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Pope Francis in Prophecy

There has been a flurry of excitement over a short video in which Pope Francis greeted the charismatic pastors and shared his heart about the topic of unity and getting along. But many saw this as a step toward a “One World Religion,” which they believe is coming soon, headed by the Antichrist. And so, instead of seeing this in a positive light, where Christians should get along with each other and treat each other with respect, they saw this as a subversive attempt to bring all non-Catholic Christians into the Roman Church.

Here is the story, as told by Copeland and Pope Francis’ friend, Tony Palmer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PSV72Tjy8g

My Comment:

When Pope Francis took office a year ago, I decided to refrain from judging him until I could see what he would say and do. The prophecies of St. Malachy seemed to indicate that he could be the last Pope, i.e., “Peter the Roman.” Malachy, from Ireland, prophesied about 113 popes that were to come, beginning in the year 1143. He gave a brief description of each, ending with a final pope:

“In extreme persecution, the seat of the Holy Roman Church will be occupied by Peter the Roman, who will feed the sheep through many tribulations, at the term of which the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the formidable Judge will judge his people. The End.”

http://www.catholic-pages.com/grabbag/malachy.asp

Antichrist watchers, of course, took this to mean that this final Pope would be the Antichrist. But Malachy’s prophecy actually gives him a good review. He was to preside over the Roman Church through “many tribulations,” ending with the destruction of the city—and presumably the destruction of organization itself. (The Church is actually people, not organizations; the people will not be destroyed.)

Pope Francis is a Jesuit. To Catholics, this means he is the cream of the crop. To others, however, who have studied the history of the Jesuit Order, his membership puts him under suspicion. Yet in the end, each person should be judged according to their works as individuals.

Vatican II Church Council and the Charismatic Movement

Malachi Martin, an ex-Jesuit author, was anti-Jesuit because of the changes in Jesuit doctrine during Vatican II, the Roman Church Council from 1962-1965. He abhorred the new Jesuit-inspired doctrine that the Church was not the organization but rather “the people of God.” I happen to agree with this new definition of “the church,” so there I disagree with Malachi Martin. In fact, I believe it was this particular change that brought a new wind into the Roman Church. They called it the Charismatic Movement.

Pope Francis himself has been sympathetic to the Charismatic movement for decades, meeting and fellowshipping with them while he was in Argentina. So it is no surprise that he would befriend Tony Palmer or that Palmer would consider Francis to be one of his three spiritual fathers. Some see this as a bad thing; I see it as a reflection of the Pope’s long-held view favoring the Charismatic movement—which, after all, began as a Roman Catholic movement in the 1960’s following Vatican II.

Palmer makes the point that the conflict between Catholic and Protestants, dating back many centuries, was centered around the doctrinal point that Martin Luther made: Justification by faith alone. He says that Pope Francis agrees with this point, and so there is now essentially no conflict on that issue.

Palmer is perhaps a little too enthusiastic in saying that there should no longer be any Protestants (people protesting) over that issue. Actually, the popes have always agreed with that point, so I see nothing unusual here. The real difference is in the works that ought to follow one’s faith. The popes have traditionally held that those who have true faith must show it by becoming members of the Roman Church. This is the “work” that proves one’s faith. The Protestants obviously disagreed by breaking away and forming their own denominations.

Denominations and Church Membership

Yet now, since Vatican II, the church has been redefined as “the people of God.” This was a huge change, at least in theory. It means that the definition of a Christian no longer depends on being a member of the Roman Church, but to have one’s name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life which is in heaven (Hebrews 12:23).

Of course, it is one thing to change a doctrine of the Church; it is quite another for that change to work its way into the organic practice and teachings of the Church. It has now been 50 years since this new definition was introduced. Many have not changed with it, but it appears that Pope Francis himself has adopted this change by recognizing as Christians those who are outside of the Roman Church membership.

When I heard the story of how this video greeting was produced spontaneously, with no prior planning, and with no carefully scripted text, I realized that this was no mere plot to recruit Protestants back under Roman authority. I came away believing that he was genuinely revealing his heart. He seems to have a genuine desire to end the fighting and bickering between those calling themselves Christians.

Of course, he is still the head of the Roman Church, and is perhaps confident that in the end all will come into unity under the Roman Church. But his view is no different from the view that many other denominations hold. Many believe that their denomination is “the true church,” implying that in the end, everyone must become members and come under the authority of their own hierarchy.

This is, in fact, the problem of Pentecost itself, as seen in all of the prophetic stories in Scripture (as I have taught for years). So when I hear the Pope—or any other leader of a denomination—admit that there are genuine Christians outside of their own organization, I want to commend them, not condemn them for trying to bring some unity and harmony.

It is doubtful if Pope Francis (or any other denominational leader) understands that King Saul was a type of the Church. They do not know that Saul was crowned on the day of wheat harvest, i.e., Pentecost (1 Samuel 12:17). They seem unaware that Saul’s kingdom pictured the political, authoritative structure of the Church that was yet to come. Hence, the problem of Saul was the problem of denominationalism itself. At the same time, Samuel told the people of Israel that even though they had rejected God as their king, the monarchy could still work if the king considered himself to be a steward of the throne. However, if he usurped authority, then it would indeed be a problem.

In fact, King David succeeded Saul, and he had the right attitude. So it was not a monarchy itself that was the problem. Denominations themselves are not the problem either. It depends on whether those in authority hear and obey the voice of God, or if they lean unto their own understanding and follow the traditions of men and carnal understanding. Even good intentions are insufficient to meet the divine standard.

Pope Francis and Jonathan

Remember, too, that Jonathan was the son of King Saul, but he had the right perspective. He was David’s closest friend and would have gladly given him the throne. This shows that there are good people even in the house of Saul. I see Pope Francis as a Jonathan.

I have watched Pope Francis this past year, and I cannot help but like him. He lives in the guest house at the Vatican, he drives himself around in a little car, and he seems to care nothing about building his own bank accounts. He ran the moneychangers out of the temple on January 15, 2014. He seems to genuinely like the common people. He has an interest in the Holy Spirit that exceeds his predecessors.

All in all, he seems to be fulfilling the prophecy of St. Malachy about feeding the people.

This does not mean that all of the Cardinals and churchmen around him have good character or even good intentions. Even Francis knows this, for otherwise he would never have fired four out of five bankers controlling the Vatican Bank. Most of those around him were in the Vatican long before Francis became Pope. We cannot judge Francis by his peers. But we certainly can see how Francis handles the situation.

I give him a good review, and I hope he does not prove me wrong.

Pope Francis is an Arm of Silver

Finally, if we step back and look at the larger prophetic picture, we see a major sign about how Francis fits into this picture. We are now (in 2014) at the time of the overthrow of Mystery Babylon. The beast empires have run their course after ruling the West for 2,520 years as of 2014. The little horn has ruled for 1480 years, the prophetic number for “Christ.” The financial beast from the earth (Revelation 13:11) has ruled for 210 years since the deadly wound of the first beast was healed in 1804 (when Napoleon reinstated the Papacy in order to have someone crown him as emperor).

The Federal Reserve System has ruled 100 years to make up for the lost century from 163-63 B.C.

All of these important prophetic time cycles reach their climax in 2014.

With the fall of Mystery Babylon, we are seeing a repeat pattern from the fall of the original Babylon at the hands of Medo-Persia, the original kings of the east. They were the arms of silver (Daniel 2:32), which overthrew the head of gold. Pope Francis is from Argentina, “land of silver” (from argenum, “silver” which is AG on the Periodical Table of Elements). When he fired the bankers on January 15, which was a type of Passover in the first month, was Pope Francis not overthrowing the financial beast of Babylon?

The Church is largely unaware of what is really going on in prophecy, because they have been blinded by the Dispensationalist teachings that arose in the 1850’s through Darby and was later popularized by Schofield. This viewpoint taught people to expect a soon-coming seven-year Tribulation, with an Antichrist to rule during that time, with a Rapture coming either before or in the middle of that Tribulation. So their focus is on bad things to come, instead of seeing that we are at the END of the Tribulation (7 x 360 years). The “many antichrists” have already come and are about to lose power.

We look ahead and see a glorious future of the Kingdom of God. When the last beast has had his say, the dominion is passed to the saints of the Most High (Daniel 7:22, 27), not to the Antichrist. We have now arrived at the end of some major long-term prophetic tribulation cycles which have been ending from 2009-2017, with 2014 being a key pivotal date.

In other words, the news is good, even though the beast empires are thrashing about in an attempt to hold on to their power. Yes, it is a dangerous time, as we might expect, but we have the sure word of prophecy that the Kingdom of God is emerging. The new kings of the east have arisen, no longer Media and Persia (although Persia/Iran is certainly involved on a lower level), but now Russia and China.

In the days of Daniel, when God foreclosed on Babylon in Daniel 5, Darius the Mede took the kingdom at the age of 62. Today, Media is Russia, led by Putin, who is now 62 years old. Just as Darius the Mede was actually the king who overthrew Babylon, so also Russia now at the forefront in the battle against the Babylonian banking beast system. Cyrus of China has yet to reveal himself. It is not the political leader of the People’s Republic of China but a king that is still hidden, who holds the keys of the new asset-backed banking system that is emerging to replace the one in the West.

Isaiah prophesied of King Cyrus himself and even named him in Isaiah 45:1, two centuries before Cyrus was even born. God set forth Cyrus as an “anointed” one, i.e., a “messiah,” and said that he would do all that God told him to do, even though he did not know God. That is God’s proof of His sovereignty given in Isaiah 45.

When it was fulfilled in the time of Daniel, we see that Darius the Mede was an extension of the Cyrus prophecy, for in Daniel 6:1-3 he reorganized the Kingdom into 120 provinces and put Daniel in position as the chief governor. The number 120 is the biblical number associated with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And Daniel represented the saints of the Most High in his day, who would be given dominion after the fall of Babylon.

Daniel distinguished himself, and as Daniel 6:3 says, “he possessed an extraordinary spirit, and the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom.”

Daniel’s elevation to the position of authority prophesied of a greater fulfillment in our time, at the end of the beast empires, when “judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom” (Daniel 7:22).

We also see these prophecies reflected in Pope Francis of Argentina, for he comes from the land of silver, which represents the Medes and Persians on that level.

This is what is about to happen. This is the good news of the Kingdom. We do not need to be afraid of what is coming, because no matter how Babylon tries to hold to power, they will fail, because their time has ended. We are appointed to present the good news of the Kingdom, rather than the bad news of the Antichrist.