The Conclusion of the Whole Matter - Number One

The church of Pergamos began at the Edict of Milan in 313, where the fourth treaty marriage of Daniel chapter eleven took place between Constantia and Licinius. Constantia was given as a treaty bride to Licinius, emperor of the east, by the western emperor Constantine the Great. Constantia was Constantine’s half-sister and her marriage took place in conjunction with the issuing of the Edict. The marriage treaty did not last and the civil war was thereafter re-engaged. Constantia stayed with Licinius throughout the civil war, and pled for Constantine to spare his life after he defeated Licinius in 324. Constantine initially spared Licinius, but later ordered his execution. Constantia herself then lived on at Constantine’s court until about 330.

The fourth treaty marriage of Daniel eleven in February of 313 began the symbolic period represented by Pergamos, and the church of Pergamos continued unto the church of Thyatira, which began when the papal power took the throne in 538. 538 marked the end of Pergamos and it also marked the fifth treaty marriage of Daniel eleven, as the papal church took its seat upon the throne through a prophetic treaty marriage with the civil powers of Rome. Pergamos began with an alpha marriage treaty in 313 and ended with an omega treaty marriage in 538. In 1798, the kings of Europe divorced their papal bride when Napoleon took the pope into captivity.

The captivity and divorce of the papal bride had been typified by the very first treaty marriage in Daniel eleven, which was consummated between the Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires. In fulfillment of verses six through eight, in 252 BC, Ptolemy II Philadelphus (king of the south) gave his daughter Berenice in marriage to Antiochus II Theos (king of the north) to end the Second Syrian War. The agreement required Antiochus to set aside his wife Laodice and her sons. After Ptolemy II died in 246 BC, Antiochus took Laodice back and put Berenice away. Laodice then had Antiochus poisoned and arranged the murder of Berenice and her infant son. Thus, Berenice, as the verse records, did “not retain the power” and was “given up.”

Ptolemy III Euergetes, Berenice’s brother (“a branch of her roots”), became king of Egypt and invaded the Seleucid kingdom to avenge his sister, beginning the Third Syrian War, from 246 to 241 BC. Ptolemy captured major cities (including Seleucia and Antioch), advanced deep into Seleucid territory, and carried off enormous spoil, including many idols and sacred vessels that Cambyses had earlier taken from Egypt. He returned to Egypt with the loot, fulfilling the prediction that their gods and precious articles would be carried captive to Egypt.

The first treaty marriage of Daniel eleven typified the treaty marriage of 538 between papal Rome and the kings of Europe. In verses six through eight, the southern king gives a bride to establish a treaty that is thereafter broken. The broken treaty is followed by an invasion of the northern kingdom, the conquest of its territory, and the removal of its treasures. In the corresponding history, Napoleon, representing the king of the south, imposed the Treaty of Tolentino upon the Papal States in 1797. The following year, French forces under General Berthier entered Rome and took Pope Pius VI, representing the king of the north, captive. The French also seized treasures from Rome and carried them to France, paralleling Ptolemy’s removal of treasures from the northern kingdom to Egypt.

The marriage treaty at Milan in 313 ended a civil war, just as the marriage treaty of the northern and southern empires of Ptolemy II Philadelphus and Antiochus II Theos ended the Second Syrian War. The divorce of the western and eastern empires in 324 was typified by Antiochus divorcing his Egyptian treaty bride in 246 BC. Both divorces align with the divorce of 1798.

Pergamos covers 225 years from 313 unto 538. It began with the second treaty marriage of pagan Rome and ended with the first treaty marriage of papal Rome. The prophetic history of Pergamos links the two treaty marriages of pagan Rome with the two treaty marriages of papal Rome, just as the line of seven Cleopatras links the two treaty marriages of the Seleucid empire with the two treaty marriages of pagan Rome. Two marriages in the Seleucid empire were linked by Cleopatra to the two marriages of the empire of pagan Rome, which were in turn linked to the two marriages of papal Rome by the symbolic church of Pergamos.

The alpha marriage of the Seleucid empire in 252 BC typified the omega marriage of Cleopatra Syra, daughter of Antiochus the Great, to Ptolemy V in 193 BC at Raphia. That marriage ended the Fifth Syrian War. The alpha treaty marriage of pagan Rome was accomplished in 40 BC between Mark Antony and Octavia. Octavia was the sister of Octavian, later known as Augustus Caesar. The marriage of 40 BC was in conjunction with the Treaty of Brundisium. Antony divorced Octavia for Cleopatra in 32 BC, thus re-engaging the civil war that had ended at the treaty in 40 BC. Mark Antony was the eastern antagonist and Octavian was the western rival. There were seven Cleopatras in Egyptian history. The first represented the omega marriage treaty of the Seleucid empire and the seventh and final Cleopatra represented the divorce of the alpha treaty marriage of pagan Rome.

Christ always illustrates the end with the beginning, so the alpha marriage of the Seleucids in 252 BC aligns with the omega marriage of the Seleucids in 193 BC. The alpha and omega of the Seleucid history both align with the alpha and omega marriages of both pagan and papal Rome. The omega marriage of pagan Rome in 313 was also the alpha treaty marriage of Pergamos, and it typified the omega treaty marriage of Pergamos, which was also the alpha marriage treaty of papal Rome in 538. This aligns both the alpha and omega treaty marriages of pagan Rome with the alpha marriage of papal Rome in 538. The omega marriage of papal Rome arrives at the soon-coming Sunday law. The alpha of 538 typifies the omega of the Sunday law, and the alpha of 538 was typified by the Treaty of Brundisium in 40 BC and the treaty marriage of the Edict of Milan in 313. The alpha marriage of the Seleucid empire in 252 BC aligns with the treaty marriage of papal Rome in 538, and as the alpha marriage of the Seleucid empire it also aligns with the omega marriage at Raphia in 193 BC.

The treaty marriages of north and south in 252 and 193 BC align with the treaty marriage of 538, which aligns with the treaty marriages of pagan Rome in 40 BC and 313. All five treaty marriages represented within the history of Daniel eleven find the perfect fulfillment at the sixth and final treaty marriage at the soon-coming Sunday law. The first two marriages are wars between northern and southern antagonists, and the third and fourth represent civil war between east and west. The fifth and sixth marriages represent spiritual warfare between east and west; between Orthodox and Roman Catholicism; or between state and church. A primary distinction between Orthodox and Roman Catholicism is that the Orthodox accept what is called “caesaropapism.”

Caesaropapism is the combination of church and state with the state in control of the relationship. Roman Catholicism rejects that structure and holds to the 533 Decree of Justinian that identified the Roman Catholic church as the head of the churches and also the corrector of heretics. The spiritual struggle of the last two treaty marriages was over whether the man, representing civil authority, rules over the woman, representing church authority. The spiritual war also included differences in certain aspects of worship within the church and the teaching identified as “filioque.”

Filioque means “and the son.” To understand the significance of the term “filioque” requires a prophetic consideration of the city of Nicaea where the “Nicene Creed” was first adopted. Nicaea connects prophetically with the line of Islam, for it is there that the second historical battle of Nicaea is marked, and it also connects prophetically with the spiritual warfare of eastern and western Catholicism. Pope Leo, as a symbol, is also connected with Nicaea and the Nicene Creed’s prophetic testimony.

Six treaty marriages are marked in Daniel eleven and the first four are military conflicts between either north and south or east and west. The last two are spiritual conflicts between the Orthodox Catholics of the east and the Roman Catholics of the west. The sixth and final treaty marriage will include the symbolism of the struggle over the Nicene Creed, and it will include a pope Leo, and will ultimately uphold the Roman Catholic understanding of the combination of church and state, which rejects the “caesaropapism” held by the eastern Orthodox that identifies the civil power as authority over the church.

Caesaropapism and filioque represent the two primary differences between the western and eastern Catholics. One is an argument over civil authority; the other is a theological argument over whether the Holy Spirit “proceeds” from the Father alone or the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and Son. The Roman Catholic church believes the Holy Spirit proceeds from both, and the eastern church rejects “filioque,” arguing against the addition that the Holy Spirit proceeds from Christ. The theory of filioque was slowly added to the original Creed that was produced at the council of Nicaea in 325, four years after the first Sunday law, and one year after Constantine defeated Licinius to become the sole ruler of the empire of Rome. The original Creed did not include the issue of “filioque” that would ultimately become one of two major reasons the eastern and western Catholic churches separated.

At the Council of Constantinople in 381, the Nicene Creed was expanded into what became known as the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. The expanded statement concerning the Holy Spirit included the words “who proceeds from the Father.” This remains the form of the Creed used by the Eastern Orthodox churches, without the later addition of the filioque. Fifty years later, at the Council of Ephesus in 431, the faith established at Nicaea in 325 was reaffirmed, and the council prohibited the introduction of a different faith in place of the Nicene confession. This prohibition has been used by the Eastern Church as an argument against adding the filioque to the Creed. At the Third Council of Toledo in 589, the filioque appeared in the Latin form of the Creed used in Spain. Its use was associated with opposition to Arianism among the Visigoths, emphasizing the full divinity of the Son. The Third Council of Toledo is therefore widely recognized as an important early milestone in the incorporation of the filioque into the Western Creed.

In the 8th and 9th centuries, the filioque became standard in the churches under Charlemagne and the Carolingians. It was defended at Western synods and gradually accepted across Latin Europe outside Rome. The East became aware of the addition and began to object.

In 1014, Pope Benedict VIII officially introduced the Creed with the filioque into the Mass at Rome. This is the point at which the filioque became standard in the Roman liturgy. It is often treated as the decisive Western step. In 1054, the mutual excommunications of the Great Schism took place, and the filioque was one of the major theological issues already dividing East and West.

At the Council of Florence in 1438/39, the Roman Church reaffirmed the filioque and papal supremacy. The emperor of the east, John Paleologos, attended that council. Paleologos was the elder brother and predecessor of Constantine the eleventh, who fulfilled the one-hundred-and-fifty-year prophecy that ended on July 27, 1449. At the council of 1438/39, Emperor John Paleologos sought military and economic support against the Ottomans, and in so doing accepted the Roman Catholic position of filioque and papal supremacy. When he and the Greek entourage returned to Constantinople, the eastern church rejected the agreement. Currently the Roman Catholic Church and most apostate Protestant churches retain the filioque, and the Eastern Orthodox Church rejects it.

In 325, the Council of Nicaea was called and attended by Constantine the Great, the symbol of the Pergamos church of compromise. In the seventeen years from the Edict of Milan unto the prophetic division of the empire in 330, the Nicene Creed was adopted.

In 533, the Decree of Justinian was made, and the next year in 534, Justinian’s Code was introduced, and in 538 the third obstacle was overcome by the papal power when the Goths were driven from the city of Rome. Then at the Third Council of Orleans, a Sunday law was enacted.

The period from 313 to 330 represents the broader alpha fractal of the 225 years of the church of Pergamos, while the period from 533 to 538 represents its omega fractal. The year 313 marks the Edict of Milan, and 225 years later, in 538, a Sunday law was put in place. Within the broader alpha history, the period from the Edict of 313 to the first pagan Sunday law of 321 aligns with the period from the Decree of 533 to the first papal Sunday law in 538. Pergamos provides three representations of a legal enactment that precedes and leads to a Sunday law. Pergamos also represents the “falling away first” set forth by Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonian church.

The falling away that preceded the revealing of the pope of Rome as the man of sin is represented by the church of Pergamos. According to Paul, to misunderstand this truth is to believe a lie, and in consequence of believing the lie, all who do so will receive strong delusion (2 Thessalonians 2:10–12). The strong delusion corresponds to the judgment of the covenant people and the land where the covenant people were raised up. For the Laodicean Seventh-day Adventist church, the strong delusion is represented by their rejection of William Miller’s understanding that “the daily” in the book of Daniel is paganism in general, and more specifically, that it represented pagan Rome. For the United States, the strong delusion is not premised upon rejecting William Miller’s understanding of this passage, through which Miller came to understand that “the daily” was paganism. Rather, their delusion is based upon forgetting that the man of sin revealed after pagan Rome fell away was the papal power. Reagan typified that delusion when he forgot that he had known from childhood that the pope was the antichrist. When Reagan entered into the secret alliance with the mystery of iniquity in the 1980s, he typified the blindness that Donald Trump is understood in this prophetic application to repeat. Whether that blindness is willful or the result of misinformation, the prophetic interpretation presented here anticipates that Trump will repeat Reagan’s blindness and, according to Paul, receive strong delusion.

Pergamos represents the period of compromise and falling away that preceded the enthronement of the papacy. This history aligns prophetically with the final years of the United States, a period that began with Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Whether Pergamos is considered from the Edict of 313 unto the Sunday law of 538; or the alpha fractal of Pergamos from the Edict unto the first Sunday law in 321; or the omega fractal of Pergamos from 533 unto the Sunday law of 538, all three lines represent the prophetic structure of a siege.

We will take up a siege in the next article.