All 3. Jerome, who engineered the Latin Vulgate, had a strong understanding that the Antichrist was soon to come. He lived at the time of the incursions and establishment of the 10 horns in the former Empire. He lived in the 5th century. Yet he had not yet witnessed the fall of the 3 horns which he said would give surety to the identity of the little horn. Other church fathers taught the same, as did the apostle Paul. Many of them witnessed the demise of the western Empire, they saw the rise of the horns, and knew the little horn was soon to come, which it did.
The reformers, several centuries later and having a clearer view as the past had unfolded, had a clear insight and understanding of the identity of that little horn. They had been raised within that system, had been taught by it, imprisoned theologically within its apostate framework, and were then breaking free under the inspired leadership of the holy Spirit, exposing her sins and errors. That system today is rising to global power, and will in the near future, be placed at the head of all world religions as a supreme ruler over the consciences of mankind, just as she had in Europe during the dark ages. The meeting just this week between the pope and king Charles is yet another precursor as to what we can expect in time to come.
Yes, only the blind cannot see what is in from of them.
Rome versus Zion: The Great Political Theme of the Apocalypse
A central political theme of
The Apocalypse is the conflict between
Rome and Zion. Rome is portrayed in three forms, politically as the Empire, ecclesiastically as the Papacy, and in combination as the Holy Roman Empire. The Apocalypse is seen as predicting both the decline of the Roman Empire and the rise of the Papacy, symbolized as the Beast of the Sea.
As the Roman Empire weakened and Rome itself became politically insignificant, its bishop, the Pope gained increasing religious power. Freed from direct imperial control, the papacy extended its authority across Italy and the Western world. The decree of Emperor Justinian, following his defeat of the Gothic kingdom, further legitimized the Papacy’s power and influence.
The “Beast of the Sea” gains its authority through the “dragon.” In historical terms, this reflects how the Papacy’s power grew with the support of the Emperors of Constantinople. During this time, Rome and Constantinople served as the spiritual and military centers of the Roman world. The military strength of Constantinople often upheld the authority of the Bishop of Rome. Even when anti-papal forces the Goths controlled Italy for about sixty years, inflicting what seemed a “deadly wound” on the imperial power, it was Justinian who ultimately restored papal authority.
However, as Constantinople’s military strength declined under pressure from the Saracens and later the Ottomans, the Pope was forced to seek new allies. Meanwhile, deep divisions split the Church itself: Rome led the Western (Roman) Catholic faction, while Constantinople became the center of the Eastern (Greek) Catholic tradition. With the Eastern Empire in decline, the Papacy turned westward for support.
By the mid-eighth century (A.D. 752), the Lombards, hostile to the Papacy, dominated much of Italy. In contrast, the rising Frankish power under Pepin and later his son Charlemagne offered strong support to Rome. In 799, an alliance was sealed between the Pope and Charlemagne, laying the foundation of the Holy Roman Empire symbolized as the two-horned Beast of the Earth in Revelation.
This alliance gave the Papacy temporal authority, granting the Pope control over the Papal States and elevating him to both spiritual and civil leadership. Rome, once humbled, was restored as a city of imperial prestige. As historian Edward Gibbon observed, it was “revered by the Latins as the Metropolis of the world, and the throne of the Pope and Emperor who from the Eternal City derived their title, their honours, and the right or exercise of temporal dominion.”
Charlemagne and his successors provided the military might necessary to sustain papal power, assuming the role once held by the Eastern emperors. This Holy Roman Empire, uniting religious and military authority, endured for a thousand years from A.D. 800 until its dissolution by Napoleon in 1806. Thus, it serves as a historical counterpart to the “thousand-year reign” of Christ symbolically foretold in Revelation 20.
