1 When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
We pick up where we left off at the end of chapter 6, after the second wave of persecution that came through Diocletian, and we are now at the time of Constantine. Complete amnesty and freedom were attained with the Edict of Milan in 313 AD by which Christians were guaranteed the fullest liberty to practice their religion. In addition to removing the ban from the Christians, Constantine ordered that the property of the Christians that was confiscated, should be returned to them at the expense of the State. Christians were allowed to worship freely and peace was enjoyed for 24 years until the death of Constantine. For a second confirmation, see the Roman coin issued in 322 - "Beata Tranquillitas" meaning Blessed Tranquility. To calculate the half hour, I'm taking that to be the 3-4 years of the Blessed Tranquility. The day of the Lord where Jesus comes as a thief is the time between WWI and WWII, which was 31 years. Jewish days were divided into 4 watches and the math here comes to 7.75 years which agrees with 3-4 years being half an hour. I use this calculation because this will correspond to the hour of judgement that the Babylon the great city will endure in chapter 18. In a single hour her wealth will be laid waste. If we use the 27 years that Constantine was in power to be a half an hour, then it will take over 50 years for the great city of Babylon's judgement. I don't think the second scenario is wise, because the fall of the great city has already started. Those who worship Babylon are in the throes of financial ruin and war, and the governments that are attached to her are on the precipice of ruin. In 8 years, our economic structure will be entirely different, as well as many of our sons (and daughters) lost to war. There is more on the list to be covered in chapter 18. Mental, emotional, physical, financial and biblical preparations must be made now.
In his efforts to establish a Roman religion of Christianity, Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea to decide some of the debates that came up concerning the core tenants of Christian worship, stemming from the Arian Controversy. In Revelation 2 we see the shift that Jesus wants his church to repent from, the shift to the paganized Christianity, away from the first works of the Old Testament sabbath and feasts. This shift fulfilled the prophecy in Daniel 7 concerning the dreadful beast. Daniel 7:23“Thus he said: ‘As for the fourth beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and it shall devour the whole earth, and trample it down, and break it to pieces....25 He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; In 325 AD the Council met at the direction of Emperor Constantine and the biblical times and law were changed to match their established pagan sun worship, and pagan feasts.
Rome changed the times starting with the sabbath, and the sabbath also includes a change in law according to the 10 commandments. Prior to Rome's interference, biblical months were based on the lunar calendar which started on the new moon, and the sabbath was always the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th day after the new moon was sighted. Rome created a perpetual 7-day calendar in 321 AD and on March 7, 321 AD, Constantine issued a civil decree requiring magistrates and city residents to rest on the "venerable day of the Sun", officially making Sunday a day of rest across the Roman Empire. This decree emphasized the time of rest, which is only part of the commandment of the sabbath given by God. The sabbath was to be a day of Holy Convocation, where men would gather to worship in the presence of God.
Rome also changed the times of the feasts. The Council of Nicaea changed the Passover feast to the feast of Ishtar, or Oestar, and set it on a Sunday after the full moon, based on the equinox. The way that God ordained the spring feasts of Passover and Unleavened bread, the sacrifice of the lamb would always be on the full moon. This is important because it makes the 3 hours of darkness a miracle, there is no way the moon would cover the sun during a full moon. When the first month is tampered with, the following feasts are out of alignment as well. God wanted pilgrimages to be made to Jerusalem 3 times a year so all the men could gather and celebrate in God's holy assembly. This practice was not supposed to be abolished. We can see the reference to the new Jerusalem in Zechariah 14:16 Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths. 17 And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. Not only were the sabbaths and feasts changed, but we see a new Christian holiday, the birth of Jesus. When Emperor Constantine rose to power, Rome already had a state god: Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun. His festival, Dies Natalis Solis Invicti , literally translates as birthday of the Invincible Sun. The birthday was celebrated on the 25th, which followed the three darkest days after the winter solstice. This pagan holiday was rebranded in 336 to be the birth day of Jesus.
The “changes in law” was covered in the Ephesian church age, where the councils set the path of Christianity on a new trajectory, for example by claiming that Jesus was God, that Mary was the mother of god, the spirit of God was a separate, nameless entity, and that the trinity was the backbone of salvation. The councils turned baptism and communion into sacraments and some even claimed the blood of God atoned for their sins.
When we see the term "silence in heaven" we must not assume that this silence is a good thing. Isaiah 41:1 “Be silent before Me, O islands, and let the peoples renew their strength. Let them come forward and testify; let us together draw near for judgment. In Zephaniah, there is a very graphic description of the coming judgement to Judah and Jerusalem. If God will not spare his holy city, we must not assume that a "Christian" nation will escape the most fierce of judgements either.
Zephaniah 1:2 “I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord. 3 “I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, and the rubble with the wicked. I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord. 4 “I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests, 5 those who bow down on the roofs to the host of the heavens, those who bow down and swear to the Lord and yet swear by Milcom, 6 those who have turned back from following the Lord, who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.” 7 Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is near; the Lord has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests. 8 And on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice— “I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire. 9 On that day I will punish everyone who leaps over the threshold, and those who fill their master’s house with violence and fraud. 10 “On that day,” declares the Lord, “a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate, a wail from the Second Quarter, a loud crash from the hills. 11 Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar! For all the traders are no more; all who weigh out silver are cut off. 12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, ‘The Lord will not do good, nor will he do ill.’ 13 Their goods shall be plundered, and their houses laid waste. Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them.” 14 The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there. 15 A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements. 17 I will bring distress on mankind, so that they shall walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the Lord. In the fire of his jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full and sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.
Zechariah 2:13 has another warning Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.”
2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, 4 and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
The word translated "together" is usually translated "moreover" in the New Testament, which should read "the smoke of the incense, moreover, the prayers of the saints," showing that the smoke of incense is the prayers of the saints that goes before God. The prayers of the saints have their place in heaven just as the prayers of the priests went before God. We can see this in Luke 1:10 And at the hour of the incense offering, the whole congregation was praying outside..
Biblehub.com - Joseph Benson commentary: "And the smoke of the incense ascended before God — In an odoriferous cloud, with the prayers of the saints — A testimony of God’s gracious acceptance, both of the intercession of the great High-Priest, and of the prayers of his believing people, proceeding from devout hearts; and consequently, of the continuance of his protection and blessing to his faithful worshippers. And when the angel had performed this office, in order to show the awful manner in which God would avenge the injury which his praying people upon earth had received from its tyrannical and oppressive powers, he took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar — Not of the golden altar, upon which there was no fire, (except that which was in the censer, and which burned the incense,) but from the brazen altar of burnt-offerings; and cast it into the earth — To denote the judgments about to be executed upon the earth, as in Ezekiel 10:2 coals of fire are taken from between the cherubim and scattered over Jerusalem, to denote the judgments of God about to be executed upon that city;"
Peals of Thunder is the noise that precedes the storm. We look to Biblehub Topical for thunder: In the Old Testament, thunder is often associated with God's presence and His communication with humanity. One of the most notable instances is found in the account of Mount Sinai, where God gives the Ten Commandments to Moses. Exodus 19:16 describes the scene: "On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled." Here, thunder serves as a tangible sign of God's awe-inspiring presence and the seriousness of His covenant with Israel. The saints during the first wave of persecution cried out for justice, and had more added to their number. God was roused from his throne to mete out this justice. The voice of God pronounced the fall of Rome in Daniel 7.
Even though thunder is the prophetical voice announcing God's wrath, we need to see it as a blessing so we can take cover, hide ourselves, and have time to pray over our circumstances, even repent over the sins of the land and nation and receive mercy. Those that are complacent, or lukewarm, cannot heed the warnings of the thunder, and will receive the same wrath that as the wicked. This is the dire warning we must all give to the church that hopes in the escape of a rapture. We can look to the parables of Matthew 25 to see that those who do not heed the warnings are kept in darkness, outside of the kingdom - "outer darkness" where they will suffer great loss, "weep" and complain bitterly, "gnash their teeth." There is another warning of judgement in Hebrews, the one of taking God's grace for granted and not living a life of repentance...Hebrews 10:26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
The rumblings, also translated as a voice can show that there were additional prophecies given to warn of the storm. One example is the book written by Augustine of Hippo called On the City of God Against the Pagans. He wrote it in response to the Visigoth sack of Rome in 410 CE. He rejected the pagan claim that abandoning traditional Roman gods caused the empire's fall. He argued that Christianity was not responsible for the sack of Rome but instead responsible for Rome's success. Even if the earthly rule of the Empire was imperiled, it was the City of God that would ultimately triumph. This was real-time evidence that God was just and Augustine hoped it would encourage fellow Christians that already suffered from the first trumpet judgement. There is no guarantee that we, in the final hours, will be kept from harm, look again at the warning in Revelation 20:4. But let our suffering be a holy sacrifice, following the example of the disciples and the many martyrs who followed so that our suffering is pleasing to God. This was said of Jesus, and if you can wrestle with the truth of this verse, you will be refined as in fire and perfected in the image of Jesus. Isaiah 53:10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Lightning is a quick bolt of judgement that strikes one spot, but all see it (Matthew 24:27). Psalm 144:5-6 Part Your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, that they may smoke. / Flash forth Your lightning and scatter them; shoot Your arrows and rout them. An example of this quick, isolated bolt of judgement is the destruction of Nicomedia, the city where Diocletian issued his edicts of Christian persecution. Some of the first to be martyred were slowly burned over a fire. The early church even commemorated a day of remembrance for the 20,000 martyrs that died in that city. The judgement for that came in 358 when Constantius II proposed to hold an ecumenical council in the cathedral of Nicomedia; however, days before the Council was to be held an earthquake struck the city, destroying the venue. The earthquake struck on 24 August 358 AD and the city of Nicomedia was devastated. Tradition says 2 - 15 bishops died in the earthquake, and the earthquake caused the fires that people had in their houses and business to spread throughout the city. It burned for 5 days and was leveled to a heap of ashes.
There was an earthquake in chapter 7 when Diocletian split the empire into the tetrarchy. Here is another earthquake, so could it be possible for Rome to be split again after Constantine? Constantine was successful in reuniting the mighty Roman empire, and yes, there was another official split for the final time in 395 AD.
6 Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them. 7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
Trumpets are used to usher in troops for a war, from Strong's: 4536 sálpigks – "properly, a war-trumpet" (WS, 797) that boldly announces God's victory (the vanquishing of His enemies).
A third of the earth speaks to a third of the Roman Empire. In 378 the Roman Empire was ruled by 3 emperors, 2 for the Western half, Valentinian II and Gratian, and Valens was the emperor of the Eastern half. Hail, fire and bloodshed began with the Gothic War of 376–382. The Battle of Adrianople was one of the most devastating defeats in Roman history, resulting in the deaths of Emperor Valens and an estimated 20,000 Roman soldiers. The battle is often considered the start of the events which led to the fall of the Western Roman Empire that would come in the 5th century. The Goths that attacked were the Visigoths, the eastern branch of the "pagan" or "barbarian" Goth tribes. The word "Barbarians" translates as "bab" or speak, and "arian" was the Arian sect of Christians who opposed the trinity and were considered heretics according to the Roman church. The Arians - barbarians and Hungarians - play an important role in the trumpet judgements of Rome.
Hail seen in Job 38:22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, 23 which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war? Isaiah 28:2 Behold, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong; like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters, he casts down to the earth with his hand. Isaiah 66:15-16 states, "For behold, the LORD will come with fire—His chariots are like a whirlwind—to execute His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword, the LORD will execute judgment on all flesh, and many will be slain by the LORD." Hail would be similar to the attack of arrows, and the Goths were proficient at the bow and arrow. The military tactics of the Goths also included burning fields and pastures to smoke out the Roman army. The Roman Army suffered substantial casualties in 378 AD, 10-20,000 men, or estimates of 2/3 of the army. “The whole field was one dark pool of blood and [the survivors] could see nothing but heaps of slain wherever they turned their eyes,” wrote Ammianus Marcellinus. “At last, a moonless night brought an end to these irreparable losses, which cost Rome so dear.”
Prophetically, trees are considered leaders as in Ezekiel 31 where it compares Assyria to a lofty cedar. Assyria was the land of the descendants of Ashshur, the second son of Shem. Ezekiel 31:3 Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches and forest shade, and of towering height, its top among the clouds. The trees would have been leaders of towns or provinces, they tower over the grass, but not as high ranking as the sun, moon or stars. These were the magister militum, the generals that were also regional governors and warlords over the fortified cities that were attacked on the eastern front. Grass is the food for an animal, and can be considered like the farm workers out tending the fields or just commoners. Isaiah 40:6-8 A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field. / The grass withers and the flowers fall when the breath of the LORD blows on them; indeed, the people are grass. / The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” All the grass was burned, and we can see this fulfilled through the extensive raids in the countryside. This kind of attack was prevalent in the late 300s, and included both eastern and western empires, even to the African settlements.
In 401 AD, Alaric I would plunder Italy, and besiege its cities and towns. They reached Rome in 410 and imposed a strict blockade, with no bloodshed at this time. He tried using hunger as a force for negotiations to surrender, but that did not succeed and he sacked Rome. Since Alaric was mostly looking for valuable things to plunder, the churches were relatively safe from harm.
8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea...
Ancient Babylon, the city, is a mountain in Jeremiah 51:24, just as Rome, the imperial city, is the mountain of the mighty Roman empire. The sea is a multitude of people as defined in Revelation 17:15 and the mountain being "thrown into the sea" would be the cohesive and fortified imperial city, crumbling under the pressure of the Vandals. The unmovable mighty mountain of Rome was already burning with fire from the sack from the Visigoths in 410 AD, it was infiltrated by the Vandals in 455 led by King Gaiseric. The Vandals did not slaughter the citizens or burn the city, giving evidence to "thrown into the sea." If there was slaughter, then there would be a reference to red, if there were fire or attacks, then there would be a reference to something like burning or hail. Thrown down looks more like a collapse. In 455, the Roman emperor Maximus had murdered his predecessor, Valentinian III, Maximus's rule lasted only 75 days. When the Vandal King Gaiseric approached Rome in 455 CE in retaliation for broken treaties, Emperor Maximus, the pinnacle of the mountain, attempted to flee but was lynched by his own citizens. The Vandals peacefully entered the open gates of Rome, and looted the city for 14 days and left with thousands of captives to hold for ransom or take as slaves. This process deserves attention because Babylon, the great city, will be cast into the sea. The similarity is very striking, so prepare for a fall in government, possibly from inside, potentially followed by looting and captivity. The chapter 18 millstone judgement shows the "who," the "why" but not much on the "how," because the "how" is explained here. Researching the details here will prepare our hearts and fortify our prayer life to endure or be protected from the millstone judgement. God is GOOD!
(8) and a third of the sea became blood. 9 A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
Vandal leader, Genseric, was also known as “The Tyrant of the Seas” and attacked the Mediterranean coastline of the Roman Empire. During the Battle of Cape Bon (468), over 100 Roman ships were sunk, and after the Vandal War (461 - 468) they conquered the coastlands of northern Africa and the islands between there and Italy. The sea became blood is the wars along the coastline. The living creatures are the towns and settlements along the Mediterranean Sea which were conquered by the Vandals. Barnes' commentary goes into great detail on this fulfillment. Again, he uses Edward Gibbon, not a Christian, to verify the prophecy with such precision that some would think that the prophecy was written after the fact. But we know better, don't we!
10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.
In 380 the following "Edict of Thessalonica" was issued by Theodosius:
EMPERORS GRATIAN, VALENTINIAN AND THEODOSIUS AUGUSTI. EDICT TO THE PEOPLE OF CONSTANTINOPLE.
It is our desire that all the various nations which are subject to our Clemency and Moderation, should continue to profess that religion which was delivered to the Romans by the divine Apostle Peter, as it has been preserved by faithful tradition, and which is now professed by the Pontiff Damasus and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic holiness. According to the apostolic teaching and the doctrine of the Gospel, let us believe in the one deity of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, in equal majesty and in a holy Trinity. … We order the followers of this law to embrace the name of Catholic Christians; but as for the others, since, in our judgment they are foolish madmen, we decree that they shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics, and shall not presume to give to their conventicles the name of churches. They will suffer in the first place the chastisement of the divine condemnation and in the second the punishment of our authority which in accordance with the will of Heaven we shall decide to inflict. This established Nicene Christianity as not only the religion of the empire, but the only correct version of Christianity, calling all other interpretations as heresy, deserving of both divine and imperial punishment. This ties in to the wormwood judgement, and to the attack on the springs of water."
A great star and not sun shows that the next attacking force would be from someone high in leadership of an empire, but not the highest such as sun or moon, so an offspring or general will attack. When the disciples cast out demons, satan fell like lightning. The kingdom of God was used in a way that the forces of evil fell. But here, we see a blazing torch, or lamp, which is also used in Revelation 4:5 to describe the 7 lamps before the throne. Would this next attack happen from someone who is favorable to Christianity? The next mighty force against Rome would be Attila the Hun, who was not the main leader, but instead a nephew to the leaders of the Huns that stretched from modern-day China to Eastern Europe. Attila is also commonly known as the “scourge of God” because he was credited for imposing divine retribution to the empire. We need to look deeper to see if he fulfilled the role as lamp, or torch. According to tradition, these Huns later settled in western Europe, taking on the Arian religion, which explains the name Hungarian as a group of people. Some scholars even say that Attila was himself an Arian. Starting in 451 AD, the Huns attack Eastern Europe following the path of the many rivers in that area. See the Wikipedia page “Attila” to view the map. This area will also be used to confirm the prophecy in chapter 16. The waters where people died and that later turned bitter were the Danube and Rhine rivers of Eastern Europe where most of the carnage happened. After the Huns defeated the Romans in that area, they settled there, and that area was called the Great Hungarian Plain where they exerted their influence over the Romans.
The springs of water seems like it's in the same train of thought as rivers, but there is historical proof that the prophecy is speaking about something else. Springs of water should remind us of the works of the spirit, out of the belly will flow rivers of living water. Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Under the leadership of Attila, the Huns attacked, looted and destroyed many Roman Catholic churches during their invasions of the Roman Empire, so this judgement is not only against Rome, but their Roman church as well. When Attila attacked in the mid-400s, the Catholic Church as a Roman institution wasn't even 150 years old. What amount of wealth could a start-up religion have in that short amount of time? After researching the Theodosian Decrees, the emperors replaced the pagan church with Christianity, and the offerings of land and wealth as bribes and leverage for power were now channeled into the Roman Church. There was a great amount of wealth accumulated by the time Attila started his raids, and the churches were not immune to his looting.
Now let’s look at wormwood. In Jeremiah 9 we see a reference to wormwood. Verse 15: Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will feed this people wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink. 16 I will scatter them among the nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off.” To see the reason for the sword, we can go back in the chapter to verse 3: They bend their tongue like a bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the Lord. 4 “Let everyone guard against his neighbor; do not trust any brother, for every brother deals craftily, and every friend spreads slander. 5 Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they wear themselves out committing iniquity. 6 You dwell in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to know Me,”
When we see that the church is full of lies, and that the church deals craftily against it's brother, it's a perfect explanation to the intense conflict of the Catholics vs. the Arians. Since the historical narrative labels one brother as righteous, and the other brother as heretic, let us discern which of the brothers is bending their tongue like a bow, and telling lies. The punishment for brotherly betrayal starts in verse 9: Should I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD. Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?” 10 I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they have gone away. 11 “And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.” 12 Who is the man wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a desert, so no one can pass through it?
Pope Leo I was the main adversary to Attila the Hun. They had a confrontation in 452 AD where the pope persuaded Attila to turn his army around and leave. He is even called Pope Leo the Great, and tradition says that the angels of Peter and Paul were with the pope to help turn the decision. Two versions of Christianity stood at that moment, opposing each other, two brothers. Ironically, it would be Pope Leo that is the first pope to agree to the death penalty for heretics of the Roman church in 477. This decision of death to the heretics would later become the battle cry of the papacy to destroy masses of believers during the Inquisitions.
12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.
There is a final conquest of Rome and Italy by Odoacer, and later jointly by him and Theodoric from 476 – 490 AD where the sun and moon is struck. The sun, Romulus Augustus, was deposed in 476 AD by Odoacer. He took control of Italy and the stars - the Roman Senate - had little real authority, and declined in their influence. The popes of Rome and the bishops of Byzantine created a controversy which culminated to the Acacian Schism in 484 AD. The conflict was between the single-nature of Jesus or the divine nature of Jesus. In 551 AD at the Council of Chalcedon, the head of the church in Constantinople was declared to be the head of the Eastern branch of the church, equal in authority to the Pope. This effectively was the start of the division of the church into the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic branches. The areas along the Rhine and Danube fell to Germanic tribes. This area was where the three horns were later plucked up in Daniel's prophecy, and eventually becomes the dragon head of the European beast, the Holy Roman Empire. We see the darkness of night and day in Micah 3:6 Therefore night will come over you without visions, and darkness without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them. Great spiritual darkness fell over the papacy, which the second prophecy will cover in chapter 11.
13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”
The Roman eagle, or aquila, was a powerful symbol of the Roman Empire, representing military might, imperial authority, honor, and divine favor from Jupiter, the king of Rome's pagan gods. It served as the sacred standard for each legion, carried by a revered soldier (the aquilifer) and acting as a rallying point and source of morale, with its loss considered a catastrophic disgrace. The eagle wasn't just a symbol to look to, it was a religious symbol connecting Rome to the gods, the contact point for their prayers and oaths. The symbol used for military victory is now crying Woe which means impending judgment is coming, and total devastation to the empire. The 5th and 6th trumpets cover the fall of Byzantine, and the 7th trumpet, the plague judgements, fall upon the harlot church described in chapter 17.
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