Part 6 of Daniel 7:25.
‟And He shall think” (attempt, intend) ‟to change times and laws.” Pt. 6 of Daniel 7. Dan. 7:25.
In our previous articles on Daniel 7 dealing with the Little Horn, we saw that this little horn historically referred to the RC Church. Our previous presentation looked at the persecutions of those Christians who wanted to follow only the Bible. These persecutions were led by the Roman Catholic Church using the armies of the European states. We also noted how the recent popes openly made confessions to the Protestants for their actions. In this article, we will look at the next biblical assertion that the little horn will do, which is, that it will think to change times and laws. Dan. 7:25. Once again I remind my readers that this is not a diatribe against the Roman Catholic church. In these articles we are looking at the prophecies of Daniel as we confirm the accuracy of God’s word and the warnings God has given humanity should they neglect to obey His instructions found the Scriptures.
Just as history attests to the terrible persecutions by the Roman Catholics of the Protestants, a fact that the popes do not deny, but publicly make apologies for, so does history clearly testify to the attempt of the popes to change ‟times and laws.” As the RC church turned Europe into the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages with the popes as virtual leaders of this empire, where in European or church history do we find the papacy thinking to change times and laws that pertain to God and His people, the saints. Remember that Daniel 7:25 tells us that this little horn, the papacy as we have shown in previous articles, shall do the following: speak great words against the most High (God); we looked at this in a previous article; and it will persecute the people of God, our previous article dealt with this. And now we are looking at the third act of this same power, the desire to change times and laws. It becomes obvious that these times and laws must refer to those that belong to God and which His people, the persecuted ones, keep.
Notice, the text says that the papacy will think to change, (in Hebrew it is: attempt to change; to intend, to endeavour, to mean to). The laws of the Holy Roman Empire, of which the papacy was the chief architect, were usually all in harmony with the Holy See, or the Vatican, in medieval times, so Daniel’s reference to the little horn’s attempt to change times and laws must refer to something else. Do we find in church history any laws that the papacy made that tended to contradict the laws of God? The RC church has made many religious laws that they hope will last. These laws are an affront to the laws of God. Some important ones are, the immaculate conception, Mary had no sin when she conceived Jesus, was instituted by Pius IX at the First Vatican Council in 1854.
The Bible tells us that we have all sinned. Rom. 3:23; and Rom. 3:10 says that there is none righteous. Then there’s the Mariology doctrine where Mary is known as the mother of the church and of all peoples (Pope Francis, Vatican, Dec. 12, 2019). Again, the Bible says that Jesus is the head of the church and the saviour of it (the body), Mary is nowhere mentioned here. Ephesians 5:23. There’s also the veneration of saints, martyrs who died for Christ, which became established by the end of the fourth century but began as early as the third century. Each day in the year is a feast (celebration) day of a particular saint. We will say some more about this later on.
Some of the most significant laws which the RC church intends on changing permanently are, first, the change of the Lord’s Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. The Sabbath commandment of the Bible is the fourth law of the ten commandments’ law of God found in Exodus 20:1-17. While the RC church recognizes Saturday as the Bible Sabbath, she now calls it the Jewish Sabbath and states categorically that the RC church has changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Catechism of the Catholic, Ratzinger, 1998, p. 524 ff.
In the Catechism of the Council of Trent, (Donovan Translation, 1829 ed.), p. 358, we read, “But the Church of God has in her wisdom ordained that the celebration of the Sabbath day should be transferred to ‘the Lord’s day’” This catechism was written by order of this great council, and published under the auspices of Pope Pius V. In the Catholic Press, Sydney, Australia, Aug. 1966, we read: ‟Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principals…From the beginning to the end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first.” Priest Brady, in an address reported in the Elizabeth, N. J. ‟News”, March 18, 1903, wrote, ‟It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians, that the Bible does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic Church.”
There are many other references that can be given to show the Roman Catholic’s admission of changing the Lord’s Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Sadly, the reason given for being able to change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday is that it is said that ‟the pope is of so great authority and power that he can modify, explain, or interpret even divine laws…The pope can modify divine law since his power is not of man, but of God, and he acts as vice-regent of God upon the earth.” (Translated from Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca (Ready Library), ‟Papa,” art. 2. And the reason that the pope has this power is that he is declared ‟as another God on earth” History of the Councils p. 220. And again we read from Prompta Bibliotheca (Catholic Dictionary), Vol. VI, pages 438, 442 the following, ‟The Pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God, and the VICAR OF GOD. The Pope is of such lofty and supreme dignity that, properly speaking, he has not been established in any rank of dignity, but rather has been placed upon the very summit of all ranks of dignities…”
With such great words spoken by the pope, no wonder Daniel 7:25 says that he, the little horn, which represents the Roman Catholic church, shall speak ‘words’ against the most High. These ‘words’ against God are actually blasphemous. Revelation 13:6, in referring to the same little horn says, ‟And he opened his mouth against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.”
The second significant law that the RC church has attempted to change and hopes it will continue to be enforced is again from God’s ten commandments law, the second commandment. In Exodus 20:3-5 God forbids the making of, or the carving of any object and making it a god before which one bows down and even worships. The penalty for this is death. This is exactly what happens with the veneration of saints that the Catholic church enjoins upon its congregants. Although the Catholic church claims that they do not worship the saints, they do admit that they bow down to them and that these saints are intercessors for humans who call upon them.
The chief of these is the immaculate (sinless) virgin Mary, they claim. So highly revered is Mary that there is even a movement among many Roman Catholic clergy to make her co-redemptrix with Christ! Catholics may explain until the cows come home the difference between veneration of an image and worshipping an image (The Catechism of the Catholic, Ratzinger, 2132ff., 1998), but by the actions of their members and leaders, there is no avoiding the fact that bowing to an idol and praying to it is exactly what the 2nd commandment prohibits. It’s an open rejection of God’s express commandment, the second law in the decalogue.
We see, therefore, that Daniel’s depiction of the little horn in chapter 7, particularly Daniel 7:25, is, in fact, a reference to the behaviour of Roman Catholic hierarchy; we also see how clearly history attests to this prophetic revelation of the Catholic church making laws contrary to God’s laws. Search as we may, there is no other institution that fits the little horn so perfectly as the Roman Catholic church. The history of the Fall of the Roman empire makes it abundantly clear that the abdication of Rome by the Caesars opened the way for the installation of the popes as the rulers of the city of Rome, leading to the Holy Roman Empire, then to the great Mediaeval church (also known as the Apostate church) of the Middle Ages. Knowing these facts prepares us for the events that will take place in the near future before the second coming of Christ for those that have accepted Him. May God help us to make wise decisions as we study His word and see the fulfilment of His predictions.
In our next article, we will continue on another prediction that has to do with the little horn. Blessings to you all.
May God bless you all. Pastor Ron Henderson is a retired Seventh-day Adventist Pastor. You may reach him at ron.hende@gmail.com if you have any comments or questions.