When we were last together I asked if you had ever heard about John Huss, who was martyred by the Holy Roman Empire - burned at the stake for refusing to surrender his allegiance to them. Jesus Christ was the only one to whom he would surrender his allegiance. John's passionate desire was to expose the false religious doctrine of the Empire, and awaken the people to the truth written in the Bible.
Historical documentation reveals that John was more incredulous over the scandalous private lives of the leadership of the Empire, their opulence and unrestrained lasciviousness, and was determined to expose them publicly. Before long, John was arrested and brought before the court of the Empires' religious hierarchy. Even King Wenceslaus, who previously was sympathetic with John's cause, feared the revenge of the church leadership, and eventually allied with them against Huss.
For the crime of exposing their false religious doctrine, the Empire forbade John to buy or sell in Prague. Denying the basic needs of this true-heart did not silence him, but rather invigorated his message to bring the truth to the beguiled. Once again John was brought before the court of the Empire, found guilty of heresy and thrown into prison.
While in prison, John was given time to recant his vitriolic attack on the Empire, but he steadfastly refused to surrender his allegiance to them. John lost his long battle for the truth of the gospel, and was burned at the stake on July 6, 1415, praying for the salvation of the Pope, who personally ordered his execution.
During the reign of the Imperial Roman Empire (6th head of the beast) and the Holy Roman Empire (7th head of the beast), historians have estimated that 50 million Christians were murdered. Christians were hunted like animals, imprisoned, tortured, beheaded, and burned at the stake simply because they refused to surrender their allegiance to these Empires.
Tyrannical men in power demand allegiance to them - religious or secular - so Jesus Christ becomes the competition...and must be stamped out. Now you understand why Christians have been so viciously persecuted, and will continue to be until their Lord returns for them.
You may be asking if Revelation reveals this terrible persecution of the true Christians during the Dark Ages - the thousand-year reign of the Holy Roman Empire? I'm glad you asked that question, because Martin Luther gave us the answer from his biblical research, when he revealed the woman on the scarlet beast in chapter 17 of Revelation as, not only Paganism, but she also symbolized the leadership of the Holy Roman Empire.
"I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement"...Rev. 17:6. The religious leaders of this Empire were intoxicated with their power and authority over the lives of all their subjects around the world - power to imprison, torture, and murder all who refused allegiance to them - thousands of books have recorded their chicanery.
But the preaching of John Huss, and so many other martyrs, awakened many of the disillusioned subjects to question the religious doctrine of the Holy Roman Empire, and demand the truth. John left a legacy of hunger for a revival of Biblical truth, which paved the way for the success of Martin Luther in 1517 in Germany. Light began to shine on the false religious doctrines of the Empire -- guiding the way out of the Dark Ages of lies and superstitions.
No wonder the seer of the vision marveled with great amazement when he saw the woman drunk on the blood of the saints - seeing a great religious empire persecuting and massacring multitudes of faithful followers of Jesus Christ, must have stunned him with incredulity!
Next we must delve into the historical documentation that proves that the 7th head of the seven-headed beast is the Holy Roman Empire. As we progress we will also find out which head is the image of the beast, and which head received a mortal blow, but lived again - and why. The answers to these riddles are easy, but will take a few blogs to provide the historical documentation. Stay tuned...
God's sheep question the doctrines of men...sheeple follow without question...
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