sabbath, why would he give us an example and call himself Lord of something that was going to be changed? 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Gospel_harmony_(Sweet_Publishing)

Luke, who was writing about Paul at Corinth in the book of Acts, said that Paul went to the synagogue every Sabbath to reason with the Jews (Acts 18:4)  If the Sabbath had changed, why did Luke call the day the Jews gathered at the synagogue “Sabbath”?  Why not say, “Paul went every Saturday”?  The author of Hebrews says, “…there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.” (Heb. 4:9)  The Sabbath “remains”, it is not a new or a different one, it is the one that has always been.

The Emperor Constantine was the first Roman Emperor to be converted from paganism to Christianity but most of his subjects remained pagan.  At this time the church was still keeping Saturday as Sabbath but it was also observing Sunday as a holy day in remembrance of Jesus’ resurrection.

 These days were ones of fasting and prayer. 

The pagans also worshipped on Sunday, but their worship included feasting and partying.  The church reasoned that there was little chance of converting the pagans if all stayed the way it was, so it slowly began to change in order to get more people to convert.  The big thing they changed was Sabbath observance.  By changing the Sabbath day from Saturday to Sunday, they knew the pagans would be more inclined to convert and, since the church already considered Sunday a holy day in honor of the resurrection, it was a simple thing to slowly shift emphasis from Saturday to Sunday. 

The church knew that the more people it could get under its influence, the more power it would have and the more money it could make. The Catholic Church makes no apologies for its actions.  You see, the church admits openly that it changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.  (see Appendix 4)  Truly the horn made ”… alterations in times and in laws.” Dan.7: 25

 

The true churches of God, Thyatira and Sardis, refused to obey the Catholic Church and continued to “…keep the commandments of God…”  They were hunted, persecuted, and suffered the Inquisitions of the Catholic Church, but they held fast.

This is Belle writing. I'm including some quotes from Wikipedia:

While the Lord's Day observance of the Eucharist was established separately from the Jewish Sabbath, the centrality of the Eucharist itself made it the commonest early observance whenever Christians gathered for worship. In many places and times as late as the 4th century, they did continue to gather weekly on the Sabbath, often in addition to the Lord's Day, celebrating the Eucharist on both days.^[13][14][15] No disapproval of Sabbath observance of the Christian festival was expressed at the early church councils that dealt with Judaizing. The Council of Laodicea (363-364), for example, mandated only that Sabbath Eucharists must be observed in the same manner as those on the first day.^[15]Neander has suggested that Sabbath Eucharists in many places were kept "as a feast in commemoration of the Creation".^[15]

The issues about Hebrew practices that continued into the 2nd century tended to relate mostly to the Sabbath. Justin Martyr, who attended worship on the first day,^[16] wrote about the cessation of Hebrew Sabbath observance and stated that the Sabbath was enjoined as a temporary sign to Israel to teach it of human sinfulness,^[17]no longer needed after Christ came without sin.^[18] He rejected the need to keep literal seventh-day Sabbath, arguing instead that "the new law requires you to keep the sabbath constantly."^[19] With Christian corporate worship so clearly aligned with the Eucharist and allowed on the seventh day, Hebrew Sabbath practices primarily involved the observance of a day of rest.

Day of rest[edit]

A common theme in criticism of Hebrew Sabbath rest was idleness, found not to be in the Christian spirit of rest. Irenaeus (late 2nd c.), also citing continuous Sabbath observance, wrote that the Christian "will not be commanded to leave idle one day of rest, who is constantly keeping sabbath",^[20] and Tertullian (early 3rd century) argued "that we still more ought to observe a sabbath from all servile work always, and not only every seventh-day, but through all time".^[21] This early metaphorical interpretation of Sabbath applied it to the entire Christian life.^[22]

Ignatius, cautioning against "Judaizing" in his letter to the Magnesians,^[23] contrasts the Jewish Sabbath practices with the Christian life which includes the Lord's Day: "Let us therefore no longer keep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner, and rejoice in days of idleness .... But let every one of you keep the Sabbath after a spiritual manner, rejoicing in meditation on the law, not in relaxation of the body, admiring the workmanship of God, and not eating things prepared the day before, nor using lukewarm drinks, and walking within a prescribed space, nor finding delight in dancing and plaudits which have no sense in them. And after the observance of the Sabbath, let every friend of Christ keep the Lord's [Day, Dominicam] as a festival, the resurrection-day, the queen and chief of all the days."^[24]

The 2nd and 3rd centuries solidified the early church's emphasis upon Sunday worship and its rejection of a Jewish (Mosaic Law-based) observation of the Sabbath and manner of rest. Christian practice of following Sabbath after the manner of the Hebrews declined, prompting Tertullian to note "to [us] Sabbaths are strange" and unobserved.^[25] Even as late as the 4th century, Judaizing was still sometimes a problem within the Church, but by this time it was repudiated strongly as heresy.^[26][27][28]

Sunday was another work day in the Roman Empire. On March 7, 321, however, Roman Emperor Constantine I issued a civil decree making Sunday a day of rest from labor, stating:^[29]

All judges and city people and the craftsmen shall rest upon the venerable day of the sun. Country people, however, may freely attend to the cultivation of the fields, because it frequently happens that no other days are better adapted for planting the grain in the furrows or the vines in trenches. So that the advantage given by heavenly providence may not for the occasion of a short time perish.

While established only in civil law rather than religious principle, the Church welcomed the development as a means by which Christians could the more easily attend Sunday worship and observe Christian rest. At Laodicea also, the Church encouraged Christians to make use of the day for Christian rest where possible,^[28] without ascribing to it any of the regulation of Mosaic Law, and indeed, anathematizing Hebrew observance on the Sabbath. The civil law and its effects made possible a pattern in Church life that has been imitated throughout the centuries in many places and cultures, wherever possible.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbath_in_Christianity