Beast of Revelation.pdf - Friends of the Sabbath Australia

The Beast of Revelation
ahead for the Western leg. By the 400s, the Empire in the West
was in its death throes. There had been barbarian incursions on
the frontiers for years, until finally Rome itself was sacked and
looted for the first time in eight centuries! This was accomplished
by the Visigoths under Alaric in 409.
As the Roman Empire in the West collapsed, the leaders of
three groups of barbarian invaders—the Vandals, the Heruli and
the Ostrogoths—sought to succeed the Western emperors. As we
shall see, each barbarian group sought and received official
recognition of its kingdom from the emperor in the East as a continuation
of legitimate Roman government in the West. There was
another emerging ruler in the West, however, who eventually
effected their overthrow and ouster.
This leading figure was the bishop of Rome—known now as the
pope. (This title of papa, meaning “father,” had been held by many
bishops, though, and would not exclusively apply to the bishop of
Rome until the 800s.) While the Western emperors grew weaker, he
conversely emerged with increased power and stature. This involved
not only greater religious power over the professing Christian community,
but increased civil and political power as well. But how did
a “Christian” leader come to dominate a pagan empire?
Since the days of the first Caesars, the state pagan religion was
no longer focused on the worship of Jupiter and the old Roman gods.
It centered, instead, on worship of the emperor as a god on earth. The
title of the high priest of Jupiter, Pontifex Maximus (“supreme bridge
builder” between men and the gods), was conferred on Julius Caesar
and later Augustus—from which point it was borne by the Roman
emperors. Conquered societies were allowed to practice their own
religions as long as they also worshiped the emperor. This naturally
posed a problem for adherents of Judaism and Christianity, who recognized
only the one Creator God.
Consequently, the Jewish state was destroyed by the
Romans (A.D. 66–70). And for 250 years, all who were called
Christians faced severe persecution. Yet despite that, their religion
continued to grow.
Finally Constantine the Great became the first emperor to
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