The Wound Healed
Back to 1The Bible’s Greatest Prophecies Unlocked!
Recall that John said, “the dragon gave him [the Beast] his power, and his seat, and great authority.”Revelation 20:2 shows who the dragon is: “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan.” Revelation 12:9, 12-13 adds, “The great dragon…that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan…was cast out into the earth…having great wrath…and when the dragon saw that he was cast onto the earth…”
These verses leave no doubt as to the identity of the dragon and that the devil empowers the system of government that culminates in the final Beast power that Christ smashes.
The wound was prophesied to be healed, and, speaking of the Beast, “power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.” This requires explanation. The healing occurred in AD 554, when the Emperor of the East at Constantinople, Justinian, re-established the Roman Empire at Ravenna, Italy. History records this as the “Imperial Restoration” of the Roman Empire.
The history of the Roman Empire changes entirely from AD 554. The seven successive revivals all had something in common never seen in the previous period of governments ruling from Rome.
We may now read Daniel 7:8: “I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” Dan 7:20 adds of this “little horn” that it “came up, and before whom three fell” and it had a look “more stout than his fellows.” Clearly, this is a distinct and different horn from the remaining seven of the horns that appear after the first three Germanic heads (horns) of the empire.
Let’s understand! It is the appearance of this little horn in AD 554—this timeframe is established by Daniel’s two verses—that redefines the kingdom and allows it to continue for another “forty-two months.”
Here is what happened: The pope crowned Justinian in this year!
What is the meaning of the forty-two months? Ezekiel 4:4-6 and Numbers 14:34 show that, in prophetic fulfilment, each day counts for a year. This is critical to understand in regard to many other prophecies. Without recognizing this principle, all of these Bible prophecies have remained closed—sealed—to those who sought to understand them. How does “a day for a year” apply here?
Forty-two months is three and a half years. God’s sacred years contain 360 days. 360 days times 3½ equals 1,260 days—or 1,260 years in prophecy. This defines the duration of the healing of the “deadly wound.”
Counting 1,260 years from AD 554 takes us to 1814. Why is 1814 significant? This is when Napoleon abdicated, before his 1815 Waterloo defeat. As one historian put it, “So closed a government that dated from Augustus Caesar”—from 31 BC (Modern History, West, p. 377). The 1,260 years of the “healed beast” had ended. The Beast disappeared into the abyss of history—the “bottomless pit” of Revelation 17:8—from this moment forward, until it suddenly reappears.
With eight horns of the fourth beast (five heads of Revelation 17:1-18 Beast) gone, it was not until 1870 that Garibaldi began to unite the many fractured little kingdoms of Italy under one authority—thus beginning the revival of the ninth horn (sixth head of Revelation 17:1-18 Beast) that climaxed in Mussolini’s fascist government.
The end of Revelation 17:8 also describes this Beast as “the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.” This sixth resurrection (1870-1945) was so weak in power, when compared to previous resurrections such as Charlemagne and Napoleon, as a revival of the generally much more powerful Roman Empire, that it is described as “was, and is not, and yet is” (at least in name).
The Little Horn and the Saints
We have discussed the little horn as it relates to the coronation of Justinian. Each of the additional five revivals of the Holy Roman Empire (Frankish, Germanic, Austrian Hapsburg, Napoleonic and Italian Garibaldi to Mussolini kingdoms) were recognized, endorsed and, to varying degrees, directly guided and steered by the Vatican.
There is another important aspect of the little horn to be explained here. Daniel 7:20-21 states, “even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them.”
Finally, Dan 7:25 adds this, “And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.”
From AD 554, when the “deadly wound” of Revelation 13:1-18 “was healed,” the civil emperors in Rome began to honour (with power, gold and silver) a god that had been unknown to their ancestors or “fathers.” This “strange god” held a high religious office and received great deference from Roman emperors (Dan. 11:37-39). From the time of Justinian, this church/state system functioned together for 1,260 years, with the “little horn” using and guiding the civil authorities to do its bidding.
This system “made war with the saints [of God’s true Church],” “prevailed against them,” “spoke great words against the Most High,” and did “wear out the saints of the Most High.” This “little horn” is precisely the same large universal counterfeit movement whose rise to power has been documented from Church history. As we proceed, it will become evident how deadly this “little horn speaking great things” would become in regard to the true Church—and to all civilization. (My book Where Is the True Church? – and Its Incredible History! documents this. This book and a later chapter here will open your understanding to both the history of God’s Church and the work of the counterfeit church that has relentlessly sought to destroy it.)
The Revelation 13:1-18 “Two-horned Beast”
The 13th chapter describes a second beast, this one having “two horns” (Rev. 13:11). We have seen that the first Beast is a description of the Roman Empire—a political kingdom. What is this “two-horned beast”?
Recall that Revelation 12:9 said, “Satan…deceives the whole world.” Revelation 20:3 states that he “deceive[s] the nations.” Also recall that Satan (“the dragon”) gives power to the first Beast of chapter 13. The devil has a civil government headquarters on Earth to which he gives “his power, and his seat [a city], and great authority.”
Satan does not usually speak directly to human beings. He works through his servants—his ministers. The Bible teaches that Satan has “his ministers.” These ministers pretend to be ministers of Christ, but Paul calls them “false apostles” and “deceitful workers,” who appear to be “angels of light” and “ministers of righteousness” (II Cor. 11:13-15). The vast majority of those who claim to be true ministers of God are not. Jesus said that His Church would be little, and its faithful ministers few.