“with all power and signs and lying wonders” 2 Thessalonians 2:9
The phrase is only used twice in the Scriptures and on both occasions it is in reference to Daniel’s fourth beast, the Roman Empire. The first occasion states in Daniel 7: “the same horn made war with the saints” (v21). This horn is referred to as “having eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things,” the Papal See (v8). The same chapter indicates this power prevailed against the saints “until the Ancient of days came” (v21–22), which is the time of the establishment of the Kingdom of God (v13–14). The same horn “speaks great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High” (v25).
The second reference is in Revelation 13 and refers to the Beast of the sea (v1), whose characteristics mirror those of Daniel’s fourth beast. One of its prominent features is a blasphemous mouth (v5–6); another, its persecution of the saints; and then its connection with the number 666 (v18).
1260 years of bitter warfare against the saints
I will concentrate in this brief article on its war against the saints. The period of this warfare is stated as being 42 months, which is 1260 days, or years on the principle of “a day for a year” (Rev13:5). There are several overlapping times of equal duration, but for the exercise we will concentrate on the time of Constantine, 312 AD, to the slaughter of the Huguenots in 1572 in France. This is known in history as the Massacre of St Bartholomew’s Day, and it took place on the 23rd of August, when the Catholic French King Charles IX slew an estimated 30,000 of these courageous Protestants.
Long war against the Albigenses and the Waldenses
In 1209 the Pope sent a Crusader army against the so called heretical Albigenses in the Languedoc region of southern France. Significantly, in these crusades was the destruction of 40,000 to 50,000 Albigenses at the Battle of Muret, September 12th 1213. Twenty years of warfare saw most of the sect destroyed and the Inquisition which was set up in November 1229 in Toulouse continued the work, finding the remnants of these peoples and extirpating them from the face of the earth. The last known member of this group was burnt at the stake at Courbieres in the territory of modern Switzerland in 1321.
This group of Protestants in southern France were also known as ‘the poor of Lyon’ and owed their existence to an Italian, known as Peter Waldo, who converted to Christianity in 1173. From him derives the name of the sect Waldenses, sometimes called the Waldensians, or the Vaudois. Some of these continued, despite their persecution, until the 17th century and remnants of them are still found today in Europe, and in North and South America. Peter Waldo was always ‘on the run’ from the Catholic Church, yet he did not cease to preach wherever he went in France, in northern Italy, in Germany and in the Waldensian valleys of Switzerland. Though a branded heretic, the Church never caught him and he died of natural causes in the early 1200s in Bohemia. The sect mainly survived in small clandestine groups in the Alps, always eluding the Church and its henchmen. Thousands of Waldensians were massacred in 1545 at Merrindol in Provence by the French King Francis the 1st. Many of the survivors fled to Switzerland and the northern Italian Alps.
They became known as the Vaudois and were so named because many settled in the Swiss Canton of Vaud. Revelation 12 also describes the Christian- Roman dragon standing before the woman and at- tempting to devour the remnant of her seed. These valiant men and women sought refuge from persecution in the craggy Swiss Alps, where they constructed terraced farms on the sides of rocky slopes in order to be far from the corrupt and venomous Church of Rome.
The treaty of 5th of June 1561 granted amnesty to these ‘Protestants of the Valleys’, including liberty of conscience and freedom of worship. Many prisoners were released and those who had been fugitives were permitted to return home. The Reformation was also somewhat beneficial to the Vaudois, with some religious reformers showing them respect, but they still suffered in the French Wars of Religion (1562–1598). The Reformation had prevented their destruction, but the organised Protestant churches of Switzerland would also persecute many of our brethren.
The massacre of Protestant Huguenots – St Bartholomew’s Day, 23/8/1572
French Protestants were influenced in the 1530s by the writings of John Calvin and were convinced of the vanity of the rituals of Roman Catholicism. They became a potent political force in France and by 1562 numbered approximately 2,000,000, and they were not to be lightly set aside by the 16,000,000 Catholics. 1561 saw a temporary end to hostilities against religious dissidents in the Edict of Orleans and in 1562 they were officially recognised in the Edict of Saint-Germain. But the fiercely zealous Catholic king, Charles IX and his mother determined otherwise, that France must be rid of the Protestant Huguenot vermin. The city gates of Paris were shut to prevent escape, the citizenry were armed and the king stood on the balcony of his palace blazing away with his pistols and joining in the carnage!
The common people hunted the Huguenots in the streets. Men, women and children were slaughtered both in Paris and throughout the provinces. One nonpartisan estimate puts the total killed at this time at 70,000. The reaction of Pope Gregory XII was to strike a medal to celebrate this great victory with his bust on one side and the massacre of the Huguenots depicted on the other (see illustration).
Once Philip II of Spain heard of the massacres it is recorded that he laughed – the only time in his life that laughter is recorded with reference to that odious man. Scripture records that the destruction of the witnesses would be celebrated with great merriment and gift giving (Rev 11:10). This is precisely what happened and the spectre of Papal wrath was magnified to the point where the Huguenots fled France for Africa and the New World.
The Wonder of Daniel’s prophecy
“I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom” (Dan 7:21–22).
The fact that Daniel was even given this prophecy is remarkable. Who would ever have imagined that from within the Christian community violence against their own more faithful members could ever have arisen. Their Lord said that “he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword” (Rev 13:10). This must have been a difficult thing to imagine from Daniel’s time forward. Christians killing Christians! How likely was this? Yet the terrible matter went on for 1260 years, all through the Dark Ages. These prophecies of bitter persecution are mixed with divine vehemence against the Roman oppressor: “Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup she hath filled fill to her double” (Rev 18:6). This is a prominent feature in Daniel and Revelation (Dan 7:9–11,22,26–27; Rev 16:18–19,21; 17:14,17; 18:4–8,10,21; 19:2,11–15 etc). We can be sure that these judgments will be fulfilled against the Papal system by God, our Lord and the saints: “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful” (Rev 17:14).
We see then the need to discern this system for what it is, to ensure we are on God’s side in this matter. We are well-advised to keep ourselves apart from this system upon which the ire of God is focused: “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” (Rev 18:4). How thankful we are that we have been told before of these things.