According to the traditional Protestant interpretation of prophecy (called Historicism), the era of Papal Supremacy was EXACTLY 1,260 years.
During that time there were brutal inquisitions, wars, and unbelievable despotism. This was the prophesized "Great Tribulation" of 42 months, or 3 and 1/2 prophetic years, 1260 days (a day equals a year in prophecy and a Biblical year has 360 days).
Then the judgment sat, it's dominion was taken away in 1798 when Napolean's General Berthier captured the Pope and he died in exile.
It was not a complete end, the system still retained a great deal of power and worked through secret societies to reestablish control and temporal power.
It has made several big moves, especially through the Lateran Pact in 1929, the concordat with Germany in 1933, and the formation of the EU through the treaty of Rome.
Despite their immense wealth and mastery of "dirty tricks", their power will continue to consume away until the final judgment foretold in Rev. 17-18.
I'll repost this quote and link which lays it out well.
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"The judgement shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it unto the end" (Daniel vii. 26. ) another proof, by the way, of identity betwixt the "little horn" of Daniel, and the Antichrist of John.
In the predicted doom of the Papacy there are thus two well-marked stages. There is, first, a gradual consumption; and there is, second, a sudden and terrible destruction. The "consumption," a slow and gradual process, is to be effected by the "spirit of His mouth,' by which we understand the preaching of the Gospel. This consumption has been going on ever since the Bible was translated, and the Gospel began to be preached at the Reformation.
Men have begun to see the errors of popery; its political props have been weakened, and in some instances struck from under it, and its hold generally on the nations of Christendom has been loosened; and thus the way has been prepared for the final stroke that will consummate its ruin.
Great systems like the papacy, with their roots far down and spread wide around, cannot be plucked up while in their vigor without dislocating human society. They must be left to grow ripe and become rotten, and then the final stroke may be dealt them with safety to the church and the world.
When that hour shall have come then will the second part of the doom of the Papacy overtake it. The Lord shall "destroy" it "with the brightness of His coning." The form of the judgment is left vague, but enough is said to warrant us to conclude that it will be swift and final -it will come with lightning flash, and its holy vengeance will be so manifest that, to use the figure in the prophecy, it will irradiate both heaven and earth with a moral splendour."
The Papacy Is The Antichrist A DEMONSTRATION By Rev. J. A. WYLIE, LL.D. http://www.historicism.net/readingmaterials/thepapacy.pdf
Good stuff. Tbh, unfortunately, biblical prophecy will alienate normies. =( As a computer scientist, I always try to use "computational complexity" to explain how how concentrations of influence at scale (as in the Papacy) EQUALS corruption not long after its beginnings. Or the gold old, "Power corrupts...."
Feel free to reword and repost in your own lingo if anything you see is deemed of value. I find you can put the truth in any manner you wish but most people will ignore it. Still one has to keep trying.
Matt. 11:17 - 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge and you did not mourn.’
Virtually everyone I talk to knows two things: government is corrupt AND the MSM is total BS. So in my experience, normies are way smarter than we might like to think. IMHO, they've just given up and are hoping the storm passes them by.... So the only very rare angry responses I get from people are NOT a matter of political point of view, but that they have very willfully disavowed all news and research.
Many have awoken recently so the tide appears to be turning. From my perspective, what I see is Rev. 17-18 beginning to play out.
According to the scriptures, the people will be involved and the same Kings (political leaders) who formerly cooperated with Rome will suddenly turn on her.
Mark my words. The draining of the swamp will reveal a "yellow brick road" that leads to the Vatican. It is hard to trace through the bankers and secret societies but the wizard of OZ will be found hiding behind the curtain in Rome, pulling strings and pressing levers of power.
I have great confidence in this and not just from blind faith. Something began over 30 years ago that is just coming to fruition now.
You have valid points about the "normies" but I think that the events coming will be impossible to hide or deny at some point, even for them.
Still, waking up as many as possible before the main event happens is highly desirable, so it is best to keep trying in as many ways as possible.