overflowing.” An Historical Sketch of the Protestant Church of France, pp. 530-32 by J.G. Lorimer, 1841, from Bible Source, p. 614.
“And after three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.”
A well-respected historian wrote: “On the 17th of June, Camille Jordan, in the Council of Five Hundred, brought up the memorable report on the Revision of the laws relative to the freedom of religious worship. . . . The Bible had been slain in France from November 1793 till June 1797. . . . and the Bible so long sternly repressed before, was placed in honor, and was openly the book of Protestantism.” – The Apocalypse of St. John, pp. 181-183 by George Croly, 1828, quoted in Source Book, pp. 615-6.
In 508 A.D. Clovis, king of the Franks converted to Catholicism. Thus the Bishop of Rome gained full supremacy in both East and Western Rome. By 538 A.D. the Roman church had gained complete power over the state. So that in the Council of Orleans in 538, agricultural labor which was allowed by Constantine on Sundays, was outlawed and all labor prohibited under severe penalties, including death for repeat offenders. (See Present Truth, vol. 1, No. 9, p. 67, April 1850).
In 1798, the French general Berthier, on orders of Napoleon Bonaparte, took Pope Pius VI captive, taking all the power of the papacy, thus inflicting upon it a “deadly wound.” Rev. 13:3. But the same prophecy reveals that this wound would be “healed” and it indeed it has as the whole world has been progressively “wondering after this beast.” (See The Modern Papacy, p. 1 by Joseph Rickaby, S.J., and Critical Notes by Adam Clarke, 1850, both found in Bible Source, pp. 392, 393.
“The downfall of the papacy, which marked the termination of the 1260 years, and according to verse 35 showed the beginning of the time of the end, occurred in February, 1798, when Rome fell into the hands of Berthier, the general of the French.”- Daniel and the Revelation, p. 291.
“Received a Deadly Wound.” — The head that was wounded to death was the papal head. We are held to this conclusion by the obvious principle that whatever is spoken in prophecy of the symbol of any government, applies to that government only while it is represented by that symbol. Now Rome is represented by two symbols, the dragon and the leopard beast, because it has presented two phases, the pagan and the papal; and whatever is said of the dragon beast applies to Rome only in its pagan Rome form, and whatever is said of the leopard beast applies to Rome only in its professedly Christian form. John says that is one of the heads of this leopard beast that was wounded to death. In other words this wound fell upon the form of government that existed in the Roman Empire after its change from paganism to Christianity. Thus it is evident that it was the papal head that was wounded to death, and whose deadly wound was healed. This wounding is the same as going into captivity. (Rev. 13: 10). It was inflicted when the pope was taken prisoner by Berthier, the French general, and the papal government was for a time abolished, in 1798. Stripped of his power, both civil and ecclesiastical, Pope Pius VI, died in exile at Valence in France, Aug. 29, 1799. But the deadly wound began to be healed when the papacy was re-established, though with less of its former power, by the election of the new pope, March 14, 1800. (See Archibald Bower, History of the Popes, Vol. III, pp. 409-420; George Croly, The Apocalypse of St. John, p. 251).” – Ibid, p. 567… (click “Next Post” to continue)