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The Great Controversy 1888
other beast must therefore be a persecuting power also; and this is
shown in that “it spake as a dragon.” The papacy received all its power
from Satan, and the two-horned beast exercises the same power; it also
becomes the direct agent of Satan. And its Satanic character is further
shown in that it enforces the worship of the image of the beast, by
means of false miracles. “He doeth great wonders, so that he maketh
fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and
deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles
which he had power to do.”
The first persecuting power is represented by the dragon itself; in
heathenism there was open alliance with Satan, and open defiance
of God. In the second persecuting power, the dragon is masked; but
the spirit of Satan actuates it,—the dragon supplies the motive power.
In the third persecuting power, all traces of the dragon are absent,
and a lamb-like beast appears; but when it speaks, its dragon voice
betrays the Satanic power concealed under a fair exterior, and shows
it to be of the same family as the two preceding powers. In all the
opposition to Christ and his pure religion, “that old serpent, called the
devil, and Satan,“—“the God of this world,“—is the moving power;
earthly persecuting powers are simply instruments in his hands.
[681]
Note 3. Page 328—That the reader may see the reasonableness of
Mr. Miller’s position on the prophetic periods, we copy the following,
which was published in the Advent Herald, Boston, in March, 1850,
in answer to a correspondent:—
“It is by the Canon of Ptolemy that the great prophetical period
of the seventy weeks is fixed. This canon places the seventh year
of Artaxerxes in the year B.C. 457; and the accuracy of the canon
is demonstrated by the concurrent agreement of more than twenty
eclipses. The seventy weeks date from the going forth of a decree
respecting the restoration of Jerusalem. There were no decrees be-
tween the seventh and twentieth years of Artaxerxes. Four hundred
and ninety years, beginning with the seventh, must commence in B.C.
457, and end in A.D. 34. Commencing in the twentieth, they must
commence in B.C. 444, and end in A.D. 47. As no event occurred
in A.D. 47 to mark their termination, we cannot reckon from the
twentieth; we must therefore look to the seventh of Artaxerxes. This
date we cannot change from B.C. 457 without first demonstrating
the inaccuracy of Ptolemy’s canon. To do this, it would be necessary