This podcast explains the symbolism and meaning of John’s vision in Revelation 13:7, which states that “it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.” The HIM in this verse refers to Satan (the dragon) and the saints are members of the ancient church of Jesus Christ located throughout the Roman Empire. The saints are also members of Christ’s church among the Nephites on the Western Hemisphere and among the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. God allowed Satan to make war on all three groups of worshipers during the Great Apostasy. Revelation 13:5 symbolically identifies the period of the Great Apostasy as 42 months, which equates to 1260 days of years from 570 to 1830 AD. There were no legal administrators of God’s priesthood upon the earth for these 1260 years. The loss of earthly priesthood administration occurred as the ancient church in the Roman Empire fell into a state of complete apostasy, as the Nephites were physically destroyed on the Western Hemisphere, and when the Lost Ten Tribes were translated to heaven. The universal loss of earthly priesthood authority among all three groups fulfilled the words of Revelation 13:7, which say that “power was given [Satan] over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.”

This podcast also describes the history of how Christ’s ancient church fell into a state of apostasy in the Roman Empire during the first three centuries of its existence. The persecutions of Christians by emperors Nero, Domitian, Trajan, Severus, Galerius, Diocletian illustrate Satan’s physical war on the saints. Satan’s spiritual war against the saints began with the paganization of the true doctrines of Jesus Christ in the first century and the complete paganization of the entire church after Constantine the Great made apostate Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire.