6 The woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that there they may nourish her one thousand two hundred sixty days.
then the woman fled into the wildernessfor one thousand two hundred and sixty days – the figurative description of this comes from the Song of Songs. Christ’s bride, the true saints, flee from the City to the Wilderness (of Judea).
In 193, the bishop of Rome wrote letters of excommunication to those who disagreed with his doctrines, and the holy spirit was taken away. This was the Quartodeciman controversy, and is regarded by Catholic theologians as the proof of the primacy of the Bishop of Rome. Satan, through the Bishop of Rome, exalted himself as high as Christ (Dan 8:11), making himself “the Lord” of the Church.
Daniel prophesied this: “it (the antichrist) magnified itself to be equal to the Captains of the Armies (Christ); and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down.” Dan 8:11
This sin of the antichrist was called “the transgression of desolation” in Dan 8:13. The meaning of “His sanctuary was thrown down,” was simply that the sanctifying spirit of truth was taken from the Church. This “removed the continual sacrifice from Him”- from Christ. The Church, no longer had any evidence that they had the authority to baptize for the remission of sins, see John 20:22-3, and Rom 8:9.
Daniel prophesied that the setting up of the abomination of desolation would begin the “time, times and half a time” that the saints were given into the hands of the beast. Let us read Dan 12:11: “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.”
1,290 days is Daniel’s extrapolation of 42 months. This is a more accurate estimation of 1278 days (42 months), than the 1260 days used by John in Rev 11:3, and Rev 12:6. But from Dan 12:7, we know that the real time had to be exactly 42 months, because the Angel lifted His hand and swore by Him who made heaven and earth, that it would be for “time, times and half a time.” It was exactly 1278 years from 193 until 1471, when the first Protestants broke free from the Papacy.
Some may question whether the spirit of God was taken from the Church in 193 AD. So let’s look at the historical evidence.
The Testimony of Irenaeus
The evidence of receiving the spirit of God, is the “tongue emitting sound” (laleo glossa) as described in Acts 10:46. By this, the Apostles knew that the Gentiles had received “the holy spirit just as they had.” When one receives the holy spirit, he knows for certain that he has been “born of water and spirit,” and his salvation has been made perfect. The holy spirit is the “seal” (John 6:27; Ephesians 1:13, 4:30; Revelation 7:3). Without the holy spirit, no one can say for sure that God Himself has chosen them.
Therefore, Irenaeus in 180, said that those who spoke in tongues had become perfect: “For this reason, does the apostle (Paul) declare, “we speak wisdom among them that are perfect,” (1 Cor 2:6) terming those persons perfect who have received the spirit of God, and who through the spirit of God do speak in all languages, as he used himself also to speak. In like manner we do also hear many brethren in the Church, who possess prophetic gifts, and who through the Spirit speak all kinds of languages, and bring to light for the general benefit the hidden things of men, and declare the mysteries of God…” Against Heresies, Book 5, Chapter 6, Paragraph 1
Irenaeus was the last person to testify to a true experience of speaking in tongues.
The Rise of Montanism
Shortly after Irenaeus wrote “Against Heresies,” a false experience of speaking in tongues came through Montanism. The mainstream Church believed the Montanists were possessed by evil spirits. Its founders, Montanus and Maximillia, were each said to have “died a different death, a mind-destroying spirit, driving each to a separate suicide.” (Eusebius, Church History 5.16)
Montanism lasted from 180 to 600. Montanists pursued a false experience of tongues, because the true experience had been taken away.
The Effect on Church Theology
The greatest evidence that the holy spirit departed by 193 was the effect on salvation theology. In the apostolic time, believers knew that they were “born of water and Spirit” (John 3:5) when they were baptized and received the holy spirit, as described in John 3:8. But when people could no longer receive the holy spirit, a new explanation was made to say that one was born of water and spirit when the holy spirit sanctified the water. This is still the theology of the Catholic Church.
The Spirit of the Antichrist in John’s letters
The Apostle John described Modalism as “the Spirit of the Antichrist” in 1 John 1:3; 1 John 2:22-23; 1 John 4:2-3; and 2 John 1:7-12. The Bishop of Rome, who exalted himself as high as Christ, preached Modalism in Rome. In his tract against Modalism, called “Against Praxeas,” Tertullian described the Bishop having a “restless disposition,” that was evidenced by his “letter of Peace” to excommunicate the Churches of Asia in 193; and said the Bishop “crucified the Father, and put to flight the Paraclete.” It seems, that after making himself the new “Lord” of the Church, the Bishop tried to promote Christ to the status of God.