Discerning The Threads of Eschatology

Eschatology is a facet of theology pertaining to the ultimate outcome of redemptive history. The biblical framework of eschatology is presented within the prophetic visions of Daniel, and expounded upon by the Olivet Discourse of Jesus (Mat. 24) and John’s Revelation of Jesus Christ.

While eschatology is now the most divided and confusing aspect of theology, there was general consensus on the subject among the Protestant Reformers from about the mid 16th century to mid 19th century. Even before this wide scale reformation broke out, there were pre-reformers such as Jann Huss and John Wycliff & followers who maintained the same view of prophecy as the later Reformers.

Still farther back were the remnant of bible-believers who endured through the medieval times known as the Waldenses and Albigenses. These people also held views of eschatology quite similar to the later reformers, as their biblical positions were a threat to the power of the Roman Catholic Church who dealt with those New Testament Descendants by pronouncing them “heretics” and launching crusades and inquisitions to wipe them out.

All of these reformers and apostolic descendants before them retained the same view of eschatology; the prophecies of The Revelation being fulfilled throughout the progression of history; from the ascension of Christ – to the return of Christ (the New Testament era), finally arriving to His millennial rein on earth, commonly known as Historicism; Or the Historic Premillennial view.

The big burning question I had was – How is it that bible believing Christians maintained a basic consensus with their understanding of eschatology for so many hundreds of years to only recently be more divided on the subject than all the other subjects of theology combined? What happened to cause such a massive shift? This was the question which compelled me to take a deep dive into it all by following the related historical events and examining the players involved.

By the time of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, the Roman Catholic Church was consequently losing control of its grip on the nations, yet the Hierarchy was not willing to listen to the protests against their corruption and abuse of power, but launched the Counter Reformation through the paramilitary arm of the Jesuit Order, in 1540, which took the Inquisition and covert war strategies to a whole new dimension. Their mission was to strike down this movement which posed such a threat to the supremacy of the Roman Church, and to fully extinguish those views which fueled the movement.

A fundamental aspect of the traditional view held by the Reformers regarding eschatology, is the succession of kingdoms as revealed in Daniel’s visions (Babylon, succeeded by Medo-Persia, then succeeded by Greece, and then succeeded by Rome); Particularly, the seventh chapter of Daniel’s vision of the four beasts, that is four kingdoms, renders the antichrist power as a ‘little horn’ which emerges from the fourth beast – that is the fourth kingdom (Rome). This little horn, which signifies a royal power, rises up to dominate over the other horns (other royal powers), to make war against the saints, change times and law, and exalt himself with exceedingly great arrogance (See The ‘Little Horn’ of Daniel).

This prophetic detail of a new supreme power which continues the Roman Kingdom is the most fundamental qualification for the antichrist, and history has already demonstrated that power to be none other than the Papacy. The Reformers further highlighted the many other qualifications of the antichrist being thoroughly fulfilled in Papal Rome. Thus while the Roman Catholic Church was already losing much ground from the Reformation, the Papal Caesar identified as the Antichrist was a blow to the very head of the Roman Church.

The primary purpose of the Jesuit Order was to protect the interests of the pope, thus they were commissioned by the pope to launch the Counter Reformation to mitigate the threat presented by the Protestant Reformation. Besides their relentless efforts to regain control of information through education and media, the tactics and methods of the Jesuit Order was far more diabolical than even the Dominican Order before them, resorting to insidious strategies of espionage and subterfuge which involved assassinations, massacres, tortures, architecting revolutions & wars, etc., etc…

During the weakened condition of the papacy, the Jesuits took complete control of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, and were already hard at work distorting the biblical view of eschatology by inventing and propagating alternative doctrines for the purpose of diverting the recognition of the Papal Dynasty as the ‘Little Horn’ of Daniel, the ‘Mouth’ and ‘other Beast’ of Revelation 13, the ‘man of sin’ of 2 Thessalonians 2, and the Roman Church as the ‘Harlot’ of Revelation 17-18.

Such alternate doctrines, for the purpose of diverting the general understanding of eschatology, included the Preterist view, invented by Roman Catholic Jesuit Priest, Luis de Alcazar; and spread by protestants like Hugo Grotius and Thomas Hayne, which presumed the prophecies pertaining to antichrist were already fulfilled within the first few centuries of the Church era, whereby throwing the foretold apocalyptic events of The Revelation in the past.

Then there was the view of Futurism, which asserted the prophecies concerning antichrist would not be fulfilled until the very end of the age, intending to throw it all in the future while overlooking the fulfillment of prophecies throughout the medieval and modern times of the Church era. The Futurism view is the most widely excepted eschatological view among Protestants, so it is worth tracing the threads from it’s origin:

Today’s all-popular ‘Futurist’ view was founded by Roman Catholic Jesuit Priest, Francisco Ribera (1537-1591), who taught most of the events of The Revelation would take place in the supposed “3½ year” reign of “the futuristic Antichrist”. With this invention, Ribera also disregarded the quite vital understanding of ‘prophecy language’ communicated in The Revelation, which corresponds to the same language used by the prophets of Israel. Referring to such essential cross references is the most logical and biblically congruent means of interpreting the prophetic language of The Revelation, yet Ribera resorted to an unprecedented literalist interpretation.

Robert Bellarmine was another Jesuit who set out to nullify the ‘one day for a year’ principle, which assisted Ribera’s futuristic-literalists idea. According to Ezekiel 4:6 & Numbers 14:34, a prophetic day was understood as one literal year, but Bellarmine did away with that way of interpreting prophetic time frames so widely held among Protestants, who viewed the time of the antichrist reign as 1260 years; being the latter part of the Church era. For more on this, see Time, Times and Half a Time.

Building on Ribera’s futuristic-literalists idea, another Jesuit Priest named, Emanuel Lacunza, devoted much of his life writing “The Coming of Messiah in Glory and Majesty”. Knowing his prospective Protestant audience would not consider the teachings of a Jesuit, Lacunza wrote his book under the pen name ‘Rabbi Ben Ezra’, a supposed born-again Jewish scholar. In his book, Lacunza dismantled the foundational elements of eschatology which have exposed the Roman Church of its antichrist nature, and made the Jews the focal point of latter day prophecy, which later became known as Dispensationalism. (See Analysis of “The Coming of Messiah in Glory and Majesty”)

Lacunza’s book, published in 1812, was discovered and translated into English by Scottish Protestant, Edward Erving, who held conferences based on Lacunza’s book promoting the “futuristic Antichrist” with its literal interpretation, and the added detail of the ‘pre-tribulation rapture’ supposedly revealed through a follower of Erving, named Margaret McDonald . Erving’s followers were known as the Ervingites.

The ‘Ervingites’ introduced these doctines to John Nelson Darby, a prolific writer, who further propagated the Futurism view of Lacunza and organized it into a prophetic system known as Dispensationalism.

The Plymouth Brethren, co-founded by John Nelson Darby, introduced these futuristic doctrines to the U.S. and Canada in the mid 19th century where a Congregationalist by the likes of C.I Scofield picked-up on it and incorporated Dispensationalism into a study bible known as The Scofield Study Bible. Also, D.L. Moody circulated Futurism with bible curriculums through the ‘Moody Press’ where The Assemblies of God purchased their study material.

In recent years, Futurism has been further popularized by writer’s such as Hal Lindsey, author of “The Late Great Planet Earth” and Tim LaHayes’ “Left Behind” series of novels and films.
These doctrines, invented by Roman Catholic Jesuit Priests, were taken deep into the heart of Protestant Christianity as we know it today, for the purpose of diverting the ‘Historicist’ view that identified the Papacy as the antichrist.

By tracing these threads, we can discern which doctrines root to the corrupt tree – and which teachings root to the truth of God’s Word, making it much easier, through a process of elimination, to achieve an accurate understanding of biblical eschatology.

Besides the direct counter-measures against the Reformed Church, the Catholic Church also focused the regaining of their political interests. Whereby, the Jesuit Order included the plight to control politics and education by making great use of legal power and ideological power in the secular realm.

Before the Catholic Church regained its civil authority, it leveraged what religious authority it had left by establishing alliances with Dictator’s who were Roman Catholic, most of whom were notoriously cruel, being used as modern day Inquisitors of the ongoing Counter Reformation:

Mussolini, Dictator of Italy from 1922-1943
Adolph Hitler, Dictator of Germany from 1933-1945
Francisco Franco, Dictator of Spain 1936-1975
Antonio Salizar, Dictator of Portugal from 1932-1968
Engelbert Dollfuss, Dictator of Austria from 1932–1934
Juan Peron, Dictator of Argentina from 1946-1945
Anton Pavelic, Dictator of Croatia from 1941-1945

These alliances were legally binding civil contracts between the Vatican and individual nations known as Concordats. The ‘Lateran Treaty’, for example, signed by Musilini in 1929, was the first concordat that restored civil authority to the Papal Caesar and statehood to the Vatican.

Today, the Catholic Church has established concordats with nearly 200 nations. This is the primary means in which they leverage legal power to control politics. In conjunction with their legal power, is their use of monetary power through their mafia-network of Global Banking Cartels.

As for their means of controlling education, they made very effective use of ideological power through education of youth in schools and universities (not only Catholic institutions, but flooding protestant and secular institutions with their scholars); and establishing welfare services, such as hospitals and charities. Art and media have been other important avenues to propagate Catholic ideology.

It is difficult for most to recognize how deeply involved the Catholic Hierarchy is in virtually every geopolitical activity on earth – beneath the multiple layers of insulation covering the ‘hidden hand’ of the Vatican in world politics. This insulation comes in various fronts – such as the United Nations, European Union, Council on Foreign Relations, Banking Cartels, Multinational Intelligence Agencies, (just to name a few) and many diverse religious systems such as Shriner Freemasons, Islam, National & World Council of Churches and infiltration of the Protestant Church.

And this brings us back to the ongoing counter-Reformation measures against the Reformed Church; As already stated, the Jesuit Order, was first commissioned, during the Reformation days, by the Pope, to be the paramilitary arm of the Counter-Reformation; which primarily used covert fifth-column tactics of espionage and infiltration strategies, so to conquer from within.

This first period of the Jesuit Order was eventually shut down and banned in nearly a hundred different countries, states and territories, because of the widespread recognition of their divisive schemes which were causing revolutions, wars and much upheaval among the European nations and abroad.

However, after their comeback and Vatican takeover in the early 1800’s, the Jesuits were prepared to be virtually undetectable by perfecting their infiltration techniques. And as a result of their great success, most people have no idea what the Jesuit Order is really about, and the vast amount of global temporal power that has been regained through their political pursuits and ongoing counter-reformation measures.

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising, then, that his ministers transform themselves into ministers of righteousness…”
– 2 Cor 11:13-15
By means of their supreme systematic skills in the art of espionage, the Jesuits were making great progress by infiltrating seminaries and various denominations within the Protestant Church. Interestingly, the Pentecostals proved to be more challenging to influence than most other denominations, so they resolved to approach them with the ‘charismatic gifts’. This was the beginning of the Charismatic Movement, which spread like wild-fire throughout the Protestant Church.

It’s important to note that the upper echelon of the Jesuit secret society are sorcerers, and their use of occult technologies such as magic have been a vital part of “authenticating” their numerous “signs and wonders“ within the Charismatic Movement. Therefore, it is worthwhile to survey the basic aspects of magic so to identify this element in the Church;

Some of the basic tenants of magic are:

Induction Techniques – such as the ‘law of attraction’, ‘hypnosis’, ‘mesmerization’, ‘pychosomatic healing’, etc

Invocation of Demons – appeals to the flesh, such as desire to have an esoteric channel to the Holy Spirit, excess desire for wealth, power & prestige; sensationalism, experientialism, mantras, conjuring in a séance fashion, etc

Tricks, Frauds & Fabrications – illusions such as ‘smoke & mirrors’,
‘slight of hand’, ‘mind manipulation’, etc

Of course a church ministry would never identify such practices as ‘hypnosis’ or ‘invocation of demons’, but would title them as “Discipling Workshops” or “Ministry of The Holy Spirit”. John Wimbers’ Vineyard ministry held workshops with these elements, as does today’s greatly esteemed Bethel Ministries, just a few of countless ministries caught-up in such deception.

These practices often result in divine-like experiences, which most people, too quickly presume, is coming from the Holy Spirit. While the ‘gifts of the Spirit’ may be a reality of authentic Christianity, we would do well to be discerning, and at least consider certain practices of the charismatic gifts with careful reservation, knowing that these practices have been greatly perverted with many false signs and wonders.

“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out many demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of wickedness!’ ” – Matthew 7:22-23

Another movement within the Church, started through the Jesuit infiltration missions, include the Emergent Movement. At face value, the Emergent Movement is seeking to be more relevant and more engaged in the community, promoting social justice and approaching Christianity with a fresh new angle.

While the Emergent Movement seems to be an organic form of authentic Christianity, a closer analysis shows that it is rooted in mysticism; which is essentially what Roman Catholicism is. And any real probing into mysticism will reveal it’s essential solidarity with Luciferianism.

…And all roads lead to Rome…

The ‘Charismatic Movement’, ‘Word of Faith Movement’, ‘Ecumenical Movement’ and the ‘Emergent Movement’ are all propagations of Roman Catholicism, serving as important facets of the ongoing counter reformation to gain global dominance & unity, including the plight to bring Protestants back to the “Mother Church”.

The Protestant Reformation brought us out of the Dark Ages; the Counter Reformation is bringing us back into darkness, only it will not be called another ‘Dark Age’ but is already being heralded as the upcoming “Utopian Age”.

The Olivet Discourse of Jesus begins with His disciples approaching Him with questions about eschatology, regarding the destruction of The Temple, the sign of His coming, and the end of the age. The first thing to proceed from the lips of Jesus in response to these questions is a warning about deception, “Beware that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ’, and will deceive many…” ~ Matthew 24:4

After mentioning a few things about wars, famine, tribulation and such, Jesus, again, warns of deception, “For many false prophets will rise up and
deceive many” – verse 11

And if we didn’t get it the first two times, Jesus, for the third time, warns of deception, a few verses later, “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have warned you beforehand.” – verses 24-25

So many in the Church are so quick to readily accept certain doctrines, certain practices and movements in the Church as long as it’s ‘in the name of Jesus’ or ‘shows great signs and wonders’ , or gives a ‘feel good experience’; Forgetting to heed Jesus’ warnings of mass deception, or the Apostles doctrine to “Test all things and hold fast to that which is good”; And how many people in the Church bother to ‘search the scriptures daily to find out whether such things are so’ , as the Berean’s did?

So I would not expect anyone to easily accept the challenging content within this discourse, but diligently and prayerfully search the scriptures daily to see if such things are so. Consider that you, to some extent, like myself, have played into the great deception and bought into a bill of goods served by the Catholic Hierarchy to lead us away from the empowering truth of God’s Word and Spirit.

“And I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues’ ”
– Revelation 18:4

This is a call for discernment in an age of unprecedented deception, to take heed and shine the light of God’s Word upon the darkness of our time. May you be wise as serpents, but innocent as doves; and may you hear the voice of the True Shepherd.

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities in the unseen world; against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly realm.” – Ephesians 6:12

Satan is the Father of lies,
Our true God, Yahweh, is the Father of Lights
“For God is not the author of confusion, but of sound mind…”
– 1 Corinthians 14:33

Therefore, it is not God’s intention for us to be confused, deceived or dismayed. Rather, God grants His saints every spiritual blessing to understand and go forth with His truth and grace, knowing the mystery of His will.

The prophet Daniel was perplexed and dismayed by the visions he received, and as he continually sought understanding and encouragement, he was continually granted understanding and courage. The interpretations of John’s eschatological visions were also given. The Revelation of Jesus Christ means just that: It’s revealing what was once concealed; the unveiling of what was a mystery. God’s elect have been taken behind the curtain and granted access to the inner sanctum of His most holy place!

Whenever Jesus’ disciples asked for the meaning of His words, Jesus granted them the interpretation; And this is so for all those who are His and hear His voice. We are not left to our own imaginations and deceitful hearts to grope for the meaning of God’s Word.

Furthermore, we have God’s very Spirit to illuminate and teach us His Word. For those who are His and converse with God, we can simply ask our Teacher for the meaning, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints- what is the width and the length and the depth and height- to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God! – Ephesians 3:16-19

Wow! That is empowering! To be filled with the fullness of God!
No wonder the power-hungry Popes kept it locked-up for hundreds of years.
The potency of God’s Word was a direct threat to the monopolized power of the Papal clutch .

“But the wicked will continue in their wickedness, and none of them shall understand. Only those who are wise will know the meaning”
– Daniel 12:10

“Yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for
understanding, if you seek for wisdom as silver and search for her as for hidden treasure; Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding… and He preserves the way of His saints” – Proverbs 2:3-8

Sources
–Word & Spirit of God, Who Was and Is and Is to come
–Theodor Griesinger– historian, author ‘The Jesuits: Their Complete History’
–John Clark Ridpath– historian, author ‘Ridpath’s Universal History’
–E H Broadbent– historian, missionary & author of The Pilgrim Church
–Samuel F. B. Morse– father of Morse Code, author of ‘Foreign Conspiracy’
–Avro Manhattan– authority on Roman Catholicism in politics ‘The Vatican Holocaust‘
–Emanuel M. Josephson, ‘The “Federal” Reserve Conspiracy and Rockefellers’
–Albert Barnes– theologian, “Barnes’ Notes on the Entire Bible
–E. Boyd Barrett– Ex-Jesuit, author of ‘The Jesuit Enigma’
–Eric Jon Phelps– historian, Jesuit expert & author of ‘Vatican Assassins’
–Peter DeRosa– Catholic Priest, author ‘Vicars of Christ: ‘The Dark Side of The Papacy’
–Martin Luther– Protestant Reformer, theologian, author & translator
–Charles Spurgeon Archive– 19th century theologian and author
–Adam Clark– theologian bible scholar, “Clark’s Commentary on the Bible“
–Richard Bennet– Christian historian & former Catholic Priest
–John Cornwall – journalist & author of ‘Hitler’s Pope’
–William Tyndale– Protestant Reformer, theologian & translator
–Alberto Rivera– high ranking Jesuit Priest converted to true Christianity
–John Wycliffe– pre-Protestant Reformer, theologian & translator
–Ian Paisley– politician and church leader – ‘The Pope is the Antichrist‘
–Augustus Toplady– 18th century theologian & author of ‘The Road To Rome’
–John Foxe– historian & author of ‘Foxes Book of Martyrs’
–Bill Mencarow– theologian & historian
–Johanna Michaelsen– occult expert, author ‘The Beautiful Side of Evil’
–John Gill– bible scholar “Gill’s Exposition of the Bible“
–Kenneth Scott Latourette– historian, author of ‘A History of Christianity’
–John Todd Collins– high ranking Illuminati member converted to Christianity
–Henry Fliedner– author of ‘The Martyrdom of a People’ or ‘The Vaudois of Piedmont and Their History‘
–Michael de Semly– historian
–Emanuel Lacunza– Jesuit Priest- author of “The Coming of Messiah in Glory and Majesty”