Revelation Chapter 12
“Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.” (Verses 1-4)
Verse 5 “She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and his throne.”
The period of human gestation is about nine (9) months—actually 267 days. If, as in the prophetic Scriptures, we take each of these days to be a year, the “woman’s” delivery ought to have taken place about two hundred and sixty-seven years after A.D. 53—that is in A.D. 320. St. Paul’s second Epistle to the Thessalonians was written about A.D. 53, and it was in this very epistle that he spoke of the “mystery of iniquity” being already at work. However, her child was premature; it was born in A.D. 314! (“Notes on Revelation”, by Brother Frey, Page 195)
“Persecuted and reviled, she was pained to be delivered and longed for the completion of the promised `Seed of the woman, which should bruise the serpent’s head.’ Her anxiety and desire in this direction produced a premature birth—`The Man of Sin’ (the Papal hierarchy) being the offspring. This `male child,’ at first a weak one (A.D. 314), was gradually `caught up unto God and to his throne,’ or exalted to the position and titles, homage and praise of the true `seed,’ so that `he as God sat in the temple (church) of God, showing himself that he is God.’ And within three hundred years he did `Rule the nations with a rod of iron’.” (R306:3, 4)
This is the clear history of the Roman Catholic Church during what most scholars call the Dark Ages, during which this “male-child” (the Papacy) was exalted to the status of “God on Earth”
“The Apostle Paul warned the elders of Ephesus gathered at Miletus, “Take heed to feed the church of God… for I know … that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:28–30). To the Thessalonians he stated,
“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [the day of Christ’s return] shall not come, except there comes a falling away [an apostasy, a departure from true doctrine] first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God [Greek theos, a god], or that is worshiped; so that he as God [a god] sits in the temple [the church] of God, showing himself that he is God [a god]… For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now restrains [hinders; i.e., the Roman emperor as chief religious ruler or Pontifex Maximus] will do so [continue to hinder], until he be taken out of the way [in Justinian’s reign, A.D. 539]. And then shall that Wicked [One, the papal system] be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume [at his Second Advent] with the spirit of his mouth [with the truth, which will expose or make manifest the Antichrist to all who are awake]” (2 Thess 2:1-4, 7, 8).
Therefore, it is both natural and consistent to look back into the past for the “man of sin” and expect to be able to recognize him, for Paul says he would be revealed, or his real character shown and seen, BEFORE the day of the Lord. This iniquitous seed would be difficult to recognize initially, except as the apostles pointed out by name, with the power and authority of the Holy Spirit vested in them, various individuals of this class in their day. Under the figure of the woman of Revelation 12, the early presence and portent of the false embryo would not be seen, except with the passage of time, when the swelling of the womb and abdomen would manifest the existence of this foreign element working within the Church and constantly on the increase. But not until the birth would the identity of the child be disclosed (A.D. 314), and even then the true character of the child would not be fully revealed until he reached maturity as the Man of Sin (A.D. 539).”
Continued with next post.
“Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.” (Verses 1-4)
Verse 5 “She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and his throne.”
The period of human gestation is about nine (9) months—actually 267 days. If, as in the prophetic Scriptures, we take each of these days to be a year, the “woman’s” delivery ought to have taken place about two hundred and sixty-seven years after A.D. 53—that is in A.D. 320. St. Paul’s second Epistle to the Thessalonians was written about A.D. 53, and it was in this very epistle that he spoke of the “mystery of iniquity” being already at work. However, her child was premature; it was born in A.D. 314! (“Notes on Revelation”, by Brother Frey, Page 195)
“Persecuted and reviled, she was pained to be delivered and longed for the completion of the promised `Seed of the woman, which should bruise the serpent’s head.’ Her anxiety and desire in this direction produced a premature birth—`The Man of Sin’ (the Papal hierarchy) being the offspring. This `male child,’ at first a weak one (A.D. 314), was gradually `caught up unto God and to his throne,’ or exalted to the position and titles, homage and praise of the true `seed,’ so that `he as God sat in the temple (church) of God, showing himself that he is God.’ And within three hundred years he did `Rule the nations with a rod of iron’.” (R306:3, 4)
This is the clear history of the Roman Catholic Church during what most scholars call the Dark Ages, during which this “male-child” (the Papacy) was exalted to the status of “God on Earth”
“The Apostle Paul warned the elders of Ephesus gathered at Miletus, “Take heed to feed the church of God… for I know … that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:28–30). To the Thessalonians he stated,
“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [the day of Christ’s return] shall not come, except there comes a falling away [an apostasy, a departure from true doctrine] first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God [Greek theos, a god], or that is worshiped; so that he as God [a god] sits in the temple [the church] of God, showing himself that he is God [a god]… For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now restrains [hinders; i.e., the Roman emperor as chief religious ruler or Pontifex Maximus] will do so [continue to hinder], until he be taken out of the way [in Justinian’s reign, A.D. 539]. And then shall that Wicked [One, the papal system] be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume [at his Second Advent] with the spirit of his mouth [with the truth, which will expose or make manifest the Antichrist to all who are awake]” (2 Thess 2:1-4, 7, 8).
Therefore, it is both natural and consistent to look back into the past for the “man of sin” and expect to be able to recognize him, for Paul says he would be revealed, or his real character shown and seen, BEFORE the day of the Lord. This iniquitous seed would be difficult to recognize initially, except as the apostles pointed out by name, with the power and authority of the Holy Spirit vested in them, various individuals of this class in their day. Under the figure of the woman of Revelation 12, the early presence and portent of the false embryo would not be seen, except with the passage of time, when the swelling of the womb and abdomen would manifest the existence of this foreign element working within the Church and constantly on the increase. But not until the birth would the identity of the child be disclosed (A.D. 314), and even then the true character of the child would not be fully revealed until he reached maturity as the Man of Sin (A.D. 539).”
Continued with next post.
