Chapter VII: Part II: The Fourth Kingdom and the "Little Horn" (1)

It was the fourth great monarchy, Imperial Rome, and the events to follow it, that engaged the anxious inquiry of the prophet. He says:

"Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; and of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom."

The prophet wanted to know the truth about it; and the angel told him the truth. First, the angel said:

"The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces."

The fourth kingdom, as we have seen, was Rome. As Cardinal Manning said of the empire, "It was 'exceeding terrible,' according to the prophecies of Daniel; it was as it were of iron, breaking down and subduing the nations."

Of the ten horns that arose out of this fourth great empire, the angel said:

"The ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings."

We look to the history of the Roman Empire, and what do we see?--Just the picture of the prophecy. We see the original Roman Empire of the West divided into lesser kingdoms. We see the barbarian peoples of the North sweeping down upon the empire, breaking it up, and establishing within its boundaries the various kingdoms that are to this day represented by the kingdoms of western Europe.

And as we watch the history at this point, we surely see "another little horn," another land of power, rising among the horns representing the kingdoms of divided Rome--a kingdom, yet a kingdom "diverse" from the others. The work of this power riveted the attention of the prophet; and it is of the greatest importance that we also should watch closely to catch the lesson of the divine prophecy.

Prophetic and Historic Pictures of the "Little Horn"

This is plainly the picture presented by the prophet, as we look again, observing details more closely.

The prophet beheld the division of the Roman Empire into lesser kingdoms. Then, springing up among these kingdoms, he saw the little-horn power subduing three of the ten kingdoms, speaking great words, and making war with the saints of God. It was to be a religious power, then, ruling among the kings of the earth, and asserting religious dominion over the faith and consciences of men. "The same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them."

"We see the barbarian peoples of the North sweeping down upon the empire, breaking it up, and establishing within its boundaries the various kingdoms that are to this day represented by the kingdoms of Western Europe."--_Page 127._]

We look to history, and this is what plainly appears:

We see, as described in the prophecy, a time when ten contemporaneous kingdoms filled the territory of the original Western Empire. Just there we see an ecclesiastical kingly power rise to religious supremacy--the Roman Papacy. We see, through its influence, three of the ten kingdoms overthrown, "plucked up by the roots"--three Arian or heretical kingdoms. And as we watch the history, we find this power making "war with the saints" and prevailing against them through long ages.

A Roman Catholic writer describes it in a paragraph:

"Long ages ago, when Rome through the neglect of the Western
emperors was left to the mercy of the barbarous hordes, the
Romans turned to one figure for aid and protection, and asked
him to rule them; and thus, in this simple manner, the best
title of all to kingly right, commenced the temporal
sovereignty of the popes. And meekly stepping to the throne of
Cæsar, the vicar of Christ took up the scepter to which the
emperors and kings of Europe were to bow in reverence through
so many ages."--_Rev. James P. Conroy, in American Catholic
Quarterly Review, April, 1911._

Yet again we look at the picture presented in prophecy. Then we turn to history; and precisely where and when the prophet saw the "little horn" coming up, we see the Roman Papacy rising to supremacy. We see this ecclesiastical power wielding a kingly scepter among the kingdoms of divided Rome, exalting itself above them, with a look "more stout than his fellows." We hear it speaking great words, and we see it carrying on warfare against the saints.

Clearly, there was no other power in history, rising at that time and in that place, which suggests the slightest correspondence to the prophecy. In every detail the Roman Papacy does correspond to it.

The prophetic outline has brought us to the rise of the great apostasy, so fully dealt with in the New Testament prophecy; but there are further specifications in this prophecy of the seventh of Daniel which demand brief study.

The crushing defeat of the Goths by the armies of Justinian, who placed Vigilius in the papal chair under the military protection of his famous general, Belisarius.]

The magnificent headquarters of the papal system.]

THE 1260 YEARS OF DANIEL'S PROPHECY

Compressed into forty-four words, the age-long story of the workings of the Roman Papacy is thus told by the angel who interpreted Daniel's vision of the little horn:

"He shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." Dan. 7:25.

The spirit of this apostasy was abroad in apostolic days. "The mystery of iniquity doth already work," said the apostle Paul. 2 Thess. 2:7. And this power is to continue to work until the end, when it will be destroyed by the brightness of Christ's coming. Verse 8.

A Prophetic Period

But according to the word of the angel to Daniel, there was to be a period during which, in a special sense, the Papacy was to hold supremacy over the saints and the times and the laws of the Most High.

"They shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." In the Scriptures the word "time," used in this manner, means a year: "at the end of times, even years." Dan. 11:13, margin. Therefore a time (one year) and times (two years) and the dividing of time (half a year) means three years and a half. The same period is mentioned twice in the twelfth chapter of Revelation, once (verse 14) as "a time, and times, and half a time," and again (verse 6) as "a thousand two hundred and threescore days."

But in the symbolic representations of time in prophecy, a day stands for a year (see Eze. 4:5, 6, and other scriptures). Thus the prophecy foretold a long period of 1260 years during which papal supremacy would continue.

Now we may ask, When was this supremacy to begin? what would mark the rise of the Papacy to acknowledged supremacy? and what events mark the ending of the 1260 years?

A Pivotal Point in History

The answer of history to the voice of prophecy is clear.

The sixth century was a pivotal period in the history of the world. The bishops of Rome had been asserting the claims of that seat (or "see") above all others. Justinian was emperor of the East. Of Justinian and his time Bury says:

"He may be likened to a colossal Janus bestriding the way of
passage between the ancient and medieval worlds.... His
military achievements decided the course of the history of
Italy, and affected the development of Western Europe;... and
his ecclesiastical authority influenced the distant future of
Christendom."--_"History of the Later Roman Empire," Vol. I,
pp. 351-353._

Of this turning point in the world's history, Finlay says:

"The changes of centuries passed in rapid succession before the
eyes of one generation."--_"Greece under the Romans," p. 231._

Just here we find the Papacy lifted definitely into acknowledged supremacy. Imperial Rome had already left its ancient seat to the Papacy, the imperial throne being no longer maintained at Rome. The Bishop of Rome was left the chief figure in the ancient seat of the Cæsars. The prophecy of Rev. 13:2 had said of the relation of the old imperial power to the Papacy, "The dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority." The seat was given, and now imperial Rome was to give to papal Rome the definite recognition of its supreme power and "great authority."

Papal Supremacy Officially Recognized

In A.D. 533 the emperor Justinian promulgated a letter, having the force of an imperial decree, recognizing the absolute headship of the Bishop of Rome over the churches. It declared:

"We have been sedulous to subject and unite all the priests of
the Orient throughout its whole extent to the see of Your
Holiness.... For we do not suffer that anything which is
mooted, however clear and unquestionable, pertaining to the
state of the churches, should fail to be made known to Your
Holiness, as being the head of all the churches. For, as we
have said before, we are zealous for the increase of the honor
and authority of your see in all respects."--_Cod. Justin.,
lib. 1, title 1, Baronii "Annales Ecclesiastici," Tom. VII, an.
533, sec. 12 (Translation as given in "The Petrine Claims," by
R.F. Littledale, p. 293)._

From this decree (for such it really was) the Roman authorities date the official recognition of the supremacy of the Papacy. Some have taken a later decree by Emperor Phocas (A.D. 606) as a starting point. But Dr. Croly says:

"The highest authorities among the civilians and annalists of
Rome spurn the idea that Phocas was the founder of the
supremacy of Rome; they ascend to Justinian as the only
legitimate source, and rightly date the title from the
memorable year 533."--_"The Apocalypse of St. John," pp. 172,
173._

The Sword of Empire Cleaves the Way

The "great authority" had been recognized. But at this time heretical Arian powers compassed the papal seat about. The Arian Vandals were persecuting Catholics in Africa, Corsica, and Sardinia, and an Arian Gothic king ruled Italy from Ravenna, his capital. The imperial arms, however, were at the service of orthodoxy. In 533-534 Justinian's famous general, Belisarius, uprooted the Vandals. The war for the faith and the empire was carried into Italy also, against the Arian Goths. In 536 Belisarius, unopposed, entered Rome at the invitation of the Pope. But the next year the Goths rallied all their forces to retake the city. It was a crisis in the struggle for Italy. "If a single post had given way," says Gibbon, "the Romans, and Rome itself, were irrecoverably lost." The Goths withdrew, defeated, in 538; and this defeat, says Hodgkin, dug "the grave of the Gothic monarchy in Italy."

The famous statue of St. Peter may be seen on the right.]

Though the conflict went on for years before the Goths were rooted up, this defeat of 538 was a crucial hour in their history. Finlay says:

"With the conquest of Rome by Belisarius, the history of the
ancient city may be considered as terminating; and with his
defense against Witiges [538] commences the history of the
Middle Ages."--_"Greece under the Romans," p 295._

Roughly speaking, the Middle Ages and the age of papal supremacy and power were the same.

A New Order of Popes

A bird's-eye view from the dome of St. Peter's. COPYRIGHT BY UNDERWOOD & UNDERWOOD, N.Y.]

Not only was there this telling stroke by the imperial sword in 538, helping to clear the way before the Papacy, but at this same time the first of a new order of popes was placed upon the papal throne by the imperial arms. Pope Silverius, accused of sympathy with the Goths, was deposed by Belisarius in 537. The emperor intervened, and the question of the validity of his deposition was held up by the emperor until 538. In that year, as Schaff says:

"Vigilius, a pliant creature of Theodora, ascended the papal
chair under the military protection of Belisarius
(538-554)."--_"History of the Christian Church," Vol. III, p.
327._

Here Luther, climbing the stairway on his knees, heard the message, "The just shall live by faith."]

With him begins a new order. Though personally he was humiliated by the emperor's demands, and the Papacy itself was brought into a state of subjection that it had not known even under heretical Gothic kings, yet this very arbitrary use of the papal prerogative by Justinian, strengthened the idea that the Pope of Rome was the supreme authority in religion, to speak for the universal church. In Bemont and Monod's textbook on "Medieval Europe," page 120, we read:

"Down to the sixth century all popes are declared saints in the
martyrologies. Vigilius (537[E]-555) is the first of a series
of popes who no longer bear this title, which is henceforth
sparingly conferred. From this time on the popes, more and more
involved in worldly events, no longer belong solely to the
church; they are men of the state, and then rulers of the
state."

A Persecuting Power

Following Vigilius came Pelagius I (556-560), who ascended the throne by "the military aid of Narses," then the imperial general in Italy. And Pelagius, who had been set in the papal see by imperial power, began to demand that the sword of the empire should be used against bishops or members in the church who did not give way to the authority of the Pope. His letters on this subject "are an unqualified defense of the principles of persecution." (See "Dictionary of Christian Biography," by Smith and Wace, art. "Pope Pelagius.")

The prophecy declared that the Papacy would be given special supremacy during a period of 1260 years.

In A.D. 533 came the memorable imperial declaration recognizing that supremacy, and in A.D. 538 came the stroke with the sword of Rome, cleaving the way; and there began the new order of popes--"men of the state, and then rulers of the state."

Thus decisive events clearly mark the beginning of the prophetic period of the 1260 years. And just 1260 years from the decree of 533, in recognition of the papal supremacy, came a decree, in 1793, aimed against that supremacy; and just 1260 years from that stroke with the sword at Rome in behalf of the Papacy, came a stroke with the sword at Rome against the Papacy.

An event in the French Revolution which marked the ending of the old autocratic order.]

FOOTNOTES:

[E] The exact date should be 538, as given in the quotation from Schaff's history. "From the death of Silverius [June, 538] the Roman Catholic writers date the episcopacy of Vigilius."--_Bower, "History of the Popes," under year 538._

This was accomplished by Berthier, the French general, in 1798.]

THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA

THE END OF THE 1260 YEARS

As the generation in which the papal power rose to supremacy was a turning-point in the history of the world, so, too, was the generation in which the 1260 years of its supremacy came to an end.

This measuring line of prophecy does more than run from date to date. It connects two great crises in human history, the events of the first tending to establish the papal rule over men, the events of the second signalizing a breaking of those bands.

A Crisis in History

Papal supremacy came at that time of which Finlay says, "The changes of centuries passed in rapid succession before the eyes of one generation." The measuring line of 1260 years runs on through the centuries till, lo, its end touches another time of crisis,--Europe in the convulsions of the French Revolution, when again changes, ordinarily requiring centuries, were wrought out before the eyes of men within the space of a few years. Lamartine wrote of that time:

"These five years are five centuries for France."--_"History of
the Girondists," book 61, sec. 16 (Vol. III), p. 544._

And the events of these times proclaimed the prophetic period of papal supremacy ended at last.

Thus, in A.D. 533 came the notable decree of the Papacy's powerful supporter, recognizing its supremacy; and then the decisive stroke by the sword at Rome in A.D. 538, cleaving the way for the new order of popes--the rulers of state.

Exactly 1260 years later, in 1793, came the notable decree of the Papacy's once powerful supporter, France,--"the eldest son of the church,"--aiming to abolish church and religion, followed by a decisive stroke with the sword at Rome against the Papacy, in 1798.

Significant Events of the French Revolution

Of the decree of 1793, W.H. Hutton says:--

"On Nov. 26, 1793, the Convention, of which seventeen bishops
and some clergy were members, decreed the abolition of all
religion."--_"Age of Revolution," p. 156._

The frenzy of the days of the Terror presented the spectacle of outraged humanity, goaded to desperation by centuries of oppression in the name of religion and divine right, rising up and madly breaking every restraint. Because in the minds of the people the Papacy stood for religion, they blindly struck at religion itself, and at God, in whose name the papal church had done its cruel work through the centuries.

In the prophecy of Rev. 11:3-13 these events of the wild days of the French Revolution are specifically referred to as coming at the close of the prophetic period of the 1260 years. The prophetic picture was so clear that over a hundred years before the time, Jurieu, an eminent French student of prophecy, wrote that he could "not doubt that 'tis France," the chief supporter of the Papacy, that would give the shock as of an earthquake to the great spiritual Babylonian city. He wrote of France, one of the ten parts of divided Rome:

"This tenth part of the city shall fall, with respect to the
Papacy; it shall break with Rome, and the Roman
religion."--_"The Accomplishment of the Prophecies" (London,
1687), part 2, p. 265._

And so it came to pass. Far beyond France the movement reached. Canon Trevor says of the wave of revolt against absolutism that passed over Europe:

"It is worthy of observation that only those nations which
eschewed popery were able to resist the tide. Every throne and
every church, without exception, that owned the supremacy of
Rome, was prostrated in the dust."--_"Rome and Its Papal
Rulers," p. 436._

The decree of the French Convention in 1793 was followed by the stroke with the sword at Rome in 1798. The full history is told in fewest words by a Roman Catholic writer, Rev. Joseph Rickaby, of the Jesuit Society:

"When, in 1797, Pope Pius VI fell grievously ill, Napoleon gave
orders that in the event of his death no successor should be
elected to his office, and that the Papacy should be
discontinued.

"But the Pope recovered. The peace was soon broken; Berthier
entered Rome on the tenth of February, 1798, and proclaimed a
republic. The aged pontiff refused to violate his oath by
recognizing it, and was hurried from prison to prison in
France. Broken with fatigue and sorrows, he died on the
nineteenth of August, 1799, in the French fortress of Valence,
aged eighty-two years. No wonder that half Europe thought
Napoleon's veto would be obeyed, and that with the Pope the
Papacy was dead."--_"The Modern Papacy," p. 1 (Catholic Truth
Society, London)._

These events of the French Revolution marked the ending of the prophetic period of papal supremacy. A "deadly wound" had been given the Papacy. And the blow with the sword at Rome was struck in 1798, just 1260 years from the year 538, when the sword of empire struck that decisive blow against the Goths at Rome, and prepared the way for the new order of popes, the kingly rulers of church and state.

Of the condition of the Papacy at this time Canon Trevor says:

"The Papacy was extinct: not a vestige of its existence
remained; and among all the Roman Catholic powers not a finger
was stirred in its defense. The Eternal City had no longer
prince or pontiff; its bishop was a dying captive in foreign
lands; and the decree was already announced that no successor
would be allowed in his place."--_"Rome and Its Papal Rulers,"
p. 440._

"No wonder that half Europe," the Jesuit writer says, "thought Napoleon's veto would be obeyed, and that with the Pope the Papacy was dead." But he adds that "since then the Papacy has been lifted to a pinnacle of spiritual power" unreached before.

The stroke dealt the Papacy by the French Revolution was not to be the ending of it, by any means, according to the prophecy. These events proclaimed the ending of the prophetic period of special supremacy. Another prophecy distinctly indicates that following the deadly blow there would come a revival of the Papacy's influence, just as the Catholic writer describes it. The prophet John, speaking of this same power, says:

"I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.... And they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?" Rev. 13:3, 4.

We see the healing process still going on, with evidences multiplying that the world is more and more wondering after the papal power.

A New Era of Liberty and Enlightenment

With the ending of the 1260 years of papal supremacy, a new order was ushered in. The Papacy had stood for absolutism in state as well as church. Now the power of absolutism was broken. "Absolute monarchy," Edmund Burke said at the time, "breathed its last without a struggle." There came the dawn of an era of greater religious liberty and enlightenment, that has spread blessings over all lands.

The prophecy had said of the Papacy, that the saints and the times and laws of the Most High were to be "given into his hand" for 1260 years. As foretold in Christ's prophecy (Matt. 24:22), these days of the tribulation of God's saints were "shortened." The power of the Reformation weakened the oppressing hand, even before the prophetic period ran out. And when the full 1260 years closed, the world saw the grip of that papal hand yet further loosened, and God's providence at work preparing the way for a world-wide proclamation of His gospel, bearing witness against the perversions of the papal apostasy, and restoring to men the Word and laws of the Most High.

The record of history witnesses that this time prophecy of the 1260 years of papal supremacy was exactly fulfilled. The Lord speaks in prophecy that men may know that He is the living God. In these time prophecies of His Word, He gives assurance not only that this troubled world has not escaped from the hand of its Maker, but that its times are in His hand also; and that when the time of His divine purpose fully comes, He will surely cut His work short in righteousness, and end the reign of sin on earth.

As the prophetic period of Dan. 7:25 meets its fulfilment in the history of the Papacy, even so, we shall see, the work of the Roman Church answers to the further specifications regarding the doings of this "little horn" of Daniel's prophecy.

The Pope's Tiara, from a photograph taken in the Vatican at Rome.]

"Others had trial ... of bonds and imprisonment." Heb. 11:36.]

THE WORK OF THE "LITTLE HORN" POWER

The prophetic picture of the rise and work of the "little horn" finds its exact counterpart in the history of the Roman Papacy:

_The Place._--The little horn was seen by the prophet rising in the field of the Roman Empire. That was the very place where the great kingdom of the Papacy appeared, taking the name of Roman.

_The Time._--The rise of the ecclesiastical kingdom of the little-horn power in the prophecy followed the breaking up of the Roman Empire into the ten kingdoms. Just so the ecclesiastical kingdom of the Roman Papacy rises to view in history immediately following the division of the empire.

_The Period of Supremacy._--The prophecy allotted 1260 years to the full supremacy of this power. History responds that from the beginning of the papal supremacy, in the days of Justinian, a period of 1260 years brings us into the stirring events of the last decade of the eighteenth century, that gave to the Papacy a deadly wound.

"He shall speak great words against the Most High." Dan. 7:25.

THE POWER OF LOVE]

One further set of specifications remains for study:

_The Work._--Of the nature and work of the power represented by the little horn, the prophecy declares:

"He shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." Dan. 7:25.

Do we find in the record that the Church of Rome has fulfilled these specifications also? The Scripture prophecy is absolutely a word-photograph of the workings of the papal church. Look at the main features:

1. Speaking great words against the Most High.
2. Wearing out the saints of the Most High.
3. Thinking to change the times and the laws of the Most High.

Every count in the indictment may be clearly proved, and that by testimony from Roman Catholic sources

"He Shall Speak Great Words Against the Most High"

As Daniel observed the little-horn power, he heard it speaking "very great things." The angel declared that these great swelling words were really against the Most High. And what could be more against the honor of the Most High than that to mortal man should be ascribed the titles and attributes of divinity? Here are some of the "great words:"

"All the names which are attributed to Christ in Scripture,
implying His supremacy over the church, are also attributed to
the Pope."--_Bellarmine, "On the Authority of Councils," book
2, chap. 17._

This ruling has been actually applied through the ages. Says Elliott:

"Look at the Sicilian ambassadors prostrated before him [Pope
Martin IV] with the cry, 'Lamb of God! that takest away the
sins of the world!'"--_"Horæ Apocalypticæ," part 4, chap. 5,
sec. 2._

"And shall wear out the saints of the Most High." Dan. 7:25.]

"The Pope is of so great dignity and excellence, that he is not
merely man, but as if God, and the vicar of God (_non sit
simplex homo, sed quasi Deus, et Dei vicarius_). The Pope alone
is called most holy,... divine monarch, and supreme emperor,
and king of kings.... The Pope is of so great dignity and power
that he constitutes one and the same tribunal with Christ
(_faciat unum et idem tribunal cum Christo_), so that
whatsoever the Pope does seems to proceed from the mouth of God
(_abore Dei_)."--_"Prompta Bibliotheca" (Ferraris), art.
"Papa;" Ferraris's Ecclesiastical Dictionary (Roman Catholic),
art. "The Pope." Quoted in Guinness's "Romanism and the
Reformation," p. 16._

These are no merely extravagant adulations of the Dark Ages, to be repudiated by the moderns; these terms express the unchanging doctrinal claims of the Roman Church, that put man in the place of God. The modern Pope Leo XIII, in an encyclical letter dated June 20, 1894, repeated the claim:

"We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty."--_"The
Great Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII" (New York, Benziger
Brothers), p. 304._

Thus does the Papacy "speak great words against the Most High."

"And Shall Wear Out the Saints of the Most High"

All through the Dark Ages we catch glimpses of the ruthless hand of Rome laid upon simple believers in God's Holy Word; but plans for wholesale wearing out of the saints of God were devised as the Waldenses and others rose to a widespread work of witnessing, heralds of the dawn of the coming Reformation,--

"These who gave earliest notice,
As the lark
Springs from the ground the morn to gratulate;
Who, rather, rose the day to antedate,
By striking out a solitary spark,
When all the world with midnight gloom was dark--
The harbingers of good whom bitter hate
In vain endeavored to exterminate."

--_Wordsworth._

Pope Innocent III gave orders concerning them as follows:

"Therefore by this present apostolical writing, we give you a
strict command that, by whatever means you can, you destroy all
these heresies and expel from your diocese all who are polluted
with them. You shall exercise the rigor of ecclesiastical power
against them and all those who have made themselves suspected
by associating with them. They may not appeal from your
judgments, and, if necessary, you may cause the princes and
people to suppress them with the sword."--_Quoted from Migne,
214, col. 71, in Thatcher and McNeal's "Source Book for
Medieval History," p. 210._

As the truth spread, so also the papal church redoubled its efforts by sword and flame. The historian Lecky says:

"That the Church of Rome has shed more innocent blood than any
other institution that has ever existed among mankind, will be
questioned by no Protestant who has a competent knowledge of
history. The memorials, indeed, of many of her persecutions are
now so scanty that it is impossible to form a complete
conception of the multitude of her victims, and it is quite
certain that no powers of imagination can adequately realize
their sufferings."--_"History of the Rise and Influence of the
Spirit of Rationalism in Europe," Vol. II, p. 32._

Motley, in his "Rise of the Dutch Republic" (part 3, chap. 2), tells how Philip II of Spain--who declared that he would "never consent to be the sovereign of heretics"--sent the Duke of Alva to take over the Netherlands:

"Early in the year the most sublime sentence of death was
promulgated which has ever been pronounced since the creation
of the world. The Roman tyrant [Nero] wished that his enemies'
heads were all upon a single neck, that he might strike them
off at a blow; the Inquisition assisted Philip to place the
heads of all his Netherlands subjects upon a single neck for
the same fell purpose. Upon February 16, 1568, a sentence of
the Holy Office condemned all the inhabitants of the
Netherlands to death as heretics. From this universal doom only
a few persons, especially named, were excepted. A proclamation
of the king, dated ten days later, confirmed this decree of the
Inquisition, and ordered it to be carried into instant
execution, without regard to age, sex, or condition. This is
probably the most concise death warrant that was ever framed.
Three millions of people, men, women, and children, were
sentenced to the scaffold in three lines."

Roman Catholic writers admit that the papal church has sought to exterminate what it calls heresy, by the power of the sword.

The _Western Watchman_ (St. Louis), Dec. 24, 1908, says:

"The church has persecuted.... Protestants were persecuted in
France and Spain with the full approval of the church
authorities. We have always defended the persecution of the
Huguenots, and the Spanish Inquisition. Wherever and whenever
there is honest Catholicity, there will be a clear distinction
drawn between truth and error, and Catholicity and all forms of
error. When she thinks it good to use physical force, she will
use it."

Prof. Alfred Baudrillart, rector of the Catholic Institute of Paris, says:

"The Catholic Church is a respecter of conscience and of
liberty.... She has, and she loudly proclaims that she has, a
'horror of blood.' Nevertheless, when confronted by heresy, she
does not content herself with persuasion; arguments of an
intellectual and moral order appear to her insufficient, and
she has recourse to force, to corporal punishment, to torture.
She creates tribunals like those of the Inquisition, she calls
the laws of the state to her aid, if necessary she encourages a
crusade, or a religious war, and all her 'horror of blood'
practically culminates into urging the secular power to shed
it, which proceeding is almost more odious--for it is less
frank--than shedding it herself. Especially did she act thus in
the sixteenth century with regard to Protestants. Not content
to reform morally, to preach by example, to convert people by
eloquent and holy missionaries, she lit in Italy, in the Low
Countries, and above all in Spain, the funeral piles of the
Inquisition. In France under Francis I and Henry II, in England
under Mary Tudor, she tortured the heretics, whilst both in
France and Germany during the second half of the sixteenth and
the first half of the seventeenth century if she did not
actually begin, at any rate she encouraged and actively aided,
the religious wars."--_"The Catholic Church, the Renaissance
and Protestantism" (London, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co.,
Ltd., 1908), pp. 182, 183._

She has done it--the Church of Rome has worn out the saints of the Most High. The prophet in vision saw an ecclesiastical kingly power rise among the kingdoms of the divided Roman Empire. Its look was more stout than its fellows, and the prophet heard it speaking "very great things," and saw it wearing out the saints of the Most High through the long centuries.

Christ viewing the battle fields of history, where millions of His followers have been slain in His name.]

"Guilty!" is the clear verdict of history, against the Church of Rome on these two counts of the prophetic indictment.

"And Think to Change Times and Laws"

The power that was to speak great words against the Most High, and to wear out the saints of the Most High, was further--in its self-exalting opposition to God--to assume to lay hands upon times and laws, evidently the times and the laws of the Most High; for to say that such a power would lay hands on the laws of men, changing or setting aside human legislation, would signify less than the preceding counts. This third specification states a climax in the indictment--the self-exalting, persecuting power was to lay hands upon the very law of the Most High. It is clearly the same power that the apostle Paul said would rise to dominion after his time: "Then shall be revealed the lawless one." 2 Thess. 2:8, A.R.V.

God's Law Unchangeable

Just as the laws of a government express its character, so the law of God is a reflection of the divine character. "The law of the Lord is perfect." Ps. 19:7. "Wherefore the law is holy," said the apostle, "and the commandment holy, and just, and good." Rom. 7:12.

Jesus declared, "I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart." Ps. 40:8. And He maintained the unchangeable, enduring integrity of that law: "Verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Matt. 5:18.

But in Daniel's prophecy is foretold the rise of this power that was to _think_ to change the times and the laws of the Most High.

Here, again, the evidence points straight to the Church of Rome; for it is a fact that the Papacy has laid violent hands on the law of God--upon the precept, too, that deals with sacred time--and has _thought_ to change it.

In a volume to be seen in the British Museum, dated 1545, the following comment on Dan. 7:25 is attributed to Philipp Melanchthon, the Reformer, associate of Luther (reproduced with the old English spelling):

"He changeth the tymes and lawes that any of the sixe worke
dayes commanded of God will make them unholy and idle dayes
when he lyste, or of their owne holy dayes abolished make worke
dayes agen, or when they changed ye Saterday into Sondaye....
They have changed God's lawes and turned them into their owne
tradicions to be kept above God's precepts."--_"Exposition of
Daniel the Prophete," Gathered out of Philipp Melanchthon,
Johan Ecolampadius, etc., by George Joye, 1545, p. 119._

This is exactly what the power represented by the little horn was to assume to do. The commandment of God is plain:

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work.... For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. 20:8-11.

A Change in Practice

But in general practice there has been a change--the first day is commonly observed instead of the seventh day, which the Lord declares he blessed and made holy. The Roman Catholic Church points exultingly to the fact that this change, so universally allowed today, has come about solely through church tradition without Scriptural authority. For instance, one Catholic writer says:

"You will tell me that Saturday was the _Jewish_ Sabbath, but
that the _Christian_ Sabbath has been changed to Sunday.
Changed! but by whom? Who has authority to change an express
commandment of Almighty God? When God has spoken and said,
Thou shalt keep holy the seventh day, who shall dare to say,
Nay, thou mayest work and do all manner of worldly business on
the seventh day; but thou shalt keep holy the first day in its
stead? This is a most important question, which I know not how
you can answer.

"You are a Protestant, and you profess to go by the Bible and
the Bible only; and yet in so important a matter as the
observance of one day in seven as a holy day, you go against
the plain letter of the Bible, and put another day in the place
of that day which the Bible has commanded. The command to keep
holy the seventh day is one of the ten commandments; you
believe that the other nine are still binding; who gave you
authority to tamper with the fourth? If you are consistent with
your own principles, if you really follow the Bible and the
Bible only, you ought to be able to produce some portion of the
New Testament in which this fourth commandment is expressly
altered."--_"Library of Christian Doctrine: Why Don't You Keep
the Holy Sabbath Day?" (Burns and Oates London), p. 3._

Every one who studies the question must recognize the fact that there is no change authorized in Scripture. As Canon Eyton, of the Church of England, says:

"There is no word, no hint, in the New Testament about
abstaining from work on Sunday.... Into the rest of Sunday no
divine law enters."--_"The Ten Commandments" (Trübner & Co.),
London._

Dr. Heylyn, of the Church of England, wrote:

"Take which you will, either the Fathers or the moderns, and we
shall find no Lord's day instituted by any apostolical mandate;
no Sabbath set on foot by them upon the first day of the
week."--_"History of the Sabbath," part 2, chap. 1._

Authorities, both Protestant and Catholic, freely acknowledge that there is no divine authority for Sunday keeping. There has been a change in practice and teaching, but with no Scriptural authority.

What the Papacy Claims

The prophecy of Daniel 7 forewarned all that the ecclesiastical power that was to rise upon the division of the Roman Empire would _think_ to change the times and the laws of the Most High. The Papacy steps forward and claims boldly that the church has power to set aside Scripture, to institute holy times, and even to change the day made holy and commanded by the Almighty as the day of rest for His people.

In a Catholic work, "An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine," by Dr. Henry Turberville, page 61, we read:

"_Question._--By whom was the change [of the Sabbath] made?

"_Answer._--By the rulers of the church, the apostles who kept
the Lord's day....

"_Ques._--How do you prove that the church hath power to
establish feasts and holy days?

"_Ans._--By the very fact of changing the Sabbath to Sunday;
this change Protestants allow; and therefore they contradict
themselves by keeping Sunday strictly and breaking most other
feasts commanded by the same church.

"_Ques._--How prove you that?

"_Ans._--Because by keeping Sunday they acknowledge the
church's power to ordain feasts and to command them under sin;
and by not keeping the rest commanded by her, they deny that
she has power."

It is the doctrine taught in the standard catechisms of the Roman Church:

"_Question._--Have you any other way of proving that the church
has power to institute festivals of precept?

"_Answer._--Had she not such power, she could not have done
that in which all modern religionists agree with her,--she
could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first
day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh
day, a change for which there is no Scriptural
authority."--_Keenan's "Doctrinal Catechism," p. 174._

Thus the Papacy proclaims itself the power that has _thought_ to change the precepts of the Most High.

On every count, the Roman Church is the counterpart of the little horn of Daniel 7. Before our eyes--in the common practice of Christendom--the commandment of God regarding sacred time is made void by the traditions of men.

The prophecy indicated that there would come a call for a reformation in this matter. Speaking of the warfare against the saints and the times and laws of the Most High, to be waged by the little-horn power, the angel said:

"They shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." Dan. 7:25.

In other words, when the 1260 years should expire, we should expect, according to the prophecy, to see a breaking of the Papacy's persecuting power over believers, a spreading abroad of the Holy Scriptures, and a work of reformation that would lift up the truths of God's Word, and call believers to keep once again the holy time and the holy law of the Most High.

The prophecy of Daniel 7 is one of God's special messages for all men in these last days, picturing the rise and history of the Papacy, and warning all against accepting its perversions of God's truth or recognizing its attempted change in the law of the Most High. Thank God for the "sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place." We are to follow the Lord and obey him, not this power that has risen up in opposition to him.

The angel's interpretation in this chapter does not leave the apostasy triumphant:

"The judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end."

Then the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of the Most High, "and all dominions shall serve and obey Him."

"O, how shall we stand that moment of searching,
When all our sins those books reveal?
When from that court, each case decided,
Shall be granted no appeal?"

"In vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Matt. 15:9.]

"In six days the Lord made heaven and earth,... and rested the seventh day." Ex. 20:11.]

THE BIBLE SABBATH

"He answered and said, Every plant, which My heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up." Matt. 15:13.

The scribes had come to Jesus with the complaint, "Why do Thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?" Jesus answered them with another question, "Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?"

They had thought that Christ was introducing novelties, preaching new things, contrary to established church custom and practice. He showed them that He really stood for the old and established things of God's Word, and that their own religious customs, however old, were really the novelties, without divine authority. He said,

"In vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." And finally He added the words quoted above, "Every plant, which My heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up."

Let the principles be applied to the question of Sabbath observance. Sometimes in our day those who preach the word of God regarding the abiding holiness of the seventh-day Sabbath are accused of preaching new doctrines, contrary to the traditions and customs of the church. But really, the observance of Sunday, the first day, is the innovation; the seventh-day Sabbath is of ancient foundation.

Is the Seventh-day Sabbath a Plant of Our Heavenly Father's Planting?

Which of these two institutions has our heavenly Father planted? It is possible to ascertain to a surety; for every plant of His planting, every doctrine of His truth, will be found rooted in the Holy Scriptures. 2 Tim. 3:16, 17.

The Old Testament Record

_From the Beginning._--When the Creator made the earth and man upon it, He made the seventh day of the weekly cycle His holy Sabbath.

"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.... And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." Gen. 2:1-3.

To sanctify is "to set apart," and so the day made holy and blessed by God was set apart for man. Then it was, as Jesus said, that "the Sabbath was made for man." Mark 2:27. Here the Sabbath institution was planted at the beginning of the world.

_At the Exodus._--The people of Israel, in their bondage in Egypt, had fallen away from the knowledge of God and become corrupted by the idolatrous worship of Egypt, Hence, as the Lord called them out to be His people, He tested their loyalty to His law by observing how they regarded His holy Sabbath:

"Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in My law, or no." Ex. 16:4.

So through the forty years the Lord sent the manna for them to gather on the six working days, withholding it on the Sabbath. (This scripture shows also that the Sabbath was a part of God's law before He spoke it from Sinai.)

A modern view of the summit of Mt. Sinai.]

_At Sinai._--When the time came that the Lord would speak His holy law from heaven, the eternal foundation of His moral government, the Sabbath precept was enshrined in the heart of it:

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. 20:8-11.

_Through Israel's History._--Sabbath keeping was the great mark of loyalty to God. When Israel fell into idolatry, they "observed times" (see 2 Kings 21:6),--doubtless such heathen festivals to the sun god and other deities as were common among the idolatrous nations. These observances of other days meant Sabbath breaking. "Neither shall ye ... observe times.... Ye shall keep My Sabbaths." Lev. 19:26-30. The Lord had promised concerning Jerusalem:

"If ye diligently hearken unto Me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work therein; then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David,... and this city shall remain forever." Jer. 17:24, 25.

The divine pleading was slighted, and Jerusalem's fall and the Babylonian captivity came as the result of the Israelites' disregard of God's holy day.

Thus throughout the inspired record of the Old Testament the seventh-day Sabbath appears as a plant of the heavenly Father's own planting.

The New Testament Record

_The Example and Teaching of Jesus._--It was Christ's "custom" to worship on the seventh day. Luke 4:16.

Jesus, who Himself made the Sabbath at creation (John 1:3), taught that it was "made for man,"--for the human race,--and declared, "The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." Mark 2:27, 28. It is, therefore, "the Lord's day." Rev. 1:10.

He did on the Sabbath only that which was "lawful," or according to the law of God's holy day. Matt. 12:12.

He kept His Father's commandments throughout His earthly life. John 15:10.

And giving instruction regarding events to take place many years after His ascension, He showed that He recognized the continued existence of the Sabbath in the command, "Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day." Matt. 24:20.

"It is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days." Matt. 12:12.]

_Among New Testament Disciples._--The women, after the crucifixion, "rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23:56.

Inspiration says that the apostle Paul's custom was to preach the gospel publicly Sabbath after Sabbath. Acts 13:14; 16:13; 17:1, 2; 18:4. When the Gentiles of Antioch heard the gospel preached by the apostle one Sabbath, they "besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath." Acts 13:42.

Throughout the New Testament, written years after Christ's ascension, the Holy Spirit, speaking of the seventh day, calls it "the Sabbath" upwards of fifty times. "Sabbath" means rest; therefore when the Holy Spirit, in the Christian age, calls the seventh day the rest day, it must infallibly be the day of rest for Christians, the Christian Sabbath.

In the Levitical or sacrificial ordinances of the sanctuary services there were annual sabbaths and feasts, associated with meats and drinks and ceremonial observances. But in appointing these the Lord specifically distinguished between them and the one and only weekly Sabbath, which was from the beginning. "These are the feasts of the Lord," He said, "beside the Sabbaths of the Lord." Lev. 23:37, 38.

The annual festivals and sabbaths, like all the ordinances of the Levitical service, were shadows of things to come, and found their fulfilment in the great sacrifice of Calvary. Col. 2:16, 17.

But the Sabbath of the Lord was made blessed and holy by God at the creation, before sin had entered the world, before any sacrificial or shadowy service was instituted to point to a coming Redeemer. It is a fundamental and primary institution, a part of the moral order of God's government for man, the same as the obligations set forth in each of the other commandments.

And Inspiration declares the eternal perpetuity of the blessed Sabbath day in the future home of the saved, when the prophet describes the felicity of the redeemed, as from month to month, and "from one Sabbath to another," all flesh shall come to worship before the Lord. Isa. 66:23.

Thus we find the seventh-day Sabbath a plant of the heavenly Father's planting, rooted deep in all Holy Scripture, and abiding eternally in the world to come.

Is the First-day Rest an Institution of God's Planting?

In the beginning, the first day was employed by God in the work of creation. Gen. 1:1-5.

Throughout all the Old Testament history it was one of "the six working days." Eze. 46:1.

It was the day of Christ's resurrection; but Inspiration says specifically that "the Sabbath was past" when that "first day of the week" came. Mark 16:1, 2. Inspiration called this first day merely by the ordinary secular name in common business use, with never a suggestion of attaching any sacredness to the day. For some of the disciples it was a day of journeying, in which the risen Christ joined them. Luke 24:13-29. Later He appeared to the other disciples in Jerusalem, gathered not in meeting, but at supper in their common dwelling house. Mark 16:14.

The only religious meeting recorded as occurring on the first day of the week was that held at Troas. (See Acts 20:6-13.) The context shows that it was an evening meeting, after the Sabbath,--Saturday night, as we would call it, for the Bible reckoning is from evening to evening. It was the last time the believers were ever to see the apostle's face, and as they lingered after the close of the Sabbath, he held an all-night farewell meeting, breaking bread with the believers, and leaving at daybreak Sunday morning for the eighteen- or twenty-mile journey afoot, across country to Assos. And while he spent the first day traveling afoot, his companions were journeying by boat.