When we were last together I asked the question, "Where did this doctrine of some future Antichrist originate? It originated after the great Reformation of Martin Luther had begun, and the publication of his Bible for the common man to read in 1522. He knew the citizens were never allowed to read the scriptures for themselves, and if they could, they would find out that salvation was a free gift from God, through the blood of Jesus Christ -- not by works lest any man could boast...Eph. 2:8-9.
Once Luther's Bible was placed in the hands of the common man, a rebellion against the Holy Roman Empire for teaching them a false religious doctrine erupted violently. The Empire literally hemorrhaged, as thousands of citizens bolted from a dark false religious doctrine, into the light of the truth revealed in Luther's Bible.
This priestly heretic, Martin Luther, even had the audacity to draw pictures in his Bible revealing the Pope as not only an antichrist leader, but also the fulfillment of John's visions in Revelation - namely the seven-headed beast in chapter 17. A woman, who symbolizes paganism, sits on this scarlet-colored beast, which symbolizes sin. Luther drew a crown on her head, just like the one worn by the Pope of the Holy Roman Empire, which says "God on Earth" and the "Vicarious Christ." Luther agreed with the vision which declared this as blasphemous - Mystery Babylon - Mother of Harlots.
Prophecy of scripture is understood in its fulfillment. We will study more historical evidence that proves that the seventh head of the seven-headed beast is the Holy Roman Empire. But Martin knew it in his day, because he personally experienced this beast kingdom, from an insiders perspective.
Because of the mighty protestation against the Holy Roman Empire, new churches popped up all over, with oversight from the underground church pastors who had been patiently waiting for an opportunity to come out into the light without being imprisoned or murdered by the Empire. So the Empire strategized a way to plug this hemorrhage of obedient servants, and quash the new belief that the Pope was the fulfillment of the beast of Revelation -- Man of Sin described by the Apostle Paul.
In order to stop this massive exodus, the Pope enlisted the help of a priest named Ignatius Loyola, who was already a member of the Spanish Alumbrados -- Latin rendering is Illuminati. The Illuminati originated in the days of Nimrod's rebellion against God, when he formed "The Mysteries" religion where they were called the Enlightened Ones - morphing into the Illuminati later in time.
But how could they interrupt the passionate Protestant Church movement? Ignatius Loyola founded a secret society - Society of Jesus - for the sole purpose of devising a plan to infiltrate the newly formed Protestant churches by stealth, and covertly plant their false doctrine. They knew these new Christians were not well versed in the scriptures, so they could easily be persuaded to fall back into the old familiar doctrine of the Empire. These covert Jesuits found it tantalizing to create confusion, doubt, and unbelief in this fledgling truth movement.
A member of this secret society, a Spanish priest named Francisco de Ribera, eventually had a bright idea. He could write a scholarly commentary on the book of Revelation that would definitely cast doubt on Luther's proclamation. In his commentary, a complete fabrication of his imagination, he said that at the end of all time, a political antichrist, a man of sin, will arise when the Holy Roman Empire falls away from the Pope. Of course, he never expected the Empire to fall - but it did.
This antichrist man will pretend to be God, appearing prior to a great seven-year tribulation, where he will persecute the saints of God and abolish the Christian religion. In order to make sure his readers know this happens many centuries from his time, Francisco declared this antichrist man will make a covenant with the Jews for three and a half years in the temple at Jerusalem. He believed that his grandiose end-time fabrication, would definitely convince the populous of the 1500's that the Holy Roman Empire is not the seventh-head of the beast of Revelation - because this beast will not appear until the the end of time.
Did Francisco's commentary of 1590 dissuade the massive Protestant revolt as intended? The next time we get together we will find out what happened to his commentary, and how it influenced the false end-time doctrines of John Darby and Cyrus Scofield, whom we introduced at the beginning of this study. Stay tuned...
God's sheep question the doctrines of men...sheeple follow without question...
