Rick Joyner's Blog, page 15

The Tale of Two Emperors—The Book of Revelation

         In this study, we have spent the longest time on the church at Thyatira. This church spans the longest period of time in the church age, about 1,260 years. This period is measured from the Roman Emperor’s decree in 538 A.D. that made the Bishop of Rome the head of the church to Napoleon’s decree in 1798 that revoked that authority of the Pope.  

         History records how Napoleon demoted the Pope’s authority at his coronation as Emperor of what was effectively continental Europe at the time. When the Pope was about to crown him, as he did every other monarch in Europe, Napoleon took the crown out of the Pope’s hands, placed it on his own head, and declared that no man crowned him, but he crowned himself.

         This was a shocking rebuke and humiliation for the Pope, but Napoleon would go further. He continued insulting the Pope until he finally had him thrown into prison. The Reformers considered this the fulfillment of the “taunt against the king of Babylon” in Isaiah 14, which is a remarkable parallel. Here we will scan the highlights of this prophecy in Isaiah:

         It will be in the day when the Lord gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and harsh service in which you have been enslaved,

         that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say, "How the oppressor has ceased, and how fury has ceased!

         "The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers

         "that used to strike the peoples in fury with unceasing strokes, that subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained persecution.

       " Sheol from beneath is excited over you to meet you when you come; it arouses for you the spirits of the dead, all the leaders of the earth; it raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones.

       " They will all respond and say to you, 'even you have been made weak as we, you have become like us.

         'Your pomp and the music of your harps have been brought down to Sheol; maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you and worms are your covering.'

         "How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations!

         "But you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north.

         'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.'

         "Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.

         "Those who see you will gaze at you, they will ponder over you, saying, 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms,

         ' Who made the world like a wilderness and overthrew its cities, who did not allow his prisoners to go home?'" (Isaiah 14:3-6, 10-17).

         The Pope claimed to be “God on earth,” as well as the titles attributed to Christ in Scripture. He exalted himself “above the stars of God,” or the messengers of God who are in His hand, as we see in Revelation 2 and 3. The Pope not only claimed authority over the apostles of God, but also that his word eclipsed the authority of Scripture. This is why the Reformation’s basic message was “Scripture alone” as the basis for the church’s doctrine.

         As the Pope languished in prison, the whole world was astounded, seemingly taking their words straight from Isaiah’s prophecy against “the king of Babylon.” As covered, “Mystery Babylon” was another title for the harlot church in Revelation.

         When the Pope finally died in prison, Napoleon refused to let another Pope be appointed. Many considered the papacy to be dead. Seven years later, after Napoleon decided that he wanted the divine right of kings bestowed upon his son as his successor, he allowed another Pope to be appointed to perform this right. Reformers considered this the fulfillment of “the fatal head wound that was healed” (as the Pope claimed to be the head of the church) so that the papacy came back to life.

         It also came to the attention of many theologians at the time how Napoleon’s military campaigns and the other commanders of the time seemed to fit with those in the prophecies of Daniel 11. Studies of biblical prophecies and their fulfillment in history, and in their own time, became a great passion of the day. Virtually the entire Protestant movement, and many Catholic and Orthodox theologians, were intrigued with how accurately these prophecies seemed to be fulfilled.

         That these were the fulfillment of prophecy became almost a consensus among Protestant Christians until the 1844 Advent Movement. After this movement, the historical view of eschatology seemed almost forgotten by the emerging evangelical church. At the same time, many Protestant churches started becoming so institutionalized that they began doing many of the same things that the Roman Church had done. They also began avoiding biblical prophecy, although there were exceptions. After the 1844 Movement, the most popular books on prophecy were the ones that saw everything futuristically, with two major exceptions: The Advent Movement itself continued to embrace the historic perspective of the fulfillment of biblical prophecies, as did Charles Russell, one of the most widely read authors in the world from the mid-1800s until World War I.

         Russell’s movement morphed into the Jehovah’s Witnesses after his passing, when his successor changed many of his teachings. Soon, both of these movements were considered sects or cults by evangelicals, and their eschatology also became anathema in the evangelical world.

         Much of the futuristic view has some merit when it takes into account many things that have obviously been fulfilled. However, not all has been fulfilled yet. Adherents of both the historic and futuristic schools of thought that have not examined the other to consider its merits seem to see significant holes and contradictions in them.

         For this reason, in this study I draw a lot from the historical view because it has been neglected in recent times, and that is a major mistake. The Lord told John these things would “shortly” come to pass. They did begin to unfold immediately and have continued to today, as we will continue to see.

The City God Built—The Book of Revelation

     As covered, the biggest gate of hell was opened into the church when positions of authority in the church became based on the approval of men rather than God. This began in the early fourth century when the Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. Officials of the empire were required to be Christian. This caused all manner of ambitious and evil people to enter the church to gain favor with the government, not because of a true conversion.

     The corruption of the faith deepened when rituals began to supplant the reality of the truths they were given to celebrate. Instead of having communion with the Lord and His people, they could just take communion and seemingly fulfill their spiritual obligations. By this, life in the true faith was supplanted by mere rituals.

     Then the Scriptures were removed from the life of the church. They were read only in Latin, which the common people could not understand. The church slipped even further into the deep darkness of the Middle Ages, often called The Dark Ages, for that reason. For over a thousand years the church languished in a place where superstition and human alliance opened the door for the antichrist spirit to dominate. This caused the church to practice things that were the opposite of the teachings of Christ and the apostles.

     The slide into the darkness was gradual over centuries. The Reformation that began with illumination from the Scriptures was also gradual. After more than five hundred years of reformation, true and biblical New Covenant church life is still a vision and a hope more than a reality. To the degree that great souls have pursued this hope, there has been life and the power of redemption, reconciliation, and restoration recovered by the church.

     The vision of the city that God, not men, was building compelled Abraham to leave everything to follow this dream into unknown places. This vision caused him to be willing to dwell in a tent when he could have afforded the greatest palace. The earth and its treasures were eclipsed by his heavenly vision to the degree that “here he had no lasting city” (see Hebrews 13:14).

     In contrast, the Great Harlot of the Book of Revelation was the church betrothed to the Lord that gave herself to “the god of this world.” She succumbed to the temptations that Satan offered to Jesus and every sojourner since—the temptation to bow down and worship him, or do things his way and he would offer the world. The false church took the offer.

     However, the true church took the way of Christ, the way of the cross, laying down their lives rather than compromising their devotion to remaining chaste spiritual virgins who would wait for the Bridegroom. So the devil and his bride, those he had seduced like he had the first Adam’s bride, became enraged at the true bride, the true saints.

     As we read in Revelation 12, the dragon poured out a flood to devour the true church. This flood was the Inquisition that is estimated to have killed 57 million declared “heretics” because they would not bow the knee to the papacy. However, these were not heretics, but rather true saints. As we are told: “the earth opened and swallowed the flood” and “the wings of a great eagle were given to the women and carried her away into the wilderness to be nourished by God” (see Revelation 12:14-16). The earth “opened” when the “new world” was discovered, becoming the wilderness to which the persecuted church fled to be nourished by God. The “great eagle” in this passage is America, as the symbol of America is the eagle.

     This is why a large percentage of the first colonists to America were those fleeing religious persecution in Europe. They sought religious freedom in the new world. This is why religious freedom is at the core America’s purpose and why all of our other freedoms are linked to it.

     America was a wilderness, but since its discovery the faith has been “nourished” in her like no other place. Great movements that touched the body of Christ worldwide have been born and nurtured in America. To be a haven for those suffering religious persecution is one of the main reasons we exist. This is why the attack on religious freedom remains a primary way the dragon still seeks to destroy America. 

     But the dragon will not prevail.

The Path of Life—The Book of Revelation

        The Book of Revelation was the history of the church and the world through the church age, written in advance. We can now understand it with greater clarity as we stand at the end looking back on what transpired. We see what opened “the gates of hell” into the church, and we now see what will close them. We can see how what was prophesied happened as well as what must yet be fulfilled.

        The basic requirement for understanding the Book of Revelation is to understand that it is first and foremost a revelation of Christ. The next requirement is that it was given to Jesus to give to His “bondservants,” so only those who have taken up the life of true bondservants can truly understand it. This revelation gives bondservants clarity through some of the darkest times at the end of the age. As the prophecies of Scripture declare, these will experience increasing light and glory when the world goes through its greatest tribulation. We are also assured that the nations will come to their light (see Isaiah 60:1-3).

        The “path of life” is just that—the path of life in abundance. When we are on this path, we become increasingly alive because we get closer to the Prince of Life. Love is the basic food we partake of on this path. As we walk it, we grow continually in our love for God and for one another. As we grow in this, we begin to see events and other people through the eyes of redemption, reconciliation, and restoration. This sums up the purpose of Christ in this age.

        This does not mean we don’t see other people’s sin. Neither will we overlook their deceptions or their false teachings and practices, if they have them. Yet we see to help them, not condemn them. Jesus did not come the first time to condemn the world—it was already condemned. He came to save it. He is not coming back to condemn it, but to “restore all things.”  

       We should look back at even the most diabolical evils of the church seeking her redemption, learning from these mistakes to stop repeating the cycle. We look at present problems not to condemn, but to evaluate how to lead toward redemption, reconciliation, and restoration in Christ.

       The Roman Emperor Constantine opened the biggest gate of hell to the worst evil when he made the church the state religion of Rome. From that point, men gained authority in the church through men rather than through Christ—the “only mediator between God and men” and the only Head of the church.

       When people tried to make Jesus king, He fled to the mountains. If people make us king, then the people rule. Jesus could not be made king by the people because He was “born King.” Therefore, where we get our authority—from God or men—is a most basic factor determining whether we will stay on the path of life.

       The church’s tendency to seek authority or approval from men is at the root of the greatest corruption of Christianity in history. Maybe this is why the Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians1:10, “If I were still seeking the approval of men I would not be a bondservant of Christ.” We cannot serve two masters. To the degree that we seek the approval of men we will forfeit being a bondservant of God, and only bondservants can understand the Revelation.

Where I Stand—The Book of Revelation

         Scripture commands us to “Know those who labor among you” (see I Thessalonians 5:12). I occasionally feel compelled to share more specifically where I stand on a doctrine or other issue because you deserve to know.

         I have been accused of being anti-Catholic, and at the same time, of being a Roman Catholic. I actually have never been part of any denomination. I do admit that for a period of time when I first studied church history, I became very anti-Roman Catholic. As I studied the histories of many Protestant denominations, I became anti-all denominations. Over time, much more study, and the resolve that my main purpose was to love God and love His people, I have tried to love, honor, and respect all Christians and denominations. I began to see them like the tribes of Israel—a real benefit as long as we keep in mind that we are one holy nation and members of the same body. Through dialoging with Catholic leaders that I came to appreciate and respect, my appreciation and respect for the Roman Catholic Church has also grown.

         I still have a great problem with many Catholic doctrines, and am fundamentally committed to Jesus as the “only mediator between God and men,” and the only Head of the church. I will not accept that any man should ever presume His rightful place. I also have issues with some doctrines and practices of other denominations, but as long as they hold to the fundamentals of the faith, I seek to love and honor them. My honoring of them includes being willing to address what I consider to be unbiblical and harmful doctrines. However, I don’t let these doctrinal differences keep me from loving, respecting, and seeking to help them in any way I can.

         I greatly respected the extraordinary leadership of some popes, such as John Paul II. As much as anyone in his time, he promoted the present working of the Holy Spirit. He wrote what I consider to be the clearest teaching on the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the working of the gifts of the Spirit. John Paul II had a powerful healing ministry and saw many miracles. He exhorted Catholics to seek baptism in the Holy Spirit and the operation of the gifts of the Spirit in their lives. Now there are an estimated 130 million born-again, Spirit-filled Catholics.

         Because of this, we must come to the same conclusion Peter did in the house of Cornelius—can we say they are not part of the church to whom the Lord has given the Holy Spirit? The charismatic Catholic movement has been a major blessing to the whole body of Christ and continues to grow. Many of the great leaders being produced by this extraordinary movement are transcendent leaders who are a blessing to the body of Christ.

         However, I do not see the ultimate unity of the body of Christ leading to the whole body being under any one organization. Again, I see the different denominations like the different tribes in Israel—all had a different vision and purpose that fit with the common vision and purpose of the whole nation. We need the uniqueness of each one, and something essential would be lost if they morphed into a single one. The coming unity must be a unity of diversity, not a unity of conformity—just as the human body can only live with the different parts remaining unique and performing their different functions.

         Ultimately, all parts of the body will come under one Head, Jesus. Understandably, we may be appalled at the Pope’s claim to be the head of the church, standing in Christ’s rightful place. Yet virtually every Protestant church and evangelical movement has done the same thing—elevated a man (or woman) as the head and mediator between the people and God. This may not be the case doctrinally, but it often is in practice.

         We may condemn Catholics for what we perceive as the worship of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Yet we often elevate worshipping the temple of the Lord, the church, more than the Lord of the temple. So in a sense, we are doing the same thing.

         We may condemn Catholics for venerating and praying to saints, but we have not stopped exalting men of God over God at times.

         We may condemn the Catholic church for the selling of indulgences (the purchasing of the grace of God with money), but for a long time it was hard to turn on Christian television without seeing the selling of charismatic indulgences—the promise that if a person gave to a ministry, God would bless that person in a special way.

         The point is that those quick to condemn the Catholic church have inevitably gone on to do the same things, just in another form. Revelation, and now history, reveals how the harlot church became the seat of the man of sin, or the sin of man. It shows who we all are without the true grace of God revealed in Christ Jesus. We are totally dependent on His grace. Instead of pointing at “them,” we need to point at ourselves and use this revelation to get free of what we all tend to do—exalt men of God over the God of all men. 

God's Unfathomable Grace—The Book of Revelation

         Here we continue our study of the church at Thyatira that represents the church of the Middle Ages (538-1798). The Catholic church at that time had two major accomplishments that greatly benefited Western civilization. The first was stopping Islam from subduing Europe. The second was keeping belief in the present working of the Holy Spirit alive.

         King Ahab, the husband of Jezebel, was one of the most wicked kings in Israel’s history. He allowed Jezebel to sow the worst kind of idolatry and immorality throughout the land. Yet when Ahab humbled himself just a little before the Lord, the Lord responded with remarkable grace. Grace and forgiveness are basic to the Lord’s nature. You see this kind of unfathomable grace repeatedly extended toward the church in the Middle Ages, even to some of its worst leaders after similar small expressions of humility and repentance.

         As we look at the darkness and depravity of these times, we can’t help but see the truly amazing grace of God and power of the cross to redeem and restore even the most evil. “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” (see Romans 5:20 NKJV). Jesus said those who are forgiven much love much. As deep as the devil can get into us, once he is removed, Christ can fill us just as deeply, thereby turning our weaknesses into strength. So as we look at the deep darkness of the times, let us look for how the unfathomable grace of God overcomes evil with good. I expect to see the grace and glory of God revealed in every denomination, including the Roman Catholic church.

         As we look at the church in history and the deep depravity it fell into, let us also look for and expect the Lord to fill the church with Himself in those same areas. Let us do this with ourselves and with others. No person, church, or organization is beyond the power of the cross to redeem and restore. As we view the errors, we look for the purpose of seeing the grace and redemption of God. In this we now see the Roman Catholic church. Just a couple of centuries ago, it hit possibly its deepest darkness with the Inquisition, but by the second half of the twentieth century, it stood so boldly for freedom that it was fundamentally responsible for dismantling the Iron Curtain. It has also become a primary power in confronting the deep darkness of abortion and standing for the integrity of the family. 

         In the greatest darkness we can find the greatest grace, but it is not a grace that overlooks our sin. Rather it exposes and extracts the sin, and then the sin nature, from our life. Jesus had seemingly unlimited grace for sinners, but little for the prideful and self-righteous. We are not better than those who did these evil things if we are the recipients of more grace. It is all about grace. It is all about Christ.

         This brings up another important lesson—what causes some to be the recipients of grace and others not? It does seem to be as simple as “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (see James 4:6 and I Peter 5:5 NKJV). There are biblically prescribed ways that we are told to humble ourselves. The wisest are those who know these and seek to do them. There is nothing on earth more valuable than the grace and favor of God, and He has made it abundantly available to any who seek it.

Reformation Continues—The Book of Revelation

         As we continue our study of the Book of Revelation and the church at Thyatira that prophesied the church in the Middle Ages, we must continually remind ourselves that this is “our” history, not just “their” history. There had to be a falling away and a revelation of the “man of sin,” who represented the “sin of man.” This personifies who we all are without Christ. The church at that time may have taken on a nature opposite that of Christ, but how often have other churches, movements, and denominations done the same? How often do we personally fall to this?

         Even if we fall into this pattern of behavior that is the opposite of Christlikeness, the grace of God convicts us. It brings us back to the redemption of the cross, the reconciliation and restoration we have through Christ Jesus. Even though the church sank into a terrible depravity for a time and the antichrist spirit prevailed, the grace of God came back to her. Conviction was followed by repentance, reconciliation, and restoration in the form of the Reformation. This reformation of the church continues to this day, and it will until the end of the story—the revelation of Jesus in all of His glory in His temple, the church.

         There can be good in the worst people and evil in the best. The church had some good during the time of its worst depravity, just as there is often some evil in the best of churches. Some of the greatest souls could be found in the institutional church during its darkest times, such as Francis of Assisi.

         Francis of Assisi was devoted to obeying the beatitudes of Christ. It was said after his death that before he lived, the beatitudes were considered an unattainable ideal. Yet Francis proved they were not because he lived them. This high praise came from his enemies. Just as remarkable is that Francis was a close friend to one of the evilest of all popes. To some this proved how naïve Francis was, but to others it revealed his belief that no one was beyond the power of the cross. Francis’ devotion to leading all to salvation extended even to this evil pope.

         It was the papacy that rallied Europe to stand against and push back Islam, which at the time threatened to sweep over the continent. For all the evil perpetrated by the Crusades, they did help check the hordes of Islam and give birth to some of the most enduring charities that extended to Christians, Muslims, and Jews. We will briefly examine these in the next WFTW before continuing on with the seven churches of Revelation.

         We also need to keep in mind that the Roman church had its own reformation and is still being reformed. It is not the same as it was in the Middle Ages. Today an estimated 130 million Roman Catholics are born again and Spirit baptized. The Roman Catholic church has also been on the forefront of some of the important social battles of our time, such as standing against abortion and same-sex marriage.

         Just as it is hard to find even two Baptist churches that are alike, so it is with every denomination, including Roman Catholic churches. The Apostle Paul’s exhortation to know others after the Spirit and not the flesh also means knowing people by their character, not just their affiliation. I have known many people claiming to be “non-denominational” and “non-sectarian” who are more sectarian than many leaders of denominations that I know.

         I have major doctrinal problems with the Roman Catholics, but I have a number of Roman Catholic friends who have such a close relationship to Jesus that I am challenged and convicted every time I see them. I have met quite a few people on my journey who have what I consider to be extremely flawed doctrines in certain areas, but they have more love of God and love for people than many I know with better doctrinal purity. As we’re told in I Corinthians 13, we can have all truth and the faith to move mountains, but if we don’t have love these won’t count.

         I am not discounting the need for a devotion to sound biblical doctrine. If we really love God, we will love His truth and we will be devoted to it. However, the ones most devoted to biblical truth in Jesus’ time were the worst enemies of the Truth Himself. The demons were easy for Him to dispatch, but the religious conservatives had Him killed.

         Because some of what we’re covering is so volatile, I must occasionally interject reminders that this is about “us,” not just “them.” It is not just a cliché that without the grace of God we would have all done the same things. So this is not to attack or blame anyone, but to expose in us the roots of what will lead to a terrible deception. We will keep from this deception by keeping in mind that our main purpose in life is to love God and love one another. I think John’s understanding of this enabled him to be trusted with the Revelation, and this will enable us to be trusted with the understanding of it.

Ritual vs. Reality: The Book of Revelation

     One of the most destructive practices that permeated the church during the “falling away” in the Middle Ages was the substitution of rituals for reality. For example, instead of communion being done in “remembrance of the Lord” and as a commitment to partake of Him, His life, and His body—known in the first century church as koinonia—a ritual took its place. Instead of having communion with Him and His people, they just took communion in a ritual and felt they had fulfilled their obligation. This was devastating to the truth and reality of Christ with His people.

     When the Reformers realized the depth to which the substitution of ritual for the reality had devastated the church, they began to believe this was “the abomination of desolation” prophesied by Daniel (or as it is literally translated, “the abomination that desolates”). They specifically saw this in relation to the doctrine of transubstantiation. This doctrine taught that the bread and wine offered by a priest for communion literally became the body and blood of Jesus.

     What was so devastating about this doctrine was that it taught that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was only to atone for Adam’s sin. For daily personal sins, people had to partake of “the sacrifice of the mass.” Only a priest could offer this. Only a priest could perform the miracle of changing the elements into the literal blood and body of the Lord, and only a priest could give this to the people for the remission of their sins. This placed the priest, not Christ, as the mediator between God and man. This made the people dependent on the priests for salvation instead of on Christ and His atoning sacrifice. Not only did this give the priests, and therefore the church, unfathomable authority over the people, but it completely removed Christ from their daily lives, bringing about an ultimate desolation of the church.

     Not all Protestant movements held to this view about the mass, but the most prominent, the Lutheran church, maintained it in their doctrine. However, most of the others saw this as the ultimate depravity and false teaching of the church at the time.

     There were other rituals that were also used to supplant the truth. Baptism, one of the most powerful and important rituals of the church, was intended to point to a truth, not take its place. A wedding is important and we make a big deal out of them because marriage is important, but the wedding is not the marriage—just the commitment to be married. So it is with baptism. You can dunk someone in water unlimited times and not have them partake of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Immersion is important as a ritual, but it is ultimately the commitment to be united with Christ, just as a wedding is the commitment to be married but not the actual marriage.

         Through the New Covenant, we come to understand that all rituals are prophetic messages of what we do and become. It demeans who God is to think that He is so petty as to carefully watch that a ritual is done properly. This does not mean that we become careless with them, but it means that we care-less, implying we are not as concerned about the message they represent. However, basic to understanding rituals is understanding that they represent a reality we must have in our lives.

         Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The Way is not a formula or procedure but a Person we follow. Truth is not just accurate doctrine but a Person we must know. If that Person is not our Life, then we really don’t know the Way or the Truth. It’s all about Jesus. The purpose of knowing the Way and the Truth is for them to change our life and for Jesus to become our Life.

         The great revivalist Vance Havner once said, “You don’t have to know everything about electricity to turn the switch on.” This is truth. I know people who have flawed doctrines about some things, such as communion, but there is no question that they have communion with God and His people even though their doctrine isn’t perfect. Of course, if we love the truth we want our doctrines to be accurate and biblical, but even more than that, we want them to be who we are and how we live.

The Just Shall Live By Faith—The Book of Revelation

         As we covered, The Reformation took root and spread with the development of the printing press and the Bible being made accessible to the people. As the Scriptures were read, the contrast between the practices and doctrines of the institutional church and the Word of God were easily seen. Multitudes, and even nations, began to break away from the Roman church in Europe. Thus began The Reformation, or the reforming of the church.

         This renewal movement was not accomplished without great conflict in every nation. Every king and governmental authority was in “the valley of decision,” having to choose between the new and the old. As this division rent Europe, the power of Islam grew in the east and was intent on conquering Europe. Pirates so dominated the Mediterranean Sea that it was called an Islamic lake.

         As the Inquisition grew and multitudes of Protestants were tortured and slain, some Protestant areas mobilized and wars broke out between them and the Catholics. Because of the brutality of the Inquisition, some Protestant leaders even cheered the coming of the Islamic hordes, thinking that life under Islam could not be as bad as life under the Roman church (Martin Luther was one of these).

         Islam was not coming to liberate but to dominate. Islam means “submission,” and those who would not convert to Islam when captured were either enslaved or killed. Consider how bad it had become under the Roman church that some preferred slavery or death under Islam. Then consider the plight of the Jews, who were threatened by all sides.

         I’m not covering this to smear any church or group, rather to paint an accurate picture of those times and how the roots of many of the serious problems we face today began then. This period was not called “The Dark Ages” by many historians without reason. To be of any persuasion was to be considered a deadly enemy of every other group. In all our partisan fighting today, even with terrorism, we are still far from facing the diabolical evils of the end of the Middle Ages.

         One reason why the Jewish people are used so prophetically in Scripture is that their conflicts within and without parallel the plight of humanity. For this reason, we will briefly cover their history through this time and how it foreshadowed the time when Israel is again at the heart of world conflicts.

         The Reformation ignited when Martin Luther, while reading the Book of Romans, awakened to how the just must live by faith. Interestingly, Paul’s epistle to the Romans, which would be the city John saw in Revelation that the harlot church would sit upon, would ignite the world’s deliverance from that church. The Word of God has infinite power, but it also has wisdom beyond human wisdom.

         Paul’s epistle to the Romans is considered the most important theological book in the Bible. It is the most profound declaration and explanation of the Gospel and New Covenant in Scripture. We also find the Jewish people’s place described in chapters nine through eleven. Why would the people of the Old Covenant be given such a prominent place in the declaration of the New Covenant? In this section we are also told of a grafting together of the two that will begin the resurrection.

         When we grasp the crucial part that the Jewish people have to play at the end of the age, we understand why Satan has been so intent on destroying them. When we grasp their place in His purpose, we cannot help but to have a vision for Israel—it is linked to the church coming to its full purpose and purity in being prepared for the King.

The Scriptures Alone—The Book of Revelation

     We have been covering the great falling away from the faith—the slide that took place in the Middle Ages and began when the church married the Roman Empire. After about a thousand years it reached its ultimate depravity around 1400. During this period, many great souls arose to challenge the darkness of their times, and multitudes were tortured and killed for this.

     Then the church began to sell “indulgencies” by which one could purchase the grace or mercy of God. The doctrine said that if one paid enough, they would not have to suffer purgatory. They could even pay to have a deceased loved one released from it. They could also pay to have sins remitted, even those they had not committed yet but planned to. This practice provoked a German monk from the obscure village of Wittenberg to take a stand against this great darkness. When he did, he pushed it back. His name was Martin Luther. Luther ignited what is now known as The Reformation for the way that it reformed the church.

     Martin Luther nailed his protest of the debauchery of the church to the door of the local cathedral in what is called “The 95 Theses.” Because of his boldness and refusal to compromise his convictions, this obscure monk from an obscure village probably changed the world more than any conqueror. In a short time, Europe was aflame with the fires of revival and reformation, and they continue to burn in some form to this day.

     What enabled Martin Luther to do what others had not, even though they shared the same basic message? One factor that was no doubt a big reason was that the printing press had been invented when Luther took his stand. This made the mass production of books possible, cutting the price of a book to a tiny fraction of what it had been and massively increasing the number of those who had a Bible available to them. The first book off the press was the Gutenberg Bible, a German translation of the Scriptures. To this day, the Bible remains the bestselling book in the world, and it continues to bring reform to those seeking God’s truth.

     As the Bible was promulgated and read, the contrast between its teachings and the practices of the church were apparent. At first the reformers did not want to leave the institutional church, but just reform it. As the church resisted reformation and expanded the Inquisition, it produced possibly the worst persecution yet. This soon created a divide that was too great, and the breaking away of the Protestant churches and the nations where they were preeminent was unavoidable.

     Germany, the country where reformation first took root, became a stronghold of the truth and a haven for those fleeing the deadly Inquisition. Then John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli rose up in Switzerland and John Knox in Scotland. All were brilliant theologians and prophetic preachers. They fanned the flames of reformation and deepened its roots in Scripture.

     The “battle cry” of The Reformation was sola scriptura, meaning “the Scriptures alone” as the basis for doctrine. This was a direct assault on the Catholic Church’s doctrine—that the Pope’s word carried greater authority than the Scriptures. The Reformation’s movements refused any doctrine that was not clearly established in the Scriptures. The great struggle between the authority and opinions of men and that of the Bible began that continues to this day.

     Where do we stand on this? Many have a doctrine that the written Word of God is preeminent over all other opinions, but they do not know His Word well enough to counter those opinions that still permeate the church. Charles Spurgeon once said that he could find ten men who would die for the Bible for every one who would read it. It does not do us much good to believe that the Word of God is preeminent if we do not know the Word of God in order to live by its truth.

Knowing Our History—The Book of Revelation

         As we have covered, the biggest falling away from the faith began after the Roman Empire made Christianity the imperial religion. This brought a flood of unsavory and selfishly ambitious people into the church. They sought leadership positions in the church, viewed as the easiest and quickest path to wealth and power. Quickly, the church was transformed from a vitally alive and powerful force spreading faith throughout the world in the face of relentless persecution to little more than a political pawn of the state.

         Seeing the trap the church fell into during this period caused many to think that the church should not have anything to do with the state, but that is not the case. The Great Commission given to the church is a call to “disciple all nations,” not just individuals. How can we do this if we do not engage with them? There is a ditch on either side of the path of life, and those who overreact to the ditch on one side will often fall into the other extreme. The path of life is usually between extremes, and it takes great faith, wisdom, and above all, staying close to the Lord to stay on the path. This is also true in the church’s relationship to the state. We are called to be “in” the world as salt and light, but not “of” it—or not like it in basic ways.

         No doubt there were many great Christians both within and outside the institutional church during the time of the great falling away in the Middle Ages. Many of these were part of the “antipas,” or anti-pope, movement that the Lord commended in His word to the churches. Even so, as access to the Scriptures was removed from church life—and in church authority, dogma was elevated as a higher authority than the Scriptures—the church and the Western world descended into a terrible darkness. During this time, those who held to the apostolic faith based on the Scriptures were persecuted even more viciously than under the Roman Empire.

         We will not go into the detail of how horrible and antichrist the church became in this period, but historians generally agree that about fifty million declared heretics by the church in this time were martyred. Halley’s Bible Handbook corroborates this number. The pope assumed every title attributed to Christ in Scripture and was elevated to be considered, by doctrine, even “God on earth.” Allegiance to the pope, by acknowledging him as “the lamb of God,” was a primary way one was declared a heretic or not.

         The pope was not considered a secular authority, but he dominated the West by determining who could hold secular authority. In “Christian Europe,” those who held the position of king would have to crawl on their knees up a hill to the pope’s throne, kiss his ring, and receive his blessing before they could assume their own throne. In this way, the “harlot” church fulfilled the prophecy that she “reigns over the kings of the earth” (see Revelation 17:18). 

         In Revelation, this harlot church was identified to those “with wisdom” as “seven hills on which the woman sits” (see Revelation 17:9 NIV). Rome was built on seven hills and was known throughout the world as the “city on seven hills.” This is likely how the early church fathers, who lived several centuries before the great falling away, identified Rome as being the seat of the “man of sin,” or the “abomination that desolates,” as seen in their writings.

         We have these writings readily available and known as “The Early Church Fathers.” We also have the Bible compiled and readily available as the bestselling book in the world for centuries. However, before the printing press, books were rare, as were the Scriptures. Even literacy was rare. Ignorance and superstition ruled the masses. The authority of kings was absolute, but they depended on the church’s endorsement to assume and maintain it. As imagined, the favors given by kings to church authorities were great.   

         The corruption of the church continued and deepened throughout this long spiritual night over Western civilization. There were occasional popes and church leaders who tried to bring reform, but for every step forward there seemed to be two taken backward by the next generation. At the same time, millions were persecuted and often executed as heretics for refusing to submit to the church. The methods of torture used made the Nazis look compassionate. The classic book, Foxe's Book of Martyrs, covers this in detail.

         During this time, it is likely that the world witnessed its greatest depravity ever in the lands where the Roman Catholic Church was preeminent. This was all prophesied in the revelation given to John. It unfolded just as he was shown. As the revelation became known, it was a great comfort to those who suffered through this period of our dark history.

         This was allowed to happen for a reason. If we forget this and do not understand the reasons for it, we will keep making the same mistakes until a generation arises that understands. The church continues to make many of the same mistakes today, even if on a much lesser scale and in different ways. The same spirit of corruption still has great influence in the church. This is why we need to examine the doctrines and practices of this period in more detail, as painful as it may be. However, continuing to practice them will lead to much more pain.