FRIDAY MORNING MANNA
June 29, 2018
Biblical Numerology: NUMBER SEVEN (No. 41)
Clovis, 508 A.D.?: Mysteries to Historians Revealed by God
And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Dan. 12: 11.
From Daniel and the Revelation by Uriah Smith, “History’s Coming Climax” chap., pp. 323-328:
“The 1290 Prophetic Days. – We have here a new prophetic period introduced, 1290 prophetic days, which according to Bible authority would denote the same number of literal years. From the reading of the test, some have inferred that this period begins with the setting up of the abomination of desolation, or the papal power, in A.D. 538, and consequently extends to 1828. [However] we find nothing in the latter year to mark its termination, but we do find evidence in the margin that it begins before the setting up of the papal abomination. The margin reads, ‘To set up the abomination.’ With this reading the text would stand thus; ‘From the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away to set up [or in order to set up] he abomination that maketh desolate, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.’
The Year A.D. 508. –“We are not directly to what even these 1290 days reach; but inasmuch as their beginning is marked by a work which take place to prepare the way for the setting up of the papacy, it would be natural to conclude that their end would mark the cessation of papal supremacy. Counting back, then, 1290 years from 1798, we have the year 508. This period is doubtless given to show the date of the taking away of the daily, and it is the only one which does this. The two periods, therefore, the 1290 and the 1260 days, terminate together in 1798, the latter [1260] beginning in 538, and the former [1290] in 508, thirty years previous. In support of the date A.D. 508 the following historical quotations are given:
Baptism of Clovis. – ‘As to the writings of Anastasius, . . . there is one from him to Clovis, King of the Franks, congratulating that prince on his conversion to the Christian religion. For Clovis, the first Christian king of the Franks, was baptized on Christmas Day 496, the very day, according to some, on which the pope was ordained.’ (Archibald Bower, The History of the Popes, Vol. I, p. 295).
“Thomas Hodgkin says:
‘The result of this ceremony was to change the political relations of every state in Gaul. Though the Franks were among the roughest and most uncivilized of the tribes that had poured westward across the Rhine, as Catholics they were now sure of a welcome from the Catholic clergy of every city, and where the clergy led, the ‘Roman provincials, or in other words the Latin-speaking laity, generally followed. Immediately after his baptism Clovis received a letter of enthusiastic welcome into the true fold, written by Avitus, Bishop of Vienne, the most eminent ecclesiastic of the Burgundian kingdom.’ (Thomas Hodgkin, Theodoric the Goth, pp. 190, 191).
Clovis the First Catholic Prince. – ‘It is therefore observable, that Clovis was, at this time [496 A.D.], the only Catholic prince in the known world, as the word Catholic was then understood. Anastasius, Emperor of the East, was a professed Eutychian. Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths in Italy; Alaric, King of the Visigoths, master of all Spain, and of the third part of Gaul; the kings of the Burgundians, Suevians, and Vandals, in Gaul, Spain, and Africa; were all zealous followers of Arius. As for the other kings of the Franks settled in Gaul, they were still pagans. Clovis was not only the sole Catholic prince, at this time in the world; but the first king that ever embraced the Catholic religion; which has procured to the French king the title of the ‘most Christian,’ and that of the ‘eldest son of the Church’ [Roman Catholic, that is].”- Uriah Smith, D & R p. 324.
Clovis Compared to Theodoric. – “But were we to compare the conduct and actions of Clovis, the Catholic, with those of the Arian King Theodoric, such a comparison would no ways redound to the honor of the Catholic faith.’ (Archibald Bower, History of the Popes, Vol. I, p. 296, footnote. See also Henry Hart Milman, History ofLatin Christianity, Vol. I, pp. 381-388)
Popes Endangered by Arian Princes. – “Ephraim Emerton, former professor of history at Harvard University says: ‘By the time the Franks had fought the battle of Strassburg the bishops of the city of Rome had come to be looked up as the leaders of the Church in what had been the Western [Roman] Empire. They had come to be called popes, and were trying hard to govern the Church of the West just as a king would govern his people. [religious controlling the state affairs of government] We have seen how much respect a venerable pope like Leo would command even from such rude destroyers as Attila [the Hun] and Gaiseric [__of the__]. Now the popes had always been devoted Catholics, opposed to Arianism wherever it appeared. At the moment of the Frankish conversion they were in danger of the Arian Ostrogoths who had just gained a firm hold upon Italy. Theodoric had not disturbed the religion of Rome, but a new king might arise who should try to force Arianism upon the whole of Italy. The pope therefore was overjoyed to hear that the newly-converted Franks had taken his form of Christian belief. He was ready to bless every undertaking of theirs as the work of God, if only it might be against than heathen Arians. Thus began as early as the year 500 A.D. an understanding between the Roman Papacy and the Frankish kingdom which was to ripen into an intimate alliance and to do very much towards shaping all the history of Europe.’ (Ephraim Emerton, Introduction to the Study of the Middle Ages, pp. 65, 66).
Clovis’s Conversion a Check on the Arians. – “The event which intensified the fears of all these Arain kings, and which left to each one little more than the hope that might be the last to be devoured, was the conversion to Catholicism of Clovis, the heathen king of the Franks.” (Thomas Hodgkin, Theodoric the Goth, p. 186)
Barbarian League Against Clovis. – “The kings of the barbarians were. . . invited to join in a ‘League of Peace,’ in order to check the lawless aggressions of Clovis which threatened the danger to all.’ – Ibid, pp. 198, 199.
Clovis Launches a Religious War. Ever heard of the Crusades and jihads? Well here is a sample of the former. – “The diplomatic actions of Theodoric was powerless to avert the war; possibly even it may have stimulated Clovis to strike rapidly before a hostile coalition could be formed against him. At an assembly of his nation (perhaps the ‘Camp of March’) in the early part of 507 A.D., he impetuously declared: ‘I take it grievously amiss that these Arians should hold so large a part of Gaul. Let us go and overcome them with God’s help, and bring the land into subjection to us.’ The saying pleased the whole multitude, and the collected army marched southward to the Loire.”- Ibid, p. 199.
Clovis Defeats the Visigoths. – “The next campaign of the Frankish king was one of far greater importance and success. He was set on trying his fortune against the young king of the Visigoths, whose personal weakness and unpopularity with his Roman subjects tempted him to an invasion of Aquitaine. It would seem that Chlodovech [Clovis] carefully chose as casus belli the Arian persecutions of Alaric, who, like his father Euric, was a bad master to his Catholic subjects. . . . In 507 Chlodovech [Clovis] declared war on the Visigoths.’ – (Charles Oman, The Dark Ages, p. 62).
“Why the explosion was delayed until the year 507 is unknown[to historians and mane, not to God]. That the king of the Franks was the aggressor is certain. He easily found a pretest for beginning the war as a champion and protector of Catholic Christianity against the absolutely just measures which Alaric took against his treasonous orthodox clergy. . . . In the spring of 507 he {Clovis] suddenly crossed the Loire and marched toward Poitieres. . . .Ten miles from Poitiers, the Visigoths had taken up their position. Alaric put off beginning battle because he was waiting for the Ostrogoth troops, but as they were hindered by an appearance of a Byzantine fllet in Italian waters he determined to fight instead of beating a retreat, as he would have been wise to do. After a short engagement the Goths turned and fled. In the pursuit the king of the Goths was killed,it was said by Clovis own hand (507 A.D). With this overthrow the rule of the Visigoths in Gaul was ended forever.” (Walter C. Perry, Franks, From their First Appearance in History to the Death of King Pepin, p. 85).
“It is evident, from the language of Gregory de Tours, that this conflict between the Franks and Visigoths was regarded by the Orthodox party of his own and preceding ages as a religious war, on which, humanly speaking,the prevalence of the Catholic or Arian creed in Western Europe depended.” – Ibid, pp. 88, 89.
Now, A.D. 508. – “A short time after these events, Clovis received the titles and dignity of Roman patricius and consul from the Greek emperor Anastasius; who appears to have been prompted to this act more by motives of jealousy and hatred toward Theodocric the Ostrogoth, more than any love he bore fro the restless and encroaching Frank. The meaning of these obsolete titles, as applied to those who stood in no direct relationship to either division of the Roman Empire, has never been sufficiently explained . . . . The sun of Rome was set [pagan Rome]], but the twilight of her greatness still rested on the world. The German kings and warriors received with pleasure, and wore with pride, a title which brought them into connection with that imperial city [Rome], of whose universal dominion, of whose skill in armies and arts, the traces lay everywhere around them.” – Ibid, pp. 88, 89.
“In 508 Clovis received at Tours the insignia of the consulship from the eatern emperor, Anastasius, but the title was purely honorific. The last years of his life Clovis spent in Paris, which he made the capital of his kingdom.” – (Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed., art. “Clovis,” Vol. VI, p. 563).
End of Arian Resistance. – “This disposed of the Visigothic kingdom, but there yet remained the league of Arian powers under Theodoric. Alaric had counted on the assistance of Theodoric, but the latter failed him. The next year, A.D. 508, however, Theodoric came against Clovis and gained a victory, after which he unaccountably made peace with him, and the resistance of the Arian powers was at an end.” – (See Thomas Hodgkin, Theodoric the Goth, pp. 202, 203; Nugent Robinson, A History of the World, Vol. I, pp. 75-79, 81, 82.
Significance of Clovis’s Victories. – The eminence which Clovis had attained in the year 598, and the significance of his victories to the future of Europe and the [Roman Catholic] church, were so great that historians cannot forbear commenting on them.
‘Nor was his a temporary conquest. The kingdoms of the West Goths and the Burgundians had become the kingdom of the Franks. The invaders had at length arrived, who were to remain. It was decided that the Franks, and not the Goths, were to direct the future of destinies of Gaul and Germany, and that the Catholic faith, and not Arianism, was to be the religion of these great realms.” – (Richard W. Church, The Beginning of the Middle Ages, pp. 38, 39.
‘Clovis was the first to unite all the elements from which the new social order was to be formed, — namely, the barbarians, whom he established in power; the Roman civilization, to which he rendered homage by receiving the insignia of patrician and of consul from the Emperor Anastasius; and finally, the Catholic Church, with which he formed the fruitful alliance which was continued by his successors.”- Victor Duruy, The History of the Middle Ages, p. 32.
Paved the Way for Alliance of Church and State. – “In him [Clovis] met tow religions, and two ages of the world. At his birth the Roman world was still a power; his death marks the dawn of the Middle Ages. He stepped into the vacant place of the Eastern Emperor, and paved the way for what Charlemagne perfected—the fusion of Roman and German civilization, the alliance of church and state.” – Julius von Pflugk-Harttung, in A History of all Nations, Vol. II, p. 72./ D & R 328, 329.