Revolution – Part twelve

The seven vials

Chapter 16 of the Revelation describes events that lead to the destruction of the apostasy and the corrupt society associated with it. These events begin with political and ecclesiastical upheaval and end with the triumphant return of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the vision of the vials, seven angels pour out the wrath of God upon the earth (cf. beast of the earth 13:11); those who bear the “mark of the beast” are especially afflicted. The process described in this section of the Revelation begins with the French Revolution and will end with Armageddon.

The French revolution

The profound influence of the French Revolution is clearly evident in social, economic and political developments since 1800. We see this as students of Bible prophecy, but modern historians fully agree. The spirit of revolution let loose in France in the year 1789 was not contained there. Political and religious upheaval swept through all the dominions of the old Roman Empire, both east and west. The “Holy Roman Empire” was wiped off the map, and most of the crowned heads of Europe would be toppled within the next 100 years. The pope himself almost lost his throne. Two world wars and the Russian revolution were spawned. Reverberations are still being felt everywhere in the form of communism, democracy and humanistic philosophy and will continue until the Lord’s return.

The French Revolution was, as much as anything, a revolt against established religion. Before the revolution, the French Catholic church was a wealthy and powerful organization. “Its power was the consequence of its great temporal endowments, the preponderant role played by the bishops in the civil administration, its possession of a separate fiscal and judicial system, and its retention of privilege” (A. Goodwin: The French Revolution, p. 14).

The Catholic church as part of the “Old Regime” was devastated when the Revolution spun out of control. France, long the “first son of the Church,” for a time repudiated the papacy and became an atheist regime. The papal envoy was sent back to Rome, the authority of the pope no longer recognized. Churches and monasteries were closed, their lands and wealth confiscated. Church buildings became “temples of reason,” dedi­cated to the new humanist philosophy. The medieval system of papal control and divine right of kings was passing into history.

The other nations in Europe were rightly concerned about events in France. “Between 1793 and 1815 France was almost continuously at war with other European powers — England, the Netherlands, Prussia, Austria and Spain …Paris experienced the horror of the Reign of Terror, 1793-94. The execution of its instigator, Robespierre, brought the excesses to a halt, but France remained ungovernable until Napoleon took control in 1795” (Eerdmans’ Handbook to the History of Christianity, p. 502).

Napoleon Bonaparte

The Revolution was on the verge of collapse when one of its military leaders, Napoleon Bonaparte, staged a coup d’etat and took control of the government in Paris. “Historians generally have seen [in this event] one of those decisive occasions destined to change the course of civilization” (E.E.Y. Hales: The Emperor and the Pope, Preface). Napoleon would not just impress historians and military strategists; he would play a major role in the fulfillment of Apocalyptic prophecy.

Napoleon believed that the people of France would be easier to govern if he gave them back their religion, so one of his first acts was to restore relations with the Vatican. He and the new pope, Pius VII, signed a Concordat in 1801. The Catholic religion was thus restored in France, but not in its previous glory. Its former wealth and land holdings were not returned. At the same time, protestants were allowed freedom of religion. Napoleon insisted that the French Catholic church would now be subservient to the state.

The emperor and the pope

The relationship of Napoleon and the pope would be a tenuous one as each struggled to have his own way. “Pope Pius VII sat as a pathetic spectator as Napoleon crowned himself Emperor. Immediately the Emperor embarked on an ambitious program of conquest. In 1808 Napoleon took the Vatican States. The pope was seized and deported to Savona during the following year. Pius VII was finally exiled to Fontainebleau, near Paris. He was not restored to the Vatican until 1814” (Eerdmans, op cit, p. 502). The pope excommunicated Napoleon but was in turn made the French Emperor’s prisoner.

Napoleon claimed to be the successor to Charlemagne, and he did indeed rival that emperor in his conquests. But ironically, Napoleon destroyed the remains of Charlemagne’s “Holy Roman Empire.” And unlike his distant predecessor, Napoleon refused to accept his title from the pope; he bestowed it upon himself. It was his intention to make the pope his vassal and the Catholic religion the instrument of his own will.

“…Of all the struggles throughout history between Church and state, this was the most dramatic, and perhaps the most consequential” (Hales, op cit, xiv).

Papal suffering at the hands of the Emperor of the French did nothing to modify the course of apostasy. New and notable blasphemies would be initiated at Rome once the popes were reinstated. In 1854, the pope proclaimed the immaculate conception (clean flesh) of the virgin Mary, and this became official church dogma. In 1870 the doctrine of papal infallibility was declared, and all Catholics were required to accept it.

Napoleon in prophecy

For more than a thousand years the medieval system had prevailed in Christendom. Under that structure, apostate religion was imposed upon the people by the combined force of church and state. This alliance had to be shaken and the system altered so that the Deity might work out His purpose.

When the wars of Napoleon had ended, the stage was set for all the events leading up to the return of Christ. The spirit of revolution and democracy unleashed upon christendom have continued to ferment. The pope was restored to his throne but in 1870 permanently lost his temporal power. (And men continued to blaspheme and to worship the beast, as Revelation 18 tells us they would.) As a direct result of Napoleon’s war on England, the British maritime power came to its zenith. And that led to several important consequences, one of which was the encouragement of Zionism and the restoration of Israel as a nation.

The attention given to these events in the woes and the vials of the Revela­tion attest to their importance.

The vials – Revelation 16

The first five vials were: 1) judgments on Catholic Europe; 2) British maritime victories; 3) Napoleon’s Italian campaign; 4) wars with Austria (Holy Roman Empire); 5) papal eclipse (1809­-1814).

The sixth vial

The prophecy of the vials now turns to the east, where the waters of the Euphrates (a cipher for the Ottoman Empire) are said to dry up “that the way of the kings of the East (the saints with Christ) might be prepared” (Rev. 16:12-­15).

As events in christendom were moving toward the time of the end, it was also necessary for circumstances to affect the land of promise. The land had for centuries lain desolate under the yoke of the Ottoman Turks, whose dominions included most of the Middle East. The defeat of the Turks by the Allies in World War I brought Palestine under the British mandate. The Balfour Declaration was issued in 1917, and the Jews began to return to their own land.

The events of this vial develop both in Europe and in the Middle Fast. They include the two World Wars and the formation of the state of Israel. Under the sixth vial the nations are falling into the formation required to lead them to Armageddon.

The seventh vial

We are living under the sixth vial. It will be swiftly followed by the seventh as the nations of the world receive their judgment. Then final preparations will be made for the kingdom of God.

The seventh vial, poured out into the air, results in a mighty earthquake, the like of which has not been seen before. “And the great city (mystical Babylon) was divided into three parts (dragon, beast and false prophet, v. 13), and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath” (Rev. 16:19).

There is no ecumenical spirit in the Apocalypse. The great apostasy which we have seen developing throughout the book now receives its judgment. Two chapters, Revelation 17 and 18, are taken up with the destruction of spiritual Babylon, “the mother of harlots and abomination of the earth.”

The cessation of this system, which Christ destroys “with the brightness of his coming,” results in the elevation of the faithful from all ages. The community of saints is now ready to be revealed as the Bride of Christ, his true church.

Conclusion

The command, “Come out of her my people,” has been in effect since the Apocalypse was given. Never more than now has the community of believers needed to heed this warning. The call to separation must be taken seriously. The Book of Revelation should convince us that this world is fleeting, that it will soon be swept away in the ultimate revolution. This, the Bible’s last prophecy, should also keep us aware of the glory that awaits those who love God.

“Alleluia: for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints…Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:6-9).