BULLIED FOR YOUR FAITH? Have you ever experienced bullying? Bullying comes in many forms, but have you ever thought about bullying coming because of your faith?
We continue our study of the three angels’ messages in Revelation 14; within this context, we examine Satan’s final strategy in the war between good and evil and how it will affect us.
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Let Us Invite God’s Presence:
Holy Father, we ask that you strengthen our faith. Help us to remain strong even under the worst circumstances. In Jesus’ Name Amen
Bullying because of one’s faith is a form of discrimination and intolerance, where individuals are targeted and mistreated based on their religious beliefs. It involves acts of harassment, exclusion, and even violence, creating an environment of fear and oppression. In the fifteenth century, the Waldenses lived in the Piedmont valleys of northern Italy.
They were determined to remain faithful to the word of God, the Bible. They were loyal to Bible truth. Sadly, their loyalty to Christ led to fierce persecution and bullying.
In A.D. 1488, the Waldenses in the Valley of Loyse were brutally murdered by the Roman Church for their faith.
Bullying because of someone’s beliefs is never acceptable.
Persecution struck the Waldenses again in the seventeenth century.
The Duke of Savoy sent an army into their territory and demanded that the locals house his troops in their homes. They did as he requested. However, this strategy was a bullying tactic to give the soldiers easy access to their victims. On April 24, 1655, a terrible massacre occurred at 4:00 a.m. A signal was given for the massacre to begin, this time claiming the lives of more than 4,000 people. Bullying can take different forms, and it’s crucial to recognize and stand against it. We must learn from history and work and not be a part of bullying or persecuting anyone in any form.
When experiencing bullying, sometimes, the only protection against such evil is the defense obtained from God’s Holy Angels.
In 1885, Mrs. Ellen White visited Torre Pellice, Italy, where the Waldenses had suffered and been persecuted.
Regarding this, Mrs. White wrote the following:
“If their voices [the Waldenses] could be heard, what a history the everlasting mountains surrounding these valleys could give of the sufferings of God’s people because of their faith! What a history of the visits of angels unrecognized by these Christian fugitives! Again, and again have angels talked with men, as man speaketh with a friend, and led them to places of security. Again and again have the encouraging words of angels renewed the drooping spirits of the faithful, and, carrying their minds above the tops of the highest mountains, caused them to behold by faith the white robes, the crowns, the palm branches of victory, which the overcomers will receive when they surround the great white throne.”—Life Sketches, p. 290.
According to Revelation 13:10, history will repeat itself, yet we must remain patient because victory is coming.
“He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints” (Revelation 13:10, NKJV).
What can the people of God expect during this time of bullying and religious persecution? Continue watching Part 2: The Deadly Wound (Splipt)
As we’ve already learned, the beast powers in Revelation 13 and 14 represent a worldwide false religious system.
It is controlled by the beast rising out of the sea, talked about in Revelation 13:5; Revelation 12:6, 14; and Daniel 7:25.
Revelation 13:5
5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months.
6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. (Revelation 13:5, 6)
Revelation 12:14
14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. (Revelation 12:14)
Daniel 7:25
25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time. (Daniel 7:25) (Split)
The beast rising out of the sea will have control for a specific time in history.
Kingdoms, Nations, or Powers,
It is important to know that in the Bible, a prophetic day is the same as one literal year. This we see in Numbers 14:34, “for every day a year.” The same is expressed in Ezekiel 4:6 when God tells Ezekiel, “I have appointed thee each day for a year” (Ezekiel 4:6).
This principle, as we discovered in a previous lesson, has repeatedly proven to be accurate in interpreting biblical time prophecies, such as the 70 weeks of Daniel 9:24–27.
Therefore, if we use this Bible principle with the message of 42 months in Revelation 13:5 with 30 days in a month, we come up with 1,260 prophetic days or 1,260 literal years.
Now in the Old Testament times, each month had 30 days. If we multiply 42 months by the number of days in a month, we get 1,260 prophetic days or 1260 literal years.
In the fourth century, Constantine, the Roman emperor, made practicing Christianity legal, desiring to unite the eastern part of his kingdom with the western kingdom; in a.d. 330, he moved the capital of his kingdom to Byzantium. At that time, no one was left in control of Rome. So, the pope became Rome’s leader. He became not only a powerful religious leader but also a powerful political force in Europe.
Taking it a step further in a.d. 538, while in control of the Roman empire, Justinian, the pagan Roman emperor, officially granted the Roman bishop the role of the defender of the faith. He made him the top leader of the Roman church and the Christian church. This Roman religious system became very powerful and maintained its power from A.D. 538 to A.D. 1798. During this time, the church’s leadership was influential in having many people bullied, persecuted, and killed for being loyal to Bible truth.
However, in A.D. 1798, General Berthier, one of Napoleon’s generals, took the pope as a prisoner. General Berthier and his army “removed” the pope from his throne. This was in exact fulfillment of the 42-month or the lateral 1260-year prophecy in Revelation 13:5.
So, Berthier and his army captured Pope Pius VI and removed him from the papal throne. Though this blow to the papacy was severe, according to Revelation 13:12, the deadly wound would be healed, and the world would hear more from this power—a lot more. How much more, and in what form? To find out, view Part 3: The Falling Away
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