From The Book of Daniel by Taylor Bunch, 1950. page 100 5. After the Ten. The eleventh horn did not appear until after the ten were established. The Papacy would not reach the position of kingly power until after Rome was divided into the ten divisions, although it had been quietly developing since apostolic days. By the close of the fifth century the breaking up of Rome was complete. All during the overthrow of Imperial Rome and the establishment of the ten kingdoms the Papacy was growing up "in the midst of them."--Douay. It was among them but not of them. Papal supremacy as a religio-political kingdom began in the sixth century and continued for twelve hundred years. The ten were established before the prophet saw the eleventh uproot the three and begin its persecuting and blasphemous career. 6. Uproots Three. "He shall subdue three kings," is the prediction, or "before whom three fell." The three were "plucked up by the roots," indicating complete destruction. It was "three of the first horns" that were uprooted or subdued. In the fourth century, Arius, a priest of Alexandria, began teaching that Christ was the first created being and was therefore inferior to the Father. The Council of Nicea, called by Constantine in 325 A.D. , condemned Arius as a heretic and his teachings as heresy. Arianism, how- ever, continued to grow until four of the ten kingdoms were Arian in belief . Three of these were the Heruli, the Vandals, and Ostrogoths. Through war and diplomacy the Papacy, which clung to the Nicene Creed, endeavored to destroy these heretical nations. It was three of the first that were up- rooted and destroyed. (1) The Heruli. "The first kingdom established by the barbarians in Italy was that of the Heruli."--Ridpath. The historian gives the date of the overthrow of the Heruli as 493 A .D . They were overthrown by the Goths under Theodoric by what he called a divine commission £rom Zeno, the emperor of Eastern Rome. The fact that the Heruli and Ostrogoths were both Arian in belief did not restrain the scheming pontiff from using the one to destroy the other when the outcome resulted in his advancement in power. See His- tory of the World, by Ridpath, Vol. 4, chap. 74, and Gibbon's Roman Empire, chapters 39 and 40. The destruction of this Arian nation was complete. "After the middle of the sixth century, however, their name completely dis- appears."--Encyclopedia Britannia, Vol. XIII, p. 403, art. "Heruli." "After this their "name disappears from history."--Standard Enyclopedia of World Knowledge Vol. XIII, p. 334. See also the New Standard Encyclopedia, art. "Heruli." The kingdom was so completely uprooted that no trace is left, and no modern nation or province bears the name or can be identified with the Heruli . 2) The Vandals. The Vandals crossed into Northern Africa and took possession of Carthage in 431 A.D. They accepted the Arian doctrine and were there- fore marked for destruction. Ridpath gives the date of their destruction as 534. "Their power was at its height when Genseric died (477). In his time the Vandals became Christians, but they were Arians, and fiercely per- secuted orthodox believers and other heretics. In 533 the Byzantine general, Belisarius, landed in Africa. The Vandals were several times defeated, and Carthage was entered on Sept. 15, 533; and in November of the same year they were routed in the decisive battle of Tricamaron. In the next year Africa, Sardina, and Porsica were restored to the Roman Empire. As a nation, the Vandals soon ceased to exist."--Nelson's Encyclopedia, Vol. XII, art. "Van- dals." page 101 Further Evidence. "Being Arian Christians, the Vandals persecuted with furious zeal the orthodox party, the followers of Athanasius. Moved by the en- treaties of the African Catholics, Justinian, the Eastern emperor, sent his general Belisarius to drive the barbarians from Africa. The expedition was successful....The Vandals remaining in the country were gradually absorbed by the old Roman population, and after a few generations no certain trace of the barbarian invaders could be detected....The Vandal nation had dis- appeared; the name alone remained."--A History of Rome, by Myers, p. 193. Race Exterminated. "The Arian heresy (of the Vandals) was proscribed, and the race of these remarkable conquerors was in a short time exterminated. A single generation sufficed to confound their women and children in the mass of the Roman inhabitants of the province, and their very name was soon totally forgotten. There are few instances in history of a nation disap- pearing so rapidly and so completely as the Vandals of Africa."--History of Greece, George Finlay, Vol. I, p. 232. "It is reckoned that during the reign of Justinian, Africa lost five millions of inhabitants; thus Arianism was extinguished in that region, not by any enforcement of conformity, but by the extermination of the race which had introduced and professed it."-- History of the Christian Church, J.C. Robertson, Vol. I, p. 521. (3) The Ostrogoths. Ridpath dates the establishment of the Ostrogothic nation in 493,and its overthrow in 538, and its total destruction in 554. The following is from Ridpath's History of the World, Vol. IV, pp. 408-417: "Bishop Wulfila, or Ulfilas, labored for forty years among the Goths, and saw as the fruits of his labors the conversion of the entire people to the Arian branch of Christianity....The Ostrogoths had grown to be first in influence among the barbarian states....In religious faith Theodoric, like his people, was an Arian. This fact opened a chasm between the Goths and the Italians, the latter accepting the Nicene creed....Certain it is that Justinian, who had now succeeded to power at Constantinople, resolved to purge the church of heresy as well in the West as in his paternal domin- ions." The agent of the emperor in the extermination of heresy was Belisar- ius who had destroyed the Vandal nation. The Nation Destroyed. "Nearly the whole Gothic nation gathered around the Eternal City; but Belisarius held out until reenforcements arrived from the East, and after a siege of a year and nine days' duration, Rome was deliv- ered from the clutch of her assailants. Vitiges (the Ostrogothic leader) was obliged to burn his tents and retreat (538) before his pursuing antag- onist to Ravena....It was evident that the kingdom of the Goths was in the hour and article of death." Speaking of the final defeat of the Goths in [538?] Ridpath says that there was "inflicted on the barbarians a defeat so decisive as to refix the status of Italy. The greater part of the Gothic army perished either by the sword or in attempting to cross the river...As for the Goths, they either retired to their native seats beyond the moun- tains or were absorbed by the Italians."--Id. In chapter 41 of Gibbon's Roman Empire is a graphic description of the campaigns of Belisarius against the Vandals and Ostrogoths resulting in their defeat and overthrow. Thus the three Arian nations who refused to renounce their heretical faith were uprooted or subdued and the other Arian peoples turned orthodox leav- ing the bishop of Rome the undisputed ruler of nations and the corrector of heretics. How completely the prophecy was fulfilled . From Studies in the Book of Revelation by Taylor Bunch, 1933?. page 152 Jews Forbidden to study. "In 1656, a dispute occurred in Poland between some distinguished Jewish Rabbins and the Catholics, respecting the 70 weeks. The Rabbins were so hard pushed by the argument, that proved Jesus to be the Messiah, the time of His sufferings being at the end of the seventy weeks, that they broke up the discussion. The Rabbins then held a meeting and pronounced a curse upon any Jew who should attempt to ascertain the chronology of the prophetic period. Their anathema was this: 'May his bones and his memory rot who shall attempt to number the 70 weeks.'"--"The Midnight Cry", August 10, 1843. page 194 Catholic Growth. One out of every four ministers of the church of England is in favor of and is openly working for reunion with the Roman Catholic church. The Rolnan Catholic mass is celebrated each Sunday on more than 1000 altars of the Anglican church of England. It is estimated that there are 4,000,000 Catholics in China, 3,000,000 in India, and 3,000,000 in Africa. In 1790 only .78 per cent of the population of the United States was Catholic. In 1920 it was 18.76 per cent. In 1808 there was only one bishop in the U. S. and he was the highest official of the church. In 1930 there was one apostolic delegate, four cardinals, 15 archbishops, 102 bishops, 26,925 priests, 20,078, 202 members, and 135 Theological Seminaries. See Catholic Year Book for 1930. The noted Catholic writer, Jean Carrere, declares: "The church at this moment is stronger than she has ever been."--"The Pope", p 245. page 237 Hailstorms of Past.. Hailstones 17 inches in circumference or "as large as grapefruits" fell at Potter, Nebraska, July 6, 1928. Stones of this size are terribly destructive. In 1914 two missionaries reported hailstones of ten pounds weight in China. A hailstorm took place at Theodore, Saskatchewan, in 1930 when stones the size of grapefruits and larger fell, doing great damage. They went through roofs, killed many cattle, and wounded men and beasts. One stone fell and buried itself in the earth, weighing 120 pounds. No wonder the whole land is left in a chaotic state by this terrific storm and earthquake. "Like Musket-balls". The following account is of a hailstorm at Constantinople in October, 1831, written by an eye witness; "After an uncommonly sultry night, threatening clouds arose about six in the morning, and a noise, between thunder and tempest, and yet not to be compared to either, increased every moment, and the inhabitants of the capital, roused from their sleep, awaited with anxious expectation the issue of this threatened phenomenon. Their uncertainty was not of long duration; lumps of ice as large as a man's foot, falling singly, and then like a thick shower of stones, which destroy- ed everything with which they came in contact. The oldest persons do not remember ever to have seen such hailstones. Some were picked up half an hour afterwards which weighed above a pound. This dreadful storm passed over Constantinople and along the Bosphorus, over Therapia, Bojukden, and Belgrade; and the fairest, nay, the only hope of this beautiful and fertile tract, the vintage, just commenced, was destroyed in a day. Animals of all kinds, and even some persons, were killed, an innumerable number are wounded, and the damage done to the houses is incalculable. The force of the falling masses of ice was so great that they broke to atoms all the tiles on the roofs, and, like musket-balls, shattered planks." Protection Promised. Isa. 4:5,6. The Lord promises a complete protection to the righteous from the ravages of the seven last plagues. Those who have made the Lord their refuge and fortress and His truth their "shield and buckler", will then be provided "a place of refuge" and a covering "from storm and from rain". The 91st Psalm will then be very precious to those who dwell "in the secret place of the most High" and "abide under the shadow of the Almighty. " page 241 The Prophet Amazed. v. 6. "I was filled with utter astonishment." - Wey. "I was amazed beyond measure."--20th C.N.T. In their final page 242 exhibition the beast and the harlot woman will astonish the whole world. v. 8. The world today is amazed at the rapid recov- ery of the papacy from its deadly wound. Rev. 13;3. "And the whole world was amazed and followed him."-Wey. The career of the papal power has evoked the amazement and admiration of many historians. "It has proved to be the most wonderful fabric of what we call worldly wisdom that our world has seen,--controll- ing kings, dictating laws to ancient monarchies, and binding the souls of millions with a more perfect despotism than Oriental emperors ever sought or dreamed. And what a marvelous vitality it seems to have....It is too great and venerable for sarcasm, ridicule, or mockery. It is too potent and respectable to be sneered at or lied about. I confess I gaze upon it as a peasant surveys a king, as a boy contemplates a queen of beauty....It is both lofty and degraded; simple, yet worldly wise; humble, yet scornful and proud; washing beggars feet, yet imposing commands on the potentates of earth; benignant, yet severe on all who rebel; here clothed in rags, and there reveling in palaces; sup- ported by charity, yet feasting the princes of the earth; assum- ing the title of 'servant of the servants of God', yet arrogating the highest seat among worldly dignitaries. Was there ever such a contradiction?-'glory in debasement, and debasement in glory', --type of the misery and greatness of man? Was there ever such a mystery? so occult are its arts, so subtile its policy, so plausible its pretensions, so certain its shafts? How imposing the words of paternal benediction! How grand the liturgy brought down from ages of faith!...And yet what crimes and abominations have been committed in the name of the church? "If we go back and accept the history of the dark ages, what wars has not this church encouraged, what discords has she not incited, what superstitions has she not endorsed, what pride has she not arrogated, what cruelties has she not inflicted, what countries has she not robbed, what hardships has she not imposed, what deceptions has she not used, what avenues of thought has she not guarded with a flaming sword, what truth has she not perverted, what goodness has she not mocked and persecuted?... Think of gunpowder plots and inquisitions, intrigues and tortures, all vigorously carried on under the cloak of religion--barbarities worse than those of savages, inflicted at the command of the ministers of the gospel of love....Whether exaggerated or not they were more disgraceful than the persecutions of Christians by the Roman emperors....As for the supreme rulers of this contradic- tory church, so benevolent and yet so cruel, so enlightened and yet so fanatical, so humble and yet so proud,--this institution of blended piety and fraud...the joy and the reproach, the glory and the shame of the earth,--there never were greater geniuses or greater fools, saints or hounds, scholars and dunces, ascetics and gluttons, men who adorned and men who scandalized their lofty position."--"Beacon Lights of History", John Lord, Vol. 3, pp, 96-101.