Please note, it is not my intent to offend anybody, but after carefully researching prophecy, this is what I have found.
If you are easily offended, please do not read, as I do not write this out of disrespect to Catholics.
Since the days of Jesus, there have been scores of Anti-Christs and false prophets. Some of them we will remember forever and some have simply faded into obscurity. Some of the Anti-Christs of the past include Hitler, Napoleon, Julius Caesar, King Herod (he was the Roman Governor of Judea who killed the babies in Bethlehem, hoping one of the killed would be Jesus), and the Roman Emperor Nero (he was the Emperor who burned Rome to the ground, sat under a tree playing his flute while it burned, then told the citizens of Rome that the Christians were responsible for the arson). I have heard people speculate that Prince Charles of Great Britain was the prophesied final Anti-Christ and have heard the same mentioned about PLO leader Yassar Arafat. I have even heard people claim that Microsoft founder/CEO Bill Gates is the Anti-Christ as well as former President Ronald Reagan, because his full name, which is Ronald Wilson Reagan each have 6 letters. While that may be very clever and creative thinking, I believe the Anti-Christ will rise and form a new Roman Empire (the prophesied one-world currency has been introduced as the EuroDollar and the foundations for the New World Order have been built with the European Union).
Here is what I think are the characteristics of the final prophesied Anti-Christ
1. Received his "seat" and authority from Rome
2. The Beast Will rule the world for exactly 1260 years
3. Receives a deadly wound, which later heals
4. Is a religious as well as political power
5. He will seek to change the laws
6. Has a leader who claims to be a God on earth and has the power to forgive sins and declares himself to be "infallible"
7. Made war with the saints.
8. Is a world power that is awed and wondered at, even here and now.
9. Is a "mother church"
10. Has a man at the head and the number of his name is 666
If you guessed this political/religious power as the Papacy you are correct. Thus far it is the only power in the history of the world that fits the descriptions in the prophecy. Now let's take a look and see HOW it fits the prophecy.
1. Received his "seat" and authority from Rome
"And the dragon gave him his power, his seat, and great authority"- Revelation 13:2
In the year 538, Emperor Justinian "gave" the power of and authority of Rome to the Bishop of Rome and declared that he will reign as the King of Christianity and he will lord and rule over every Christian and every Christian Church across the entire world.
2. The Beast will rule the world for exactly 1260 years.
The Papacy was established in the year 538 AD and from that time until 1798, the Papacy's reign was absolute and total. During that time, it was decreed that only Church clergy were allowed to own and read from the Bible. If anybody else was caught with a Bible, it was an offense punishable by torture (which the Papacy perfected to an "art form"), then a slow and painful death. Lucifer knew he had to keep the people ignorant of the truth and ignorant of Christ's salvation if they were to be damned forever in hell and used his puppet church to accomplish that goal. You may have heard historians refer to that time period as the "Dark Age". It was not called the "Dark Age" because there was an unusual lack of light, but was a time of spiritual darkness. The same Church the people were taught were to follow and honor in order to be "enlightened" was the same Church that was hiding the truth and suppressing the truth at the commands of their master, Lucifer.
But in the year 1798, something incredible happened and a 2,200 year old prophecy had been fulfilled. The French Emperor Napoleon had taken over much of Western Europe and was looking for more land to add to his empire. Napoleon set his sights on Italy and his troops marched on Rome and conquered it and took the Pope as a prisoner-of-war. The Pope later died while in French custody. The year was 1798 and was 1,260 years since the Papacy's founding. 1,260 years to the year, to be exact and happened just as The Lord foretold to his prophet Daniel 2,200 years earlier.
No doubt there are many nay-sayers out there who will brush off this prophecy fulfillment as nothing more than a mere coincidence or just a very lucky guess. What they fail to keep in mind, is this is just one of many prophecies that had been fulfilled to the very letter.
3. And his deadly wound was healed: all the world awed and wondered after the beast" Revelation 13:3
In 1929, the Italian governments recognized Vatican City as a sovereign nation with the Pope as their king. The Pope stated, "The entire world stands at my side". The San Francisco Chronicle published an account of the pact and the front-page headline read "Mussolini and Gaspari sign historic pact. Wound of many years finally healed".
4. It is a religious as well as political power. .
During the reign of the Papacy, all Kings in Europe must swear loyalty to the Pope. The Pope said he had the Holy Authority to forcefully remove any monarch, as he so pleased. During the 1200s the King of Germany (back then Germany was called "Norman") had offended the Pope and the Pope declared the King to no longer be fit to rule Germany. The King's own armies turned against him, lest they too offend the Pope by refusing to take arms against their King. The King's armies and officers deserted him and the peasants revolted. The King was eventually forced into exile and the Pope hand-picked one of his own officers to be crowned King of Germany.
5. "He will seek to change the laws" Daniel 7:25
The Bible says "Remember that thou keep Holy the Sabbath Day". But the Papacy declared "NO! By my own power and divine right, I abolish the Sabbath and command that ye keep the 1st Day". The true Sabbath and 7th day is and always will be Saturday.
Until the year 313 AD, it was a crime to be a Christian. It was one of the serious and un-pardonable of “crimes” in that time. But followers of Christ were growing more quickly every day and soon Rome was about to lose control. For years Emperors such as Nero and Diocletian tried to eradicate Christianity off the face of the world, but failed.
Lucifer could tell that he needed to devise a new strategy. He figured the easiest way would be to corrupt the church from the inside. Lucifer’s plan was to over-inflate the ego of the church and its leaders and would make church leaders have an un-quenchable lust and desire for wealth and power and would seek to obtain them at any and all costs. Even at the expense of their own followers. Money and greed would rule all aspects of the church. Greed and fear would be the very foundation that the church would be built upon. In fact the church doctrines teach that a person is not saved thru the Grace and Salvation of Christ, but earns a place in eternity based on how obedient they are to the church and its leaders, and how well a person serves the interest of the church and on how much money or services a person donates to the church
A great shout is heard thru-out the Roman Empire as Emperor Constantine has become a Christian and made Christianity the official religion of Rome. The Christians are over-joyed. No more being made to fight in the arenas. No more being tortured for their faith. No more fear. But little by little, something happens. Compromise.
Over time, for the sake of popularity and profit, Church leaders began to lower their standards and welcomed the pagan worshippers, embracing their customs and traditions and adding them to their own. Since the heathens were used to worshipping idols, the church did away with the 2cd commandment that forbade the worshipping of and bowing down before any man-made objects, such as statues and idols. The church simply replaced heathen idols with their own statues and idols of honored clergy. The people were taught that the church idols were merely there to increase dedication and devotion to the church. Even today members of the Church are taught to kneel before the statues, as a way of paying homage and respect. Many of the heathens worshipped the sun as their chief deity, and the sun's holy day was....you guessed it, Sunday (hence the name SUN-day).
Look at this- The Catholic authorities proclaim "The Bible says, 'Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath Day', but the Catholic Church says "No. With my own power and God-Given authority, I do away with the Sabbath and command that you honor the 1st day as holy. And lo, the entire civilized world bows down in obedience to the commands of the holy Catholic Church" - Father Enright, C.S.S.R. of the Redemptoral College, Kansas City, Mo., as taken from History of the Sabbath, page 802.
To accommodate the heathen sun-worshippers, the church changed the Day of Holiness from Saturday, the true Sabbath and 7th day, to Sunday.
Here are 2 versions of the 10 Commandments, one as directed by God and one as directed by the Church. Notice the differences between the 2.
The 10 Commandments as directed by God
1. Thou Shalt have no other gods before Me.
2.Thou shalt not make nor bow down before any graven image.
3. Thou Shalt not take the Name of your Lord in vain
4.Remember keep Holy the Sabbath Day
5.Honor thy father and thy mother
6.Thou shalt not kill
7.Thou shalt not commit adultery
8.Thou shalt not steal
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor
10. Thou shalt not covet anything that belongs to thy neighbor
The 10 Commandments as directed by the Church
1. I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have any "strange gods" before me
2. Thou Shalt not take the Name of your Lord in vain
3. Remember keep Holy the Sabbath Day
4. Honor thy father and thy mother
5. Thou shalt not kill
6. Thou shalt not commit adultery
7. Thou shalt not steal
8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor
9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife
10. Thy shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods
As you can see, the Church has ripped away the commandment that forbade the worshipping of idols! Also Lucifer knew that people would question the changing of the Day of Holiness from the 7th day to the 1st day and he already instructed his counterfeit church on how to answer. The church's answer was "Since Christ rose from the dead on the 1st day, that is why we honor and worship on Sunday". Many people bought the spill. And today, many people are ignorant of the truth, After all, they only know what they were taught by their teachers, and their teachers only know what was taught by their teachers, and so on.
There was a church pastor who claimed he would pay $25,000 to anybody who could find proof within the Bible that Sunday was the True Sabbath. To date, nobody had been able to claim the prize.
Some highly-educated church clergy said "I know that Saturday is the true Sabbath, but if I dare go against Church Doctrine I would lose my position within the Church Hierarchy and will be shunned by my friends and family.
If you recall, Governor Pilate was about to release Christ and said “I find this Man to be free of fault and I shall release Him”. But the crowd grew angry and restless, and they had a “mob mentality” about them. The angry crowd yelled, “If thy set free this Man, thou are no ally of Caesar”. Pilate was afraid. He was afraid of losing his job as well as his regal status within Roman society. The peer pressure and the threat of losing his lofty social position in the Roman world was too much for Pilate and he agreed with the crowd’s demands and signed the orders to have Christ crucified.
It's no wonder that so many people are all too willing and eager to worship the Beast and kneel before him.....to save their own necks, and to keep their jobs and to save their social status, but at the same time, lose their souls.
The following is from an official church decretal- "The Pope has authority to change the times, the laws, and to dispense with all things, even the very precepts of Christ, Himself".
Today there are many well-meaning people who are ignorantly involved with this counterfeit church. They simply do not know any better and are free of blame in the Eyes of the Lord. They are merely innocent victims of Lucifer's deceit and treachery. But the Lord will call upon them to "flee the Church of Babylon" and the God-fearing people will leave in droves.
6. Has a leader who claims to be a God on earth and has the power to forgive sins and declares himself to be "infallible"
The Pope claims to be God on earth and has the power to remove sins, which is blasphemy, because only God himself has the authority to remove sin and the Pope claims that he is "infallible" and the church documents also claim the Pope is "infallible" (without fault or error) and the church documents even claim, per their own scriptures "The Pope has never erred, and he alone is without fault or judgment". Only God can rightfully claim such.
7. "It was given unto him to make war with the saints" Revelation 13:7
Christians killing other Christians because of their faith. I know it seems a bit far-fetched, but that is the legacy the Papacy has left. They killed their enemies without mercy. But who were their "enemies". According to the Papacy, their enemies were anybody who refused to bring honor and glory to the Church and refused to worship the Pope as God. An enemy was anybody who owned a Bible....a very illegal book, during the Papacy's reign of terror and blood-shed. Here is an account of one such incident. One of countless many.
The Waldenes were one group of people who owned and read from the Holy Bible, despite the Papacy's commands for them to turn over the books to their Bishop. Others had turned over their Bibles, lest they face torture at the hands of the Catholic Priests, but the Waldenes refused. The Waldenes longed to break to these starving souls and give them the Bread of Life and to point out that Christ alone, not a deceitful church was the answer to salvation. The Church was not amused and launched a battle against the "infidels" and massacred every last one of them, even the defenseless children.
The Catholic Church painted a picture of Jesus as a person so empty of compassion and love that only a Priest could mediate between God and man.
8. Is a world-power that is awed and wondered at, even here and now.
Is a world-power that is awed and wondered at, even now. The Pope has great political influence over the nations of the earth. Presidents, Kings and Queens, the rich and famous, and poor and unknown flock to his palace to seek his guidance and counsel and the Pope is very respected and revered, and awed at by the entire world.
9. Is a "mother church" Revelations 13:7
And I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and 10 horns" Revelations 17:1-3
The 10 heads represent the 10 provinces of the Roman Empire. The woman is a harlot, which in prophecy represents a corrupt church
. "And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color and decked with gold and many precious stones and pearls" Revelations 17:4
It's a very rich church. She is called "The Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the earth" Revelations 17:5. Not only is it a church, but a world-wide political power. No wonder people wonder after it, in awe. "And I saw the drunken woman with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration" Revelation 17:6.
Yes this church will kill followers of Jesus. Like Nimrod and Alexander the Great, this church power has leaders who divert the peoples worshipping of God to worshipping the church itself, and the leaders of the church.
10. "Has a man at the head of it, with the number of his name is 666"
The beast has the "name of blasphemy" - Revelations 13:1
It has become one of the leading doctrines of the church that is visible head is invested with supreme authority over all clergy and pastors across the world. More than that, he took the very Name of God and declared himself to be "infallible" and is always announced and introduced as "Lord God the Pope" and demands that all people worship him.
But what about the 666? Let's take a look, shall we?
On the Pope's official mitre has been seen the title "Vicarius Filii Dei" which means Vicar of the Son of God. The claim that this is his official title has been stated publicly throughout the years. The April 18, 1915 issue of "Our Sunday Visitor" states "The letters inscribed in the Pope's mitre are these: VICARIUS FILII DEI which is Latin for Vicar of the Son of God
Count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundered threescore and six (666)
Let's do it now. Remember the Roman Numerals you learned in school? Remember that U and V have the same value
V=5
I=1
C=100
A=0
R=0
I=1
U=5
S=0
F=0
I=1
L=50
I=1
I=1
D=500
E=0
I=1
Add these numbers and the result is 666, just as prophesied by the Lord.
