FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:
THE OSTROGOTHS FINALLY ‘PLUCKED UP BY THE ROOTS’ IN 538 A.D.
“Witiges [Vitigis] was now the king of the Ostrogoths [succeeding Theodoric], and Rome was continuing its policy. Professor J. B. Bury says: ‘In the meantime Belisarius [head of Emperor Justinian’s army] had left Naples and was marching northward. The Romans, warned by the experiences of Naples, and urged by the Pope, who had no scruples in breaking his OATH with Witigis [note this], and a messenger inviting him to come, he entered Rome on Dec. 9, A.D. 536.’ – ‘History of the Later Roman Empire,’ Vol. II, pp. 179,180.
“Such, then, was the Pope Silverius, who, having sworn a solemn oath of fealty to Witigis, now, near the end of 536 [A.D.], sent a messenger to Belisarius to offer the PEACEFUL surrender of the city of Rome.’ – ‘Italy and Her Invaders,’ T. Hodgkins (8-Vol. ed.), Vol. IV, Book 5, p. 83. 1885.
“Rome BETRAYED. The Catholics, on the first approach of the emperor’s army, boldly raised the cry that the apostolic throne [?] should no longer be profaned by the triumph or TOLERATION of Arianism, nor the tombs of the Caesars trampled by the ravages of the North; and deputies of the Pope and clergy, and what is called the SENATE and the people, waited upon the approach of the army to whom they threw OPEN the gates of the city [remember the Trojan horse strategy?], and the Catholics were rewarded for their TREASON by the apparent respect of Belisarius for the Pope.’ – ‘History of the Christian Church,’ N. Summerbell, p. 340, third edition, Cincinnati: 1873.
“Witigis then besieged the city of Rome from March, 537, to March, 538, when he raised the siege, after LOSING the flower of his army, and retired to Ravenna, his capital. T. Hodgkin says: ‘With heavy hearts the barbarians must have thought, as they turned them northwards, upon the MANY graves of GALLANT men which they were leaving on that fatal plain. Some of them must have suspected the MELANCHOLY TRUTH that they had dug one grave, deeper and wider than all—THE GRAVE OF THE GOTHIC MONARCHY IN ITALY.’ – ‘Italy and Her Invaders,’ (8-vol. ed.), Vol. IV, p. 285.
“A DEATHBLOW was thus given to the Ostrogoths in 538 A.D., and their re-attempts to establish themselves after this [year 538] were but the last flicker of a lamp being extinguished. Belisarius followed them this same year ‘to their last stronghold of power. Ravenna was soon entered by the troops of the empire, and with it FELL the great kingdom of the Ostrgoths.’ – ‘Fall of Rome,’ J.G. Sheppard, p. 306. London. 1892.
“Then occurred a SINGULAR PHENOMENON, —THE ANNIHILATION AND DISAPPEARANCE of a great and powerful people FROM THE WORLD’S HISTORY.’ – Ibid. p. 307.
“But let all remember, that ‘the success of Justinian’s invasion was due to the CLERGY; in the ruin that they brought to their country, and the relentless tyranny they drew upon themselves, they had their reward.’- ‘History of the Intellectual Development of Europe,’ J. G. Draper, M. D., LL.D., Vol. 1, p. 355. NY. Harper Bros., 1839.
“The last of the three Arian ‘horns’ of Daniel 7:8 had passed away, and with the LIBERTY of the common people . Dr. N. Summerbell truthfully says:
‘The Dark Ages, introduced by the persecution of an enlightened Church in the sanguinary wars of Justinian TO EXALT THE CATHOLICS, continued up to the fourteenth century. It was a long, dark night, when IGNORANCE, BIGOTRY, and CRUELTY REIGNED, and TRUTH, PURITY, and JUSTICE WERE CRUSHED OUT.’ – ‘History of the Christian Church,’ p. 342.” (From ‘Facts of Faith,’ C. Edwardson, Southern Publishing Asso., Nashville 8. TN. 1943).
There are three key events and final acts that mark 538 A.D. as the starting date of the of 1260 day/year prophecy (the Dark Ages). This is one of them. Bless the enlightenment and warnings of the prophecies. To the diligent, serious, and consistent yet humble truth-seekers, Christ’s certain promise is, “and ye shall find!” NMF