Transcript

Let's turn to Revelation chapter 12.

I said last week that we would just spend the first few minutes finishing our discussion of whether or not the woman clothed with the sun points to Mary.

I mentioned last time one particular scholar by the name of Bernard Lefrois, L-E-F-R-O-I-S.

He wrote a dissertation back in 1954 entitled The Woman Clothed With the Sun, Individual or Collective?

An Exegetical Study.

It was his doctoral thesis.

It's massive.

It's out of print, but it's available in our library and oth- and other libraries as well.

But, uh, he concludes that the woman o- of Revelation 12 designates a concrete person who embodies in herself a collective.

That is, she is a person, but her presentation in Revelation 12 is representative or symbolic.

And the individual person is, of course, none other than the Blessed Virgin Mary.

He also published the results of his research earlier, a couple of years before he actually, uh, published his thi- his thesis.

Back in 1952 in the American Ecclesiastical Review, he wrote an article called, entitled, The Cl- The Woman Clothed With the Sun.

I think I mentioned this article last week as well.

I wanna draw just a few points from his study, uh, because I think that he does a very good job of summarizing, uh, an e- a very balanced exegetical approach to Revelation 12 and the woman clothed with the sun.

He says, From a mi- uh, a literary analysis, certain so- certain points are clear.

First of all, it's clear that the dragon is Satan, who is the enemy to the Lord of the world and to the one who bore the Lord of the world, the woman.

Now, he doesn't go on to make the point, but I think we can make the point that the dragon is also a symbol, not just an individual person.

If you look closely, you can see this great red dragon with seven heads and 10 horns and seven diadems upon his heads.

From passages like Daniel 7, we see that heads and horns are clearly symbolic of kingdoms, especially, uh, antagonistic empires that oppress God's people.

So there's no reason to isolate the dragon as simply being the individual angel that we know as Satan.

There seems to be a clear purpose in showing that Satan is also closely linked with worldly powers, all right?

With institutions, with monarchies and empires.

Lefrois goes on to say, 'The Lord of the world is first of all Christ the Messiah.' Saint John takes special pains to show this.

In other words, Lefrois is talking about the child who is to, uh in verse 5, She brought forth a male child, one who's to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.

This is the Lord of the world, and it's obviously Christ the Messiah.

Uh, how do we know this?

Well, from the application of Psalm 2:9, no one else but the Messiah does the Old Testament claim such world rule.

Uh, likewise, in explicit terms, this is expressed in Apocalypse 19 Verses 11 through 16, His name is called the Word of God, and He shall rule the nations with a rod of iron.

Uh, and he also gives He lists some other arguments, but I think all of us are convinced that the second personage, the male child, is an individual.

At the same time, we'd have to affirm that the male child as an individual is also a symbol of an empire, in this case, the Davidic Empire.

Because when you go back to Psalm 2 Verse 9, you discover that this psalm and this particular verse as well, both of them were written about David and all of the kings who follow him in his dynasty.

Now, it's it pertains to Christ because Christ is the king of Israel, the Son of David par excellence, but the institution of the Davidic Dynasty, wherein every son of David anointed to be king of Israel, uh, i- i- that applies here as well.

And so, just as the dragon is both an individual and a corporate symbol, so the male child is an individual person, Christ, and a corporate symbol referring to the Davidic Dynasty.

That's why Lefrois argues quite reasonably that when we come to the woman clothed with the sun, it fits nicely to see here again an individual person, namely the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the mother of the male child, as well as a corporate symbol signifying perhaps Israel in the Old Testament which brought forth Christ, or other scholars argue that the symbolic meaning of the woman in its collective sense would be the New Testament church.

Other scholars combine Old Testament Israel, the New Testament church to argue that it's the people of God down through the ages.

Now, I believe that must be a secondary reference, not primary.

Following Lefrois, I would suggest that the primary reference here should be individual.

The secondary reference or application should be collective and symbolic.

Why?

Because I don't think it's really accurate to say that Israel gave birth to the Messiah, all right?

It isn't s- it certainly isn't accurate to say that the New Testament church gave birth to the Messiah, because you'd have, in effect, the tail wagging the dog.

You'd have the effect before the cause, all right?

Or the cause after the effect.

So here's what Lefrois says in page 167 of this article.

The woman gives birth to Christ, head and members, in one and the same act.

Who is this woman, the object of Satan's fury, decked out as queen of the heavens, in the great throes of motherhood, in order to give the world its rightful heir and king?

And what role has she to play at this juncture of the apocalyptic visions, placed as she is before the reign of the beast in chapter 13?

Lefrois mentions that.

It's interesting to note that as soon as Jesus' reign is established in chapter 5, the woman's reign is established in chapter 12.

Both of them are the object of the furious assault of the dragon who wants to install his own king, the beast, in Revelation 13.

So we should see this particular symbol, the woman clothed with the sun, in the larger framework or context where there are lots of powers at war between God and Satan.

Now, what he does here at this point is to consider some objections to the woman symbolizing Mary.

First objection, the birth pangs.Uh, sever- several scholars suggest that because the woman has birth pangs, it can't be Mary because in tradition, at least small T tradition, Mary suffered no birth pangs in bringing forth Christ the Messiah.

LaFla- LaFoy responds, To be born in the pangs of birth does not necessarily refer to physical birth pangs.

St. Paul tells the Galatians in 4:19 that he is in the pangs of childbirth again until Christ be formed in them.

Presumably, he didn't mean that literally.

Likewise, in Romans 8:22, Paul says that all creation groans and agonizes until now.

Creation groans in travail like a mother who's about to give birth.

In both cases, there's a question of suffering in general or suffering of the soul, but there's not any physical birth pangs.

Likewise, he says, The expression to be in pain, to be delivered is used in the New Testament either for physical or spiritual suffering.

Uh, in 2 Peter 2:8, it speaks of it in a spiritual sense, so it can refer to spiritual sufferings.

And so LaFoy concludes, The picture here of a mother when, in birth pangs, in the pangs of birth can represent the universal mother in her anguish of desire to bring forth Christ to the world, and to bring Christ into the hearts of all men, or it could also refer to the spiritual sufferings, which are the price of motherhood of the whole Christ.

In other words, Mary at the foot of the cross, there is, in spiritual birth pangs as she gives birth to Christ and ultimately through the blood and the water and the spirit which He gives up at the cross to all of the church.

A second objection he con- he considers.

The woman in this passage is said to have other children, in verse 17, and this is said to militate from a Catholic perspective, at least, against Mary's perpetual virginity.

Uh, and he goes on to show how this is, this is easily overthrown.

The term for offspring, sperma, in Scripture shows that it can stand both for physical offspring of carnal descent, and for those who are born in a spiritual manner of someone.

For instance, Paul says in Galatians 3:29, he speaks of Abraham's sperma, Abraham's seed, Abraham's offspring, and he applies that to the Gentiles who have faith.

Abraham is the spiritual father of Gentiles, Gentile believers.

Gentile Christians are the spiritual offspring of Abraham.

So throughout Scripture we have sperma, seed, offspring applied in a spiritual sense, just as it seems to be in verse 17, where it says, The dragon was angry with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring and those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus.

So, it's clear, I think that in verse 17, we don't really have a successful objection against the woman being Mary because the m- the children of Mary there would be her spiritual offspring.

And in fact, this would underscore the doctrine of Mary's spiritual maternity, that she is the spiritual mother of all God's children.

The third objection, uh, is that the woman in chapter 12 is a symbol.

Hence, it really can't refer to an individual.

He dispatches this objection very quickly.

He shows how all of these personages in Revelation 12 are symbols and yet they also have a personal meaning.

Likewise, he says the lamb in Revelation 5, with seven horns and seven eyes is a symbol, and yet it also surely refers to Christ, the individual.

The fifth objection I think, or no, no, the fourth objection's really the strongest, and that is, if you look closely, uh, in Verses 7 and following, especially in Verse 14 and 15, where the woman was given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness to the place where she is to be nourished for a time and times and half a time.

There, we have, it says, The detail of the flight into the desert does not seem to fit the Blessed Virgin Mary.

To this it may be said that it could be a literary device, simply to express the woman's exemption from all diabolical influence.

It could also refer, in a symbolic sense, to what?

To the w- to Mary's flight into Egypt where she was carried away by the vision from the angel for safety, for her own safety, for Joseph's and for Our Lord's.

Let me just read now from a conclusion he draws on page 169.

Far from the description of the woman being incompatible with the Blessed Mother, it lends itself admirably to any number of truths of Mariology.

One, Mary's fullness of divine grace symbolized by being clothed with Christ, the light of the world, the sun.

Two, her exalted position in heaven where the entire body of the elect form her crown of glory, 12 being the number for universality.

Three, the divine motherhood of her whose son is Messiah, universal king and son of God.

Four, the spiritual motherhood of the faithful by reason of which she suffered the birth pangs of Calvary long before it became a reality.

In Luke 2:35, you recall how the sword shall pierce her, her heart.

And five, her complete exemption from all diabolical influence so as to remain unconquered by Satan in every way.

In other words, these symbolic references can point not only to the individual that we know as the Blessed Virgin Mary, but they also seem to refer in a, in a symbolic way to her various attributes, to the truths of Mariology, as he puts it.

Now, he goes on I'm not gonna read the rest of this, uh, but he goes on to, uh, show how other positions have certain truths, but they're not as strong or as solid as the meaning of the woman being Mary primarily.

Uh, he considers the woman is the Israel of the Old Testament.

He considers the woman is the Church of the New Testament.

He considers the woman as the people of God, both Old Testament Israel and the New Testament Church, and he shows how all of these convey, contain certain truths, but they don't exhaust it.

Uh, they do not ref- they do not, uh, rule out an application to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

And then he concludes, Let us apply this to, uh, Revelation 12.

The woman signifies an individual.

And no other individual can be meant but Mary, for Mary alone became mother simultaneously of the person, of the person of Christ and of those who are his members.

The woman signifies at the same time a collective body that is organically one with Mary, namely the Church, which is born of Mary and is truly the fruit of her womb and of which she is truly mother and ideal.This double symbolism or signification of the woman was already considered a common view in the fifth century in the West.

This was a real surprise to me.

I did not know that until I came across this article.

Here he quotes from The Breviary, uh, words of, uh, Saint Quodvultdeus around 450 AD, and this is actually quoted in The Breviary.

Quote, uh, now this is the fifth century, uh, father speaking, There is no one of you who doesn't know that the woman signifies the Virgin Mary, who bore our inviolate head, herself inviolate, who also showed forth in herself the ideal of Holy Church, so that as she remained a virgin through giving birth to a son, so also the Church brings forth his members throughout all time, but does not lose her virginity.

So, Mary was virgin and mother, so the Church is supernaturally empowered to be virgin and mother.

And then it goes on, uh, citing other fathers too.

Uh, Epiphanius comments already in the middle of the fourth century on Apocalypse 12, and takes it for granted that the woman signifies Mary in his, uh, Panarion, uh, book 78, part 11.

Likewise, Andrew of Caesarea between 500 and 600 AD testifies that some before him interpreted the woman to be Mary as well.

So, what do we conclude from this?

I think we conclude that there is good, solid basis for an exegete, not just a pope, not just a patristic scholar, not just somebody who's looking for, uh, arguments from authority.

But there are good reasons to draw the conclusion from an exegetical basis that the woman signifies the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Now, let me just pause for a moment, because some of you might be thinking, Why flog a dead horse?

I mean, you're carrying coal to Newcastle.

You're preaching to the choir.

We all believe this anyway.

Or at least, you know, you have given us reasons to, to see this in the past.

I think it's important for us to recognize that this view does not have a majority force.

It does not hold sway even in the majority, uh, in the camp of, of, of, uh, the majority camp of Catholic scholars.

All right?

So, we have to recognize that in effect, the burden of proof remains on the shoulders of those who would contend that the primary signification of this woman is the Blessed Virgin Mary.

But an exegete as reliable as LaFoy can conclude on 177, The glorious woman of chapter 12 is the Blessed Mother of God and our mother, clothed with Christ, the light, queen of the universe, conqueror over all her adversaries, God's chosen ideal for all the redeemed, the sign of salvation for the sons of God, and the sign of defeat to Satan and hell.

The Blessed Virgin Mary symbolizes simultaneously God's prodigy of the latter times, the Church modeled on the ideal mother, giving birth to Israel as members of Christ, protected by God from the fury of Satan in the impending reign of Antichrist when the mystery of God has achieved its full perfection.

In other words, we have here double signification, that the woman signifies Mary and signifies the Church.

Uh, just to give you a little bit more to consider, to ponder, I wanna give to you I wanna, I wanna read a quotation from Cuthbert Latty's commentary on the Book of Daniel.

He quotes from Saint Thomas, who explains how common it is among prophecies to have this sort of double signification.

Saint Thomas says, Prophecies are sometimes uttered about things which existed at the time in question, but are not uttered primarily with reference to them, but insofar as they are a figure of things to come.

All right?

So, the prophecy concerning the woman is uttered with regard to Mary, but also with regard to something that is yet to come.

Holy Mother Church at the end of time prepared as a spotless bride for Christ the bridegroom.

So you can have the beginning and the end symbolically portrayed in prophecy, and that's common.

Let me go on.

Therefore, the Holy Ghost has provided that when such prophecies are uttered, some detail should be inserted which go beyond the actual thing done so that the mind may be raised to the thing signified.

All right?

In, uh, the Navarre Bible Commentary on Revelation, which is I think one of the finest available, on page 97 we read, The Second Vatican Council has solemnly taught that Mary is a type or symbol of the Church, for quote, 'In the mystery of the Church, which is itself rightly called Mother and Virgin, the Blessed Virgin stands out in eminent and singular fashion as exemplar, both a virgin and mother.' That's from Lumen Gentium Article 63.

Now, John Paul II in Redemptoris Mater also takes this perspective.

Uh, and by the way, I, I again, I wanna, I wanna just introduce a, um, I wanna insert a kind of parenthetical remark.

Uh, I've already shown you from LaFoy the solid basis in exegesis to conclude that the woman is Mary.

But I also wanna suggest to you that, that while the magisterium has not ruled definitively on this text as it has St. Matthew 16:17-19, referring to Peter the Rock and the keys of the kingdom establishing the papacy, that passage has been interpreted authoritatively for us by the magisterium.

So is Romans 5:12 and following, dealing with original sin and other passages like those.

But the magisterium has not ruled conclusively, definitively, or authoritatively on Revelation 12.

But I think that the road is being paved and perhaps prepared.

I don't know when it could happen, if it happens, but in The Mother of the Redeemer, the encyclical letter of John Paul II, which just came out back in 1987, we read, and let's see, in paragraph 47, Thanks to this special bond linking the mother of Christ with, with the Church, there is further clarified the mystery of that woman, who from the first chapters of Genesis until the Book of Revelation accompanies the revelation of God's salvific plan for humanity.

For Mary, present in the Church as the mother of the Redeemer, takes part as a mother in that monumental struggle against the powers of darkness, which continues throughout human history.And by her ecclesial identification as of the woman clothed with the sun, it can be said that in the most holy virgin, the Church has already reached that perfection whereby she exists without spot or wrinkle.

There, I think, is one of the strongest statements of all from the magisterium regarding the meaning of Revelation 12.

But about an hour ago, I just found one that I didn't even know existed.

Uh, I found this i- in a footnote in Lefroy's article.

Uh, it's from Pope Pius X's encyclical, uh, Ad Diem Illum Laetissimum, an encyclical of Pope Pius X on the Immaculate Conception, February 2, 1904.

This was about fif- this was 50 years after the definition of the Immaculate Conception was, was rendered, uh, by the magisterium.

Let me just read from paragraph 24.

And by the way, this is exceedingly difficult to find.

You might think that, you know, a lot of encyc- all the encyclicals by the popes in our century in the last 200 years are available, you know, the Daughters of Saint Paul and so on.

Most of them are, and the best ones certainly are.

But, uh, this five-volume work, the Papal Encyclicals, published by Aperion Press, is the only source for all the encyclicals from 1740 until 1981.

Uh, I personally believe every parish ought to have this so that Catholics can consult the teachings of the, uh, magisterium on a whole wide range of issues.

But in paragraph 24, Pope Pius X says something I think that it's, that's even stronger than what I just read from John Paul II.

We read, Leaving aside charity towards God, who can contem- let's see, uh, Who can contemplate the immaculate virgin without feeling moved to fulfill that precept which Christ called peculiarly His own, namely that of loving one another as He loved us?

'A great sign ' Thus the Apostle Saint John describes a vision divinely sent him.

'A great sign appears in the heaven, a woman clothed with the sun and with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars upon her head.' Everyone knows that this woman signified the Virgin Mary, the stainless one who brought forth our head.

That's a rather strong statement.

This encyclical, as I mentioned, is not well known.

I don't know of any other source where it's available in English.

But when the Pope in an encyclical declares, Everyone knows that this woman signified the bless- uh, the Virgin Mary, the stainless one who brought forth our head, I think we have good reason as Catholics, let alone as exegetes, you know, we have good reason as Catholics, if not as exegetes, to hold this interpretation that the woman signifies the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Now, all of this, I realize, is sort of an intellectual and academic exercise, and we have to leave aside, you know, the, the soul's impulsive response.

I mean, I think all of us are, have the reflexive urge to, to pray to the woman of the Apocalypse and to ask our mother, you know, for deliverance, for help, especially in interpreting the rest of the Revelation.

But, uh, we, I need to move on.

I think in, in fairness to you and in justice to this book, we have to press on to chapter 13.

I did this in less than a half hour, incidentally.

It surprises me, because I said last week I'd leave at least a half hour for it.

Okay, let's move ahead then into Revelation 13.

Let's begin in verse one.

And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems upon its horns, and a blasphemous name upon its heads.

Now, we hear a little bit of an echo here, because think back to the dragon.

The dragon had seven heads and ten horns also, but the dragon and the beast are distinct.

The dragon, in effect, is the source of the beast and its authority, as we'll see.

We have a blasphemous name upon its heads.

It's almost a parody of how the 144,000 were marked on their foreheads.

It's almost a, it's almost a parody of how the high priest had inscribed on the turban o- o- over his forehead, Holy to the Lord.

Now these are blasphemous names upon its heads.

And the beast that I saw was like a leopard.

Its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth.

And to it, the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.

Now, who is this beast?

Almost every commentator agrees that this beast from the sea refers to Rome, because the sea is generally the source for Gentile power.

We can see this clearly, for instance, in Daniel 7.

Turn with me again to Daniel chapter 7.

We've looked at this before.

We'll probably look at this again before all is said and done.

In Daniel 7, we read verse, uh, verse two.

Daniel said, I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea.

And then what Daniel proceeds to describe is one of the most significant prophecies of the Old Testament, how four consecutive Gentile empires arise to dominate and oppress Old Testament Israel.

And the four empires are signified, are presented, as beasts.

The four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.

And look at the four beasts.

The first one, a lion, the second one, a bear, the third one, a leopard, and the fourth one is just so indescribably ugly and terrifying that we don't have any animal semblance given.

So we have a beast coming from the s- four beasts coming from the sea, and they correspond to the four consecutive Gentile empires that dominated and oppressed Israel: Babylon, which was oppressing Israel in Daniel's own day; Medo-Persia, which conquered Babylon; Greece, which conquered Medo-Persia; and eventually Rome, which replaced the empire of Greece.

So, let's go back to Revelation 13 for a moment.

We see this beast arising from the sea, and the beast looks like the first three beasts.

In other words, the fourth beast takes into itself the power and the terror of the first three.

Roman effect is the culmination of evil and power represented by Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece.And it goes on to describe how, uh, in verse 3, One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed and the whole Earth followed the beast with wonder.

Many scholars argue that this refers to the myth of Nero Redivivus.

Nero, you recall, was the worst of the Caesars in the first century.

We're gonna look more at Nero perhaps later on, but realize Nero was the first Caesar to persecute the Christians.

And for the, for the majority of his reign, he didn't persecute Christians.

When Paul wrote the Book of Romans, Nero was Caesar.

In Romans 12, Paul speaks of how the authorities are all appointed by God, and how they execute God's wrath on the evildoer.

Hardly what we think of when we associate Nero with Rome and these authorities.

And yet, back then around 54 AD, Nero was very popular and just.

It wasn't until later in the early 60s that he turned tyrannical in the worst possible way.

He really came out of the closet, though, because Nero was a pervert and a terrorist.

He was bisexual.

Uh, he was, um, uh, as a- as an aphrodisiac, he was said to actually, uh, watch the torture of people and that would fire him up.

He used to dress up as a wild beast and then systematically rape prisoners, both male and female.

He kicked his pregnant wife to death.

I mean, this man is truly the embodiment of the beast of Revelation 13, and this is why so many people link the beast from the sea with Rome in general, but with Nero specifically.

And Nero was, of course, instigated the awful persecution of the Christians in the early 60s that lasted for three and a half years.

And we have good reason to believe that Nero did this at the instigation of the Jews who were in Rome, who were trying to get him on their side against the Christians.

So, there is good reason to believe and Nero, by the way, committed suicide.

He slashed his throat.

And there was a myth that was very prevalent shortly after his death that he would come back from the dead.

And institutionally, it almost happened because when Nero died, the Roman Empire was cast into confusion and chaos because there were no successors prepared because Nero was too perverse to be bothered with fathering sons and preparing successors.

And so you go through a series of Caesars in the next few years that really leave every, you know, leave open the question of whether the empire will survive.

Uh, but there was a common myth back then.

N- uh, Nero Redivivus said he would come back from the dead and reascend to the throne.

Personally, I don't find the evidence of this myth being reflected in verse, uh, 3 and 4 to be very compelling, but it's quite common, so I wanna mention it.

Verse 4, Men worshiped the dragon, for he had given as authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast saying, 'Who is like the beast and who can fight against it?' And we know, going all the way back to Augustus Caesar, the Caesars demanded worship.

They legally defined themselves as gods walking on Earth.

When Saint Peter stands up at Pentecost and says, There is no other name given among men by which men must be saved than Jesus, he was actually echoing and parodying a statement made by Augustus Caesar, that there is no other name under heaven by which men must be saved than Augustus Caesar.

He was not only Caesar, Caesar and lord, but Soter, savior as well.

So, this fits with the emperor worship that was so prevalent in ancient Rome.

Verse 5, And the, and the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for 42 months.

And again, the application of this could be the Neronian persecution.

The Neronian persecution really follows, uh, the timetable that, uh, we have here, as I mentioned.

And for 42 months, I've, uh, researched this, and the Neronian persecution began in the middle of November 64 AD and it w- lasted until the beginning of June 68 AD.

So almost exactly 42 months, 1,260 days, we have this Neronian onslaught against the Church, instigated quite possibly by the Jews.

Verse 6, It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming His name and His dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven.

Blaspheming His name, of course that would be Christ, who is the only name given under given to men under heaven by which we must be saved.

And His dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven.

The temple of the new covenant is, of course, the Church.

And this is, is obviously what Nero was attacking.

So also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them, at least for that period of time.

This reminds us of Daniel 7 once again.

If you go back to Daniel 7 momentarily, you'll read about this antichrist figure, the fourth beast, verse 23.

Thus he said, 'As for the fourth beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms.

It shall devour the whole earth and trample it down and break it to pieces.

As for the 10 horns out of this kingdom, 10 kings shall arise.' You see, the 10 horns from the fourth beast correspond to 10 kings, and you can actually count 10 Caesars.

And another shall rise after them.

He shall be different from the former ones, and sha- shall put down three kings.

He shall speak words against the Most High, he shall wear out the saints of the Most High and shall think to change the times and the law, and they shall be given into his hand for a time, two times, and half a time.

In other words, three and a half times, or three and a half years.

But the court, that is, the heavenly tribunal, shall sit in judgment and his dominion shall be taken away to be consumed and destroyed to the end, and the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the peoples, to the people of the saints of the Most High.

In the first half of Daniel 7, the Son of Man overcomes the fourth beast.

In the second half of Daniel 7, the saints of the Most High share in the Son of Man's conquest.

They too receive an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them.

Who are the saints of the Most High?

The Church.

What is the conquest spoken of?

The irony that Nero in Rome would seek to destroy God's people, and God would plant His people through the blood of the martyrs there in Rome so that the temple of God, the dwelling of His people, the Church of Christ, would be known henceforth as what?

The Roman Catholic Church.

What divine irony.

What a triumph.

What a fulfillment of everything Daniel foresaw.

Let's go back and read in, uh, Revelation 13.

We see in verse 7, Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them, and authority was given over every tribe and people and tongue and nation, and all who dwell on Earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain.

Now I realize in verse 8 sometimes reads, The Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

Is that correct?

Do you have a version that suggests or that translates this, The Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world?

I deliberately chose the RSV tonight because I think a more likely translation of verse 8 is what I just read.

Everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain.

Let's move on, though.

That isn't a big issue, but I've, I just recently actually, it was yesterday.

I got into a conversation with somebody who was arguing for the Catholic position on the mass being a sacrifice on the basis that Revelation 13 speaks of the Lamb that's been slain from the foundation of the world.

Well, I don't think that's an adequate argument.

I think there are many adequate arguments, but I don't think that's one of them.

Verse 9.

If anyone has an ear, let him hear.

If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes.

If anyone slays with a sword, with a sword must he be slain.

Verse 10 is a quotation most scholars believe a loose quotation from Jeremiah 15:2.

Let's go back and look at that text in Jeremiah 15:2.

In Jeremiah 15:2, we read, And when they ask you, 'Where shall we go?' you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord, Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence, and those for, those who are for the sword, to the sword, those who are for famine, to famine, and those who are for captivity, to captivity.

I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers,' says the Lord, 'the sword to slay, the dogs of terror, the birds of the air, and the beasts of the earth to devour and to destroy.

And I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh did in Jerusalem.' Manasseh was the wickedest king in the line of David.

He offered up child sacrifice.

Thousands of children were sacrificed by Manasseh in Jerusalem.

And because of that, no matter how much repentance Josiah offered, no matter how extensive Josiah's reforms were two generations later, nevertheless, Jerusalem was to perish because of Manasseh's wickedness.

And so Jeremiah is assuring the people of Jerusalem, To captivity you go.

Look at the c- I mean, this whole section of Jeremiah is based upon, goes back all the way to the beginning of chapter 14, the inevitability of the exile, the inevitability of Jerusalem's conquest.

In fact, Jeremiah is so sure of God's word that he doesn't even pray for Jerusalem.

Look at Jeremiah 14:11.

The Lord said to me, 'Do not pray for the welfare of this people.

Though they fast, I won't hear their cry.

And though they offer burnt offering and sin offering, I will not accept them, but I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.' Then I said, 'Oh Lord God, behold, the prophets say to them, 'You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.' And the Lord said to me, The prophets are prophesying lies in my name.

I didn't send them, nor did I command them or speak to them.

They are prophesying you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.

Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name, although I didn't send them, and who say sor- sword and famine shall not come on this land.

By sword and famine, those prophets shall be consumed.

And it goes on.

I mean, this is incredible language, and it's strategically deployed in this section of Revelation because ultimately, Rome, the fourth beast, is the instrument that God uses to bring about the second downfall of the second temple in 70 AD.

Jeremiah prophesied how Babylon would come and fulfill his prophecies concerning Jerusalem's destruction that occurred in 587 BC, and on the exact same day of the year, Rome did it again in 70 AD.

Now, obviously this cannot be misconstrued in an antisemitic way, and yet some of you may be tempted to think, Oh, those Jews.

Let me again emphatically insist that that would be an absolute distortion, a total misunderstanding, I think a sinful misinterpretation.

Jeremiah was a Jew.

We've already seen Jesus, the Blessed Virgin, the Twelve Apostles, all the early believers at Pentecost were Jews.

Why then such a radical denunciation against Israel?

Because I think we can say as Christians from a prophetic perspective that Israel is to the nations, all nations, what Adam is to all human persons, a paradigm.

Adam's sin is really a model of our sins.

Israel's sin is a paradigm of how every nation is raised up by God for a season, and they're offered the word of God and an opportunity to pledge their allegiance to the Christ.

They're given a chance to respond in obedience and faith to the word of God.

And frequently, nations in the New Testament age, like Israel back in the Old Testament, respond positively, and pledge their allegiance to God.

Sincerely, but not completely.

Well, what happens when you pledge yourself to God sincerely, but incompletely?

God purges.

God scourges.

God chastises.

Because he's a good father, and He knows what His children need.

And in Hebrews 12 we, we see how God's legitimate children must expect chastisement and discipline.

Scourging is the term actually used in Hebrews 12.

And so Israel's experience, the rise and subsequent downfall of this nation, as a political entity that is, not as the spiritual organism we call the people of God, but in as much as it's a spiri- as, uh, in as much as it's a political entity, its rise and subsequent downfall reflect the destiny of every nation, including ours.

That's why I won't permit anybody to twist my interpretation and draw from it anti-Semitic conclusions.

That would be a sinful misinterpretation.

Let me, uh, highlight this.

I just came across an apostolic letter written by Pope Leo XIII.

I don't know if you ever heard of this.

Testim Benevolentiae, January 22nd, 1899.

Pope Leo XIII issued a letter.

He sent it to His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, warning him of a dreadful heresy that was creeping around the world.

He called it the Heresy of Americanism.

Ooh.

Nice thought.

Says, The object of this letter is not to repeat the praise so often accorded, but rather to point out certain things which are to be avoided and corrected.

Goes on.

And all the more so as it is conceived and intended to put an end to certain contentions which have arisen lately among you, and which disturb the minds, if not of all, at least of many, to the, to the no slight detriment of peace.

He concludes this letter on true and false Americanism and religion, Hence, from all that we have hitherto said, it is clear, beloved son, that we cannot approve the opinions which some comprise under the head of Americanism, for it raises the suspicion that there are some among you who conceive of and desire a church in America different from that which is in the rest of the world.

Already, in 1899.

.

One, in the unity of doctrine, as in the unity of government, such is the Catholic Church.

And since God has established its center and foundation in the chair of Peter, one which is rightly called Roman, for which, for where Peter is there, is the Church.

For where Peter is there is the Church.

There is no American church.

In this letter, the pope addresses a temptation among American Catholics who want to be popular among American Protestants, who at this point in time were anti-Catholic.

The more things change, the more they remain the same, huh?

They were saying this.

Okay, we know our church says that all persons must accept Christ and His church, and outside the church there's no salvation, which does not mean that a Protestant who dies a Protestant can't be saved.

Because there is such thing as invincible ignorance, but invincible ignorance is one thing, vincible ignorance is another.

And Leo XIII was aware of the fact that many Catholics were saying, We don't really need to get all of the truth out about the Catholic Church, because these Protestants are doing all right on their own.

They're doing fine with the Christ they have, and with the Bible, and with whatever other revealed data they believe.

They're also, the Catholics also, apparently from, um, Leo XIII's letter, were g- were over-interpreting the principle of invincible ignorance, making it seem as though it doesn't really matter in any practical sense, for most people at least, whether or not they're Catholic, whether or not they enter into the fullness of faith which is found in the Catholic Church alone.

Our nation has received the word of God sincerely, but incompletely.

So when we read the Book of Revelation, we should expect ongoing fulfillment in our own time.

That's why there's nothing wrong with people who come up with interpretations like, um, Father Oh, I'm trying His name just slipped my mind.

Our Lady Speaks Through Her Beloved Priest.

Gobbi.

Father Gobbi.

You know, in the last three or four years, Father Gobbi has been applying Revelation to the judgments that God is sending upon the West.

There is no doubt in my mind that that interpretation is proper.

Secondarily so, but still very proper.

Let's go back to Revelation 13, then.

Verse 10.

Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

Hear, hear.

That's true then, and that's true now.

Verse 11 presents us with the second beast, both of which were spiritually spawned from the dragon of Revelation 12.

Then I saw another beast, b- which arose out of the earth, or from the land.

The gentiles come from the sea.

What land is spoken of here?

Most interpreters agree it's the Promised Land, it's the land of Israel.

This second beast is actually connected to Israel.

It had two horns like a lamb, the covenant sacrificial animal.

It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon.

I've already suggested that the dragon of Revelation 12 is Satan, but it's also a sign- of what?

The seven heads and the 10 horns, I believe, may well signify the Herodian dynasty which oppressed Judea and the whole Promised Land with seven Herods, and the 10 horns would be the Caesars which really gave power to the Herodian dynasty to rule the Jews .

and what did the Herodian dynasty do?

It established itself in Jerusalem, it went about rebuilding the temple, it identified the temple as Herod's temple, even though Herod was not from the line of David, he wasn't from the tribe of Judah, he wasn't even from the twelve tribes of Israel; he was a foreigner from Edom.

An Edoman, an Edomite.

So, this may well be, in effect, the lamb which speaks like a dragon.

It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence.

If the first beast is Rome, then it would make sense that the second beast exercises Rome's authority on the behalf of Rome, and makes the land Whenever you see the word earth in your translation, realize ge or gēs means land.

And I think it should be translated land more often than not.

Many other scholars follow that.

And makes the land and its inhabitants worship the first beast.

What does this refer to?

Let's take a look now, let's see here.

Um, John 19:1, Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him, the true lamb, the true Davidic king, the true builder of the temple.

And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns and put it on His head and arrayed Him in a purple robe.

They came up to Him saying, 'Hail, King of the Jews,' and struck Him with their hands.

Pilate went out again and said to them, 'See, I'm bringing Him out to you that you may know that I find no crime in Him.' So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.

Pilate said to them, 'Behold, the man.' When the chief priest and the officers saw Him, they cried out, 'Crucify Him!

Crucify Him!' Pilate said to them, 'Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no crime in Him.' The Jews answered him, 'We have a law, and by that law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.' Verse 12.

Upon this, Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, 'If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend.

Everyone who makes himself a king sets himself against Caesar.' Verse 15.

Pilate said to them, 'Shall I crucify your king?' And the chief priests answered, 'We have no king but Caesar.' So he handed Him over to them to be crucified.

We have no king but Caesar, says the high priest, say the chief priests.

What a confession of anti-faith.

And so, the Herodian dynasty, empowering a procurator named Pilate, exacts from these people, and even the chief priests, a confession that acknowledges the primacy of Caesar.

Verse 13.

It works great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of men.

That's why many people refer to this second beast from the land as a false prophet.

A false prophet.

And you often read commentaries that just simply refer to the false prophet as the second beast, and the second beast as the false prophet.

Incidentally, to go back into the Old Testament, you'll discover that there are two or three different types of beasts that are often spoken of as symbols or signs of evil.

Leviathan is a sea beast.

Behemoth is a land beast.

And then there's also Rehab, or Rehob, which is a sea beast as well.

Let's get back here and take a look at, uh, uh, verse 13.

I mentioned it- it was called a false prophet.

Why would the second beast be considered a false prophet?

Because it's an ant- It's- it's sort of like a false Elijah.

Elijah was the one who could call fire down from heaven.

Even the- the priests and the prophets of Baal could not do that, you recall.

But this particular power is so great that the beast can do what only Elijah could do back in the Old Testament.

And by the signs which it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast, it deceives those who dwell on earth, bidding them make an image for the beast which was wounded by the sword and yet lived.

And you recall how Jesus warned us about false prophets back in Matthew 24 when speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem, Jesus answered them, in verse 5, For many will come in my name saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray.

In verse 11, And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray, and there will be signs that they- they'll perform to seduce people.

Don't be seduced or deceived.

It's this, and let's see, uh, verse 14.

We've already considered, it was, let's see.

It was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast should even speak, and to cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.

What is this idea of the image of the beast?

The image of the beast refers way back, of course, to the Book of Daniel, where the image of the beast, Nebuchadnezzar, the first beast, was to be worshiped.

And who did not worship the beast or its image?

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

So they were thrown into the fiery furnace, and then we have a fourth individual appearing alongside of those three men, one like the Son of God.

All right?

So, here we have people who will not worship the image of the beast, and those who will.

Verse 16.

Also, it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.

This calls for wisdom.

Let him who is understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number.

Its number is 666.

Actually, the numbers aren't there in the Greek, you just have three Greek letters that signify the number 666.

Now, this brings us to one of the most interesting and difficult questions of Revelation.

What is the meaning of 666?

This number has been applied to Hitler and to Mussolini.

It was also applied to the Pope by Luther, and to Luther by many Catholics.

It's also been applied to Stalin, I've seen it applied to, um and drop off.

Uh, I've seen it applied to countless other people.

Now, I think that there could always be a reasonable case made for secondary applications to beastly tyrants in history.

But I think what we seek primarily is its initial and basic, or primary, reference back in the first century when John wrote.

What is it?

Most scholars would agree that it is Nero.

It is a reference to Nero.

Why?

Because Caesar Neron, in the Hebrew, has a numerical value of 666, and in some ancient manuscripts, Revelation 13:18 reads 616.

Like, 98% of all the Greek manuscripts read 666, but there are a few which have the number 616.

And some scholars contend that this was because this would be as a resul- this would be the result of Kaiser Neron would be 666, and that's the proper name, but more popular he was known as Kaiser Nero, and that numerical value is 616.

All right?

So be aware of the fact that this particular view is very, very common.

I, I am not going to dispute that.

I think that the meaning of 666 may well apply to Caesar Nero.

Let me read from Chilton's commentary on page 351.

It is significant that, and he quotes now from the book I had a couple of weeks back by F.W.

Farrar, The Early Days of Christianity.

Farrar says on page 554, All the earliest Christian writers on the Apocalypse, from Irenaeus down to Victorinus of Pettau and Commodian in the fourth and Andreas in the fifth and Saint Beatus in the eighth century, connect Nero, or some Roman emperor, with the apocalyptic beast.

All right?

So, there is good reason exegetically, historically, and in light of patristic interpretation, to see Nero, here as the beast.

All right?

So, in effect, the Roman power is the authorization for all the buying and selling.

But I think that there are some other interpretations that might have greater insight and perhaps more probability.

Let me just mention one.

Uh, this is drawn from again, Chilton refers to it on page 347, but it's drawn from Austin Farrar's Rebirth of Images.

No, I'm sorry, Austin Farrar's, uh, uh, Revelation of Saint John the Divine back in 1964 on page 156.

'It was on the sixth day of the week and at the sixth hour,' says Saint John, 'that the kingdoms of Christ and Antichrist looked one another in the face in Pilate's court, and adherence of the false prophet Caiaphas firmly wrote on their foreheads the mark of the beast when they said, We have no king but Caesar.

Presently they saw the Lamb uplifted, with His true name over His head, KING OF THE JEWS.

And for all they could do, they could not get it erased: What I have written, said Pilate, I have written.' Christ's Friday victory is the supreme manifestation also of the Antichrist.

The sixth day, Friday, at the sixth hour, they handed Jesus over to the beast to be executed.

I think that's interesting.

I think that's very significant.

But I think that there's a third interpretation that might also fit, and I think, for me at least, it's the most interesting of all.

And, uh, I wanna just step back for a moment and say that when I first encountered this interpretive approach to Revelation, seeing it fulfilled in the first century in the events of the destruction of J- surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, I was really perplexed by 666, and I began to study it.

And I focused on the common interpretation which applies it to Nero, but I became convinced that there might be another view.

Because I checked in my concordance and I found that on one other occasion, the number 666 is found in the Bible.

Turn to 1 Kings 10.

1 Kings 10.

There, we see the number applied to Solomon.

In 1 Kings chapters one through nine, we read about the rise of King Solomon.

In chapter one, he's given the kingship.

In chapter two, he's enthroned as king.

In 1 Kings chapter three, he prays for and receives divine wisdom, and then in chapter four he establishes his royal court.

And then in chapters five and six, seven, eight and nine, he applies all of his wisdom and the know-how of his royal court to building and then dedicating the famous Temple of Solomon.

This temple was to be a house of prayer, not just for Israel, but for all the Gentiles.

This represents the place in the Old Testament when the son of David, the king of Israel, built God's temple in the earthly Jerusalem as a house of prayer for all the nations.

And for many years, Solomon followed the way of wisdom, walking by faith.

And so in 1 Kings 9, God establishes a covenant with Solomon, but it's a conditional one.

So long as you obey, I'll bless you, but as soon as you disobey, you'll trigger the curses.

In 1 Kings chapter 10, we read about Solomon's subsequent decline and fall, and it is an ugly one.

Let me read from Chilton, who also sees this particular interpretation that I'm about to introduce you to.

On page 350.More than all this, the number 666 is explicitly mentioned in the Book of the Kings and the Chronicles, from which we have seen St. John takes many of his symbolic numbers.

These inspired historical writings tell us that Solomon, a biblical type of both Christ and the beast, received 666 talents of gold in one year at the height of his power and glory, 1 Kings 10:14 and 2 Chronicles 9:13.

That number marks both the high point of his reign and the beginning of his downfall.

From then on, everything goes downhill into apostasy.

One by one, Solomon breaks the three laws of godly kingship recorded in Deuteronomy 17:16-17.

First, the law against multiplying gold.

Second, the law against multiplying horses, which he violates in 1 Kings 10:26-29.

And finally, the law against multiplying wives, which he violates in 1 Kings 11:1-8.

And boy, did he violate that law.

700 wives, 300 concubines.

That's a violation.

For the Hebrews, 666 was this fearful sign of apostasy, the mark of both a king and a kingdom in the image of the dragon.

Now, let's go back and take a look at 1 Kings 10.

What I would suggest to you is as follows, Solomon is a type of Christ, but he's also a type of the Antichrist.

In almost every case where you study an Old Testament type, you have positive typology and negative typology.

For instance, Adam is a positive type of Christ because he's the founding father of a family, and his actions have a representative function and a juridical authority which binds his progeny.

But Adam is a negative type of Christ because Adam sinned and left his family bankrupt, whereas Christ obeyed and imparts to His people, His children, His offspring, His family divine righteousness.

All right?

Bathsheba is a positive type of Mary.

She is the queen mother enthroned at the right hand of the son of David.

But I think in some ways, she's also a symbol of a harlot.

Because how did she become queen mother?

By undressing and bathing on a roof that David could see.

And so he sees her and he's seduced by her, and he ends up siring offspring, siring Solomon through her.

All right?

And on and on it goes.

Whenever you study the types of Christ in the Old Testament, you almost invariably see that there's a negative cast as well to the type, Solomon included.

Solomon is, on the one hand, son of David, king of Israel, a man with great wisdom from God, the builder of the temple, and the instructor of all the nations.

And so Christ is the son of David, the king of Israel, one who rebuilds a temple in three days, one who has God's own wisdom, one who is the wisdom of God, and one who instructs all the nations.

But Solomon lapses from his typological signification.

He is supposed to be a servant king, a priestly king.

He's supposed to guide the nations through faith back to God, but he lapses into corruption, into the common political temptation of power.

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, especially in Solomon.

He knows that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.

Solomon also knows that I am the vicar of the Lord.

And so in effect, if you want to use God's good earth, you have to do so by acknowledging Him and by acknowledging me, since I'm His vicar.

Now, that was meant to be something dispensed freely.

Freely you receive, freely you give.

But Solomon figured out that there's a lot of profit to be had serving the Lord in this regard.

And so he decided, hey, look, since the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, and since I am the Lord's vicar, if you want to use the Lord's earth you've got to pay a certain fee, a little subscription rate.

Every year to finance my temple and my regime, you must draw out of your treasury and put into mine 666 talents of gold.

That was the first serious apostasy in Solomon's that was the first explicit violation of the law of the king given by Moses.

And as soon as that occurs, then he goes down to Egypt and establishes a standing army.

Then he goes about acquiring 700 wives and 300 concubines for himself.

Solomon, I believe, is a symbol of Christ, but by lapsing into sin he becomes Antichrist.

Figure this out.

Why is it that Satan is the worst of the devils, the demons?

Because he was the greatest of all the angels that fell, perhaps one of the seraphim.

Satan was, of the great, of the angels that fell, he was the greatest and most powerful, therefore he became the very worst.

There's a Latin expression, corruptio optimi pessima, that the corruption of the best becomes the very worst.

So we have it here, I believe, in Revelation 13 and in 1 Kings as well.

In effect, Solomon is saying, You cannot use God's world unless you pay me for it.

Now, was that God's plan?

No, of course not.

That's Solomon misusing God's gift of wisdom and power and authority.

Now take a look again at Revelation 13.

We've already seen in Revelation 12 and 13 the contextual concern for the dynasty of David.

Remember, the woman gave birth to the male child who was to rule the nations with a rod of iron, Psalm 2:9, the son of David.

Only now, in Revelation 13, we have a beast coming from the earth, from the land, acting like a lamb, looking like a lamb I should say, and yet he's drawing his authority from Rome, the first beast.

And I've already mentioned this is the Herodian dynasty associated with the temple which is connected to the building that Solomon established, erected.

Look at verse 17.

So that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark that is the name of the beast or the number of its name.

This calls for what?

Wisdom.Now, if you wanted wisdom, where did you go?

To whom did you go?

Who did you consult?

Solomon.

This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number.

Its number is 666.

This is the symbolic number that goes all the way back to the beginning of Jerusalem's apostasy, the beginning of the downfall of the Davidic dynasty.

And it continues on until Kaiser Neron, 666 is the power authorizing the Herodian dynasty, which is in league with Caiaphas and the chief priests in crucifying Christ on the sixth day at the sixth hour.

They have forsaken the covenant.

They have, in effect, given up the rest which God offered them in the Christ and his redemption.

666 can be traced all the way back, of course, to Genesis 1.

Why is it the number of the beast?

Because it's the day when God made the beasts.

On the sixth day, God made the beasts, and He made man on the sixth day along with the beasts.

But unlike the beasts made on the sixth day, man was made for the seventh day.

Man is made with the beasts on the sixth day, but unlike the beasts, man was made for worship.

Man was made, in effect, to give himself to God.

Now, man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for man.

The seventh day was the way that God established for man to live out his role as the image and likeness of God, as the King of kings, as the ruler of the beasts of the Earth.

But when man forsakes the covenant, when man forgets the Sabbath, when man abandons worship, man becomes beast-like.

Bestiality is an apt term to describe men who worship their own works and forsake the worship of God.

And you look around in our society as in ancient Israel.

When you forsake the Sabbath, when you forsake the covenant, when you abandon worship, instead of worshiping God as supreme, you worship man as supreme, you become like a beast.

And the number of the beast in the beginning was six.

Back in Goliath's day, Goliath Back in David's time, his main opponent was Goliath, remember?

It is said that he stood six cubits high, and his spearhead was to weigh six shekels.

And then when Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, established the beast, the image of the beast that was to be worshiped, in Daniel we read it stood at 60 cubits high and 6 cubits wide.

So the recurrence of the number six and its association with Gentile powers like Goliath or Nebuchadnezzar, or Jewish tyrants like Solomon, I think all converge upon our text here to give us good grounds to say that this verse made sense long before Hitler or Mussolini or Andropov or the Pope or Luther or whoever you want to ascribe the number to.

I would connect this, then, to the Davidic dynasty in the earthly Jerusalem, which has now been harnessed by the devil to destroy the true son of David.

Herod, Pilate, Caiaphas, and the chief priests all in league with the devil to do away with the male Child who was to rule the nations with a rod of iron.

Let's continue on and look at chapter 14.

We won't get through all of chapter 14, but we'll start it at least.

By the way, before I forget, I should In justice, I should quote Farrar's Rebirth of Images, page 256.

Although I came to this interpretation of 666 and Solomon on my own, I found that in Farrar, and I think he states it better than I do.

He says, We must turn back to the 666, the most notorious of the riddles, and to the history of Solomon, which is its source.

Solomon is a type of Christ, but he is a type of antichrist also.

Almost every type has this doubleness.

Adam is the type of the Son of God and also the sin that lost the garment of glory.

Eve is the bride of the heavenly Adam and the mother of the seed who crushes the serpent's head, but she's also the woman who makes common cause with the serpent and offers the fruit of sin to all mankind.

We see the holy Eve in Revelation 12 and 21, the wicked Eve in Revelation 17, the harlot.

Solomon is the son of David, of whom God said through Nathan, 'I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.' He is the man of peace.

His hands, free from David's bloodstains, are fit to build the temple of God, which is the type of the church.

Each new generation seems to bear the hope of purity because it is not yet tried.

It puts behind it the errors of its fathers and aspires to be the seed that shall crush the serpent's head.

It fails when it is put to the test, for it is not Christ.

Solomon built the temple, and then proceeded to apostatize at leisure.

The story of the good Solomon continues as far as the visit of the Queen of Sheba, whose converse with Solomon is a model of princely courtesy between man and woman in the service of wisdom.

From the queen's departure onwards, the king breaks the law of kingship in Deuteronomy 17, clause by clause.

'He shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt that he may multiply horses.' Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen, 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen.

The horses which King Solomon had were brought out of Egypt.

Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not aside.

King Solomon loved many strange women, and they turned aside his heart after other gods.

Neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

The weight of gold that came to King Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold.' The damnable number appears in the very next verse after the withdrawal of the Queen of Sheba.

The root of all evil begins the king's downfall, the love of money.

Okay.

Let's go on then, as I mentioned a moment ago, to Revelation 14.

Then I looked, and lo, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb.

This is the real Lamb on the real Zion.

And with Him 144,000, we've already read about in Revelation 7, who had His name and His Father's name written on their foreheads, in contrast to those who had the number of the beast written on their foreheads.

And I heard a voice from heaven,Like the sound of many w- and by the way, one thing I just thought of.

Remember the Lamb in Revelation 5?

Who is the Lamb?

The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David.

So here is the true Davidic heir in contrast to this false lamb in Revelation 13, the false Davidic heir.

The Herodian dynasty there in Jerusalem claiming for itself the Temple of God.

And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of loud thunder.

The voice I heard was like the sound of harpers playing on their harps.

We've already heard about this voice in other contexts, for instance in, uh, Revelation 5:8 and elsewhere.

Only now the sound, the call of the Lord is that of a heavenly ensemble.

They sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders.

No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.

It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are chaste.

It is these who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.

These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb.

And in their mouth no lie was found, for they are, like the lamb, spotless.

Now let's consider just a couple things here in connection with all of this.

First, this idea that they are firstfruits.

The idea that we have a heavenly assembly, there in the hea- there on Zion, regarded as firstfruits for God has an echo in Hebrews 12.

Let's look to see in Hebrews 12, verse 22, a comparison.

There we read, But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.

In Hebrews 12, the author is telling us what we do when we go to church, when we celebrate mass.

Unlike the Jews who are still bound by the Sinai Covenant, they're described in Hebrews 12, verses 18 through 21, in contract to them, the writer says, But you have come to Mount Zion, not Mount Sinai, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels, and to the festal gathering and assembly The word there in Greek is ekklesia, the church.

and to the festal gathering and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven.

So as we have Zion in Revelation 14, we have Zion in Hebrews 12.

As we have the heavenly Jerusalem in Revelation 14, we have the heavenly Jerusalem in Hebrews 12.

As we have the firstfruits in Revelation 14, we have the firstborn in revela- in Hebrews 12.

And what is this body?

It is a festal gathering and the ekklesia of the firstborn.

It is the church of the firstborn.

It is the Church of Christ.

When you read the fathers you discover that the Church of Christ triumphant in Heaven is made up of all those who have died in perfect love for Christ and all those who were subsequently purified in purgatory.

But there are two classes of individuals that are always set apart as being, in effect, the highest of the heavenly Jerusalem.

Those two classes are the martyrs and the virgins.

The martyrs and the virgins.

Th- there A great discussion of this is found in John Daniel Loup's book on the angels, The Angels and the Nations.

Uh, th- That isn't the name of the book.

What is it again?

The Angels and Their Mission.

The Angels and Their Mission.

Yeah, thank you.

Um, has a great discussion of- of how the angels can't wait to see the deaths of martyrs and virgins, because they glow with a heavenly brilliance, a glory from God.

And so the angels are always ecstatic for the privilege of escorting martyrs and virgins to the heavenly Jerusalem.

And here we have the 144,000 who are redeemed.

It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are chaste.

Literally, the Greek word there is what?

Virgins.

Now, does this denigrate sex and- and- and suggest that sex is wicked?

No, sex is not sinful.

These people are chaste.

Oftentimes you'll see figures of speech used.

For instance, in Revelation 9:19, Jesus describes celibates as what?

Eunuchs for the kingdom.

Now, a eunuch is a very graphic image to portray a celibate person.

But when you deal with celibate priests, you're not dealing with true eunuchs, right?

So likewise, when you're dealing with the chaste in heaven, you're not dealing with virgins in the physical, technical sense in every case, or a lot of us are in a lot of trouble.

The point is, as Jesus uses eunuchs to refer to the celibate, here he uses virgins to refer to the chaste.

Now, that does not mean that the chaste who are chaste in marriage and those chaste who are chaste in consecrated virginity are just blended together without any differentiation.

But what it means is that we don't have to take this to- to mean that only physical virgins are really numbered among the redeemed or among the remnant, all right?

That is typical symbolism as we find it not only in Revelation but elsewhere, as I mentioned in Re- in, uh, in Matthew 19.

Having said all that, nevertheless this particular language I don't think would find a home anywhere except the Roman Catholic Church.

In other words, for John to have said this, I think he had to be Roman Catholic.

Because the Orthodox and the Protestants have a view which makes this very awkward, if not downright uncomfortable, that it is th- “It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins.

It is these who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.

These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb.

And in their mouth, no lie was found, for they are spotless.

Let's pick up and just read for a few more minutes.

In verse 6, Then I saw another angel flying in mid heaven with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on Earth, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people, and he said with a loud voice, 'Fear God and give Him glory.' for the hour of His judgment has come, and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea, and the fountains of water.

Verse 8.

Another angel, a second one, followed, saying, 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.

She who made all nations drink the wine of her impure passion.' This is the first time Babylon is mentioned, but I assure you it will not be the last.

We're gonna read all about Babylon in chapter 16, 17, and 18, and the downfall of this harlot city.

That's gonna be the focus of our study next week.

Verse 9.

And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also shall drink the wine of God's wrath poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and he shall be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the presence of the Lamb.

Wow.

God's judgment is final, and it's holy.

And they shall be tormented in the presence of the angels and the Lamb.

And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.

I don't know how somebody can take these verses seriously and countenance the theolo- theological opinion that, in the end, all might be saved.

Verse 12.

Hear his a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

The stakes are just too high for that s- for that, for that kind of, uh, poorly grounded universalism.

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, 'Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord henceforth.' In the Old Testament, when you died in the Lord, you went down the Sheol, this watery, shadowy grave, waiting for the Messiah.

But now, those who die in the Lord, those who die in the fullness of charity, are blessed in a unique way that people in the Old Testament weren't blessed with at death.

'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord henceforth.' 'Blessed indeed,' says the Spirit, 'That they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.' Then I looked, and lo, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud, one like a son of man.

Daniel 7 again.

'One like a son of man with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.

And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a That's at the heavenly temple again.

'Came out of the temple calling with a loud voice to him who sat upon the cloud, Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.

So he who sat upon the cloud swung his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.' This is the eternal gospel, spoken of back in verse 6.

The gospel is being proclaimed by the Son of Man riding on the clouds and speaking through all of His messengers, the prophets, the apostles, and all the faithful who are faithful, who are, who are obedient to the call to bear testimony to Jesus.

Verse 17.

And another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.

Then another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has power over fire, and he called with a loud voice to him who has the sharp sickle, 'Put in your sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.' Where are the vines in the vineyard?

And what is the vineyard?

In the Old Testament, the vineyard is Israel.

The parable of the vineyard, we'll look at next time.

Verse 19.

So the angel swung his sickle on the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth and threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God, and the wine press was trodden outside the city and blood flowed from the wine press as high as a horse's bridle.

Shades of Exodus, remember?

That's how the, the Red Sea came back, to the horse's bridle and it drowned them all.

Only this is a new Exodus.

Like the Lord spoke of His exodus from Jerusalem in Luke 9, this is an exodus that brings judgment upon the earthly s- the earthly Jerusalem.

Blood f- flowed from the wine press as high as a horse's bridle for 1,600 stadia, or about 200 miles.

What I believe Revelation 14 describes in the second half of the chapter is twofold.

First, the harvest of Jerusalem, which is, in effect, the gathering of the remnant to heaven and the grapes of God's wrath being trampled underfoot down on earth.

But the harvest has a positive aspect also, because the sickle is put into all the earth so that all nations might also be harvested as well.

And if they'll respond in faith, they will join the 144,000 gathered from the 12 tribes of Israel from earthly Jerusalem.

But if they don't respond, if the Gentiles who are called by God don't respond, then they'll join the unbelieving Jerusalemites in the wine press of God's wrath as well.

We're gonna look to see how the sacramental symbolism is actually drawn from temple ritual, and how cups are poured out.

We're gonna come now to the seven bowls of wrath that follow upon the seven trumpets of judgment.

The seven trumpets announce the judgments of God.

The seven bowls, or the seven chalices, or the seven cups, actually execute these judgments.

There are seven trumpets, and so there are seven chalices or cups or bowls of wrath.

We're gonna see next time how this draws from the temple ritual of the hot pot offering, the sacrifice that was made for the purification of the temple.

Again, liturgical symbolism is just soaked through this, this material.

But I think we've come to the end of our study tonight.

Why don't we close in a word of prayer?

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, we have contemplated so much truth tonight.

May Your Holy Spirit seal this truth up within our hearts and our minds so that we might meditate upon it, that we might also live it faithfully.

Help us, O God, to worship the Lamb in spirit and in truth, and to follow Him wherever He goes, and to do whatever He commands.

Forgive us of our sins, have mercy upon us, and hear us as we pray.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses.

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

And to Our Lady of the Apocalypse, the Blessed Virgin Mary clothed with the Son.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

Before I forget, last week several people mentioned, asked me the question, How can we get The Works of Josephus and read about the destruction of Jerusalem?

Here's how you can get it.

From Christian Book Distributors, CBD.

Here's a phone number you can write down.

They offer it for like 45% off most of the year.

It's amazing.

CBD is, uh, issues a catalog, mostly of Protestant books, but of much good.

You can call them at 508-977-5000.

508-977-5000.

Christian Book Distributors in Peabody, Massachusetts has a catalog which lists The Works of Josephus complete and unabridged, which includes his description of the downfall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple, and it's cheap.

I, I'm not sure what the list price is.

I think the list price is around $40, but I think you can get it for under $20.

I, I know I got mine on sale for something like 55 or 60% off.

And CBD has the best sales in Christian books of any distributor in the country.

Any questions before we break?

Yeah.

All right.

I'd like to say what the meaning of the diadems is all about.

The diadems.

No.

Good question.

I really haven't delved into that.

The diadems as opposed to the horns and the, the, uh, the heads.

David.

Um, I was wondering, um, what- what is the meaning of, um, being signed on the forehead and then the, um

It's a consecration.

To be signed on the forehead is what the high priest received.

Uh, uh, over his He had a turban on his head, and as part of the turban, there was a cloth, uh, on his forehead with the inscription, Holy to the Lord.

And it was, uh, a sign of servitude, in effect, but divine servitude because the high priest was the servant of servants, in effect.

And so, he was consecrated to the Lord, but on behalf of all of God's people.

So, in effect, his consecration is our consecration.

And the parody of that is when a false priest, or when a high priest like Caiaphas, you know, would transfer the allegiance of the Jews to Caesar, proclaiming, We have no king but Caesar, in effect, he's taking off his own consecration, Holy to the Lord, and he's putting the beast's mark upon his forehead, saying, We will worship Caesar.

We have no king but Caesar.

So it's almost the, the reverse of it.

It's like an anti-consecration, in effect.

Um, in Revelation 12, what is the symbol of Michael?

What does he symbolize?

Yeah, I didn't get to Michael's symbolism because I'm not really sure if Michael can say, uh, symbolizes, say, the angelic hosts.

You could say, you know, Michael was not s- sent out to- to war single-handedly.

He, he battles with, uh, with the hosts of Heaven, with the, the angelic armies.

But, uh, it isn't, it isn't obvious in Revelation 12 that- that Michael is a symbol of the angelic hosts.

But I would say he is certainly a representative of them.

Don.

Americanism here, you kind of convicted me of that .

What- what should, uh, this is too long What should, uh, the view of, of we Catholic people or the Protestant

Good question.

We should proclaim the cri- the kingship of Jesus Christ because the Protestants who love Christ, love Him as their king, but they need to recognize His kingdom.

The kingdom of Heaven on Earth is the Church, and you can't have a king and spurn his kingdom.

Now, that's not gonna make it easy for us American Catholics, but Jesus didn't send us here to have it easy.

I think, though, that what we are to do is to proclaim the kingship of Christ, and also His priesthood and His prophetic role as well.

But if there's one message our country needs to hear is that He's the King of kings.

He's the Lord of lords.

He's the President of pre- presidents.

He's the Premier of premiers.

He's the Prime Minister of prime ministers.

He is the Senator of senators.

He is the Lord of all.

So every congressman, every senator, every representative, every governor has got to acknowledge Jesus Christ as King and the Church as His kingdom and the Pope as His teacher and representative.

That's how the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of Our Lord.

And that's what we're to proclaim.

Charles.

One of the key distinctions in there, I work with some good faithful Protestants.

And, uh, I had an opportunity to speak with one, um, we were driving in to a meeting in Pittsburgh.

The distinction is And he was sort of challenging me.

He said, Well, you don't believe you're saved by the Church.

You believe you're saved by Christ.

And I said, Yes, I believe I'm saved by Christ.

But as Catholics, we believe the Church is also the Body of Christ.

That's right.

That is a kingdom among-

The Church is the extension and prolongation of the incarnation.

Christ has an individual body, but through the sacraments that has been extended into His mystical body and the two are inseparable.

It's what Augustine called Totus Christus, the whole Christ.

And, you know, as St. Augustine following Cyprian said, You can't have God as your Father and not have the Church as your mother.

It's a family affair.

We're not just individuals being saved by Christ, gathered together to share our common experience.

We are brothers and sisters because we are ch- sons and daughters of God.

God the Father, but the Church our mother and the Bride of Christ.

And, oh, this is a message which so many Protestants are discovering with joy because they're open to the Bible, sometimes more open than Catholics.

And it's an excitement that few share, but I tell you, when you have the opportunity to share this with, with Bible Christians and watch them be converted anew to the Christ of the mystical body, the Church, to the Christ of the Holy Eucharist.

You know.

Oh, I pray for two friends of mine, named Andy, and also Nathan, Julie and, uh, and Paul, all five of them will be coming into the Church this year.

And, and all five of them have gone through stages of being anti-Catholic Bible Christians.

And, and I tell you, God has sent me many gifts.

This year among the finest gifts I've received are these five friends and the, and the purity and the integrity and the sanctity with which they're drawing back into the Church.

They put me to shame.

But they call me to much greater commitment as well.

You know, and I That's just the result of- of- of Bible Christian Catholics, Bible Catholic Christians sharing the fullness of the faith.

You life work is really to evangelize us, you know that?

Yeah.

And, and you priests are gonna sanctify us.

So, thank you for your life consecration, Father Don.