Daily Devotional

Behind the smooth smile of the serpent always lies the persecuting dragon. The Roman Catholic Church killed more than 50 million Christians under the false charge of heresy. It claimed—and still does claim—the Bible as the one source of truth; it declared—and still does declare—its belief in Jesus Christ as Savior.

It calls itself the Christian church. But in the Dark Ages, those who distinguished its Ten Commandments from those found in the Bible, those who saw in its rituals and its saints the vestiges of paganism, those who dared call its pope anything less than Jesus Christ on earth, were cut down one by one.

John Wycliffe, John Huss and Jerome, William Tyndale, George Wishart—millions of Protestant Reformers fell “by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering” (Daniel 11:33) under the influence of that most cunning of beasts for the crime of following the Word of God. Do you see what happens when the devil acts as a serpent? Counterfeits are created. There are two sides claiming the name of Christ here—the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Reformers. Only one truly represented God’s kingdom.

In Bible prophecy, we learn that water symbolizes a populated area: “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues” (Revelation 17:15). So did the devil attack God’s people through other people. You might be wondering how a church could terrorize an entire empire. Remember, in the Roman Empire, church and state were joined. The Catholic Church had the armed forces to back up its iron rule. It had simply to open its “mouth” and give the command. We’ll learn more about the significance of the papacy’s “mouth” tomorrow.

Fittingly, you might recall that the Bible also symbolizes military invasion with water (Isaiah 8:7, 8; Jeremiah 46:7, 8; 47:2). “The serpent [spews] water … like a flood” just as “the enemy comes in like a flood” (Isaiah 59:19). But take comfort that when the flood comes, the Bible also says that “the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.”


Faithful and True, may we be guided by Your example and likewise stand faithful and true through the devil’s assaults.

For Further Study: Daniel 9:26; Matthew 16:23; 2 Corinthians 4:4