DANIEL 8:10B CAST DOWN THE HOST AND OF THE STARS AND STAMPED UPON THEM
Updated: Dec 16, 2022
CHAPTER 10 B
In understanding the spiritual significance of the prophetic symbols of stars, we see witnesses, for the truth of the gospel, shining upon a dark world. We also see falling stars, lights that burned bright at one time but then fell into sin. We see Christ the Star of righteousness rising like the sun to bathe the world in His healing light. In contrast, we also see the Little Horn power, stomp on, or count as nothing, Christ and His shining witnesses.
Daniel 8:10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Daniel-Chapter-8/
CAST DOWN SOME OF THE HOST AND OF THE STARS TO THE GROUND
We should understand the prophetic symbol of the stars. Stars, by definition, shine.
STAR H3556
כּוֹכָב kôwkâb, ko-kawb'; probably from the same as H3522 (in the sense of rolling) or H3554 (in the sense of blazing); a star (as round or as shining); figuratively, a prince:—star(-gazer).https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H3556&t=KJV
Daniel 8:10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Daniel-Chapter-8/
Stars in Scripture can be symbols for those who shine as witnesses or messengers for the cause of God.
Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Isaiah-Chapter-60/
Daniel 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Daniel-Chapter-12/
Stars can represent the witness of the twelve tribes or twelve apostles of Israel as they related to the woman (church of God – see Revelation 12), who is clothed with the Sun of Righteousness and figuratively gives birth or becomes mother to Christ in Revelation 12:1-2 and Genesis 37:9-10.
Revelation 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Revelation-Chapter-12/
Genesis 37:9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Genesis-Chapter-37/
Stars can refer to angels (messengers) both unfallen and fallen, including Satan, and his angels as well.
Revelation 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Revelation-Chapter-1/
Revelation 12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Revelation-Chapter-12/
Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Isaiah-Chapter-14/
In Hebrew, the name Lucifer, from Isaiah 14:12, pertains to the fallen angel of heaven who opposed God, and means morning star. But did you notice he is the “son of the morning” meaning the son of God just as all God’s angels are. Jesus is the bright and morning Star.
LUCIFER H1966
הֵילֵל hêylêl, hay-lale'; from H1984 (in the sense of brightness); the morning-star:—lucifer.
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h1966/kjv/wlc/0-1/
Job 38:4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Job-Chapter-38/
Revelation 8:10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Revelation-Chapter-8/
Revelation 9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Revelation-Chapter-9/
Luke 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Luke-Chapter-10/
Stars can also refer to Christ.
Numbers 24:17 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Numbers-Chapter-24/
Matthew 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him…. 9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Matthew-Chapter-2/
Luke 1:78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Luke-Chapter-1/
Revelation 7:2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Revelation-Chapter-7/
Malachi 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Malachi-Chapter-4/
Revelation 2:28 And I will give him the morning star. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Revelation-Chapter-2/
Revelation 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Revelation-Chapter-22/
Daniel 8:10 is telling us that the Little Horn Power would cast down some of the armies of God and His shining stars or witnesses.
CAST DOWN
Daniel 8:10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Daniel-Chapter-8/
CAST DOWN H5307
נָפַל nâphal, naw-fal'; a primitive root; to fall, in a great variety of applications (intransitive or causative, literal or figurative):—be accepted, cast (down, self, (lots), out), cease, die, divide (by lot), (let) fail, (cause to, let, make, ready to) fall (away, down, -en, -ing), fell(-ing), fugitive, have (inheritance), inferior, be judged (by mistake for 6419), lay (along), (cause to) lie down, light (down), be (× hast) lost, lying, overthrow, overwhelm, perish, present(-ed, -ing), (make to) rot, slay, smite out, ×surely, throw down. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H5307&t=KJV
There are two ways to be cast down in scripture. The words “cast down” in Daniel 8:10 mean to fall, die or cease. The same Hebrew word is used later in Daniel 11:33-35. These verses in Daniel 11 describe a trial for the people of God. In verse 33-34 God’s faithful witnesses fall by the trial of persecution. But, in verse 35, the intermingling of truth with error or Christian with pagan ideas causes some of God’s army and stars to suffer a spiritual fall into sin.
Daniel 11:33 And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days.
34 Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries.
35 And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Daniel-Chapter-11/
A fall in scripture signifies disobedience due to hearing God’s word but not doing it. (Matthew 7). One who suffers a fall is moved by the stormy winds of false doctrine and fear. A person who believes themselves to be a shining witness for God may hear God’s Word but not choose to do it. When the storms of persecution and tribulation come, this lack of faith in God causes a spiritual fall. These stars, though shining as though they were Christian, may lead others astray.
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Matthew-Chapter-7/
GROUND
GROUND H776
אֶרֶץ ʼerets, eh'-rets; from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land):—× common, country, earth, field, ground, land, × natins, way, + wilderness, world. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H776&t=KJV
This idea of casting stars to the ground or earth has happened before. First when Lucifer deceived one third of the angels in heaven and was expelled from heaven to this earth. Secondly when Lucifer and his angels were cast out of the hearts of all of heaven at the cross and limited to only this world in their influence.
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Revelation-Chapter-12/
However, a casting to the ground also happened at the cross when Satan placed Christ, the Morning Star of Righteousness on a cross to die and then put Him in a tomb.
Ephesians 4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Ephesians-Chapter-4/
AND STAMPED UPON THEM
Daniel 8:10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Daniel-Chapter-8/
STAMPED H7429
רָמַס râmaç, raw-mas'; a primitive root; to tread upon (as a potter, in walking or abusively):—oppressor, stamp upon, trample (under feet), tread (down, upon). https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H7429&t=KJV
When Daniel 8:10 says the stars fell and were stamped on, it reminds us of how after Christ was killed, some did not even think His sufferings, by which His holiness, obedience and love was revealed, worthy of their thought. Some have chosen to stamp upon His spilled blood by refusing the gift of the Holy Spirit (His Presence) in their own lives.
Hebrews 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Hebrews-Chapter-5/
Hebrews 7:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Hebrews-Chapter-10/
To trample would be to consider something holy or of high significance to heaven as only ordinary and unworthy of thought and good for nothing. The lives of the people of God, cleansed by the blood of Christ are considered holy by heaven. It was the lives of these people of God, that Satan, through the papacy, considered unworthy, and trampled upon.
1 Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1-Peter-Chapter-2/
Matthew 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Matthew-Chapter-5/
Matthew 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Matthew-Chapter-7/
So how does the Little Horn Power accomplish the prophecy regarding casting down the stars or people of God to this earth? When we remember that “prophecy” is “the testimony of Jesus Christ,” (Revelation 19:10) we look at the cross and realize that Jesus, the Morning Star was a faithful Martyr and was put on a cross and then into a grave by the combined efforts of a state and church power with agreement by the people.
Daniel 8:10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Daniel-Chapter-8/
John 19:12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.
13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.
14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/John-Chapter-19/
Acts 4:25 Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Acts-Chapter-4/
The Bible predicts persecution of the people of God by the beast power of Revelation 13 which is found to be a state power who demands worship making it a church/state power. This church/state power is empowered by the devil to persecute God’s people. And the people, choosing to worship this power, place themselves in agreement with the Satan and consent to kill the people of God.
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Revelation-Chapter-13/
Revelation 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
7 And 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.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Revelation-Chapter-13/
Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Revelation-Chapter-12/
The Catholic cannot applaud the great emperor's ecclesiastical polity, though in this, too, we recognize the statesman's effort to promote peace and union within the empire. It was a matter of course that this union was to be that of the "most holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of God" (5 c., De s. tr., I, 1). The Corpus Juris is full of laws against paganism (apostasy was punished by death, 10 c., "De pag.", I, 11), Jews, Samaritans (who began a dangerous revolt in 529), Manichæans, and other heretics. The decrees of the four general councils were incorporated in the civil law. There was no toleration of dissent. True to the ideal of Constantinople, the emperor conceived himself as "priest and king", supreme head on earth in matters ecclesiastical as well as in the State. He filled his codex with canon law and assumed the most outspoken Erastianism as the law of the empire. And all through his reign he fell foul of the authority of the Church by his attempts to conciliate the Monophysites. Ever since Chalcedon (451) these heretics filled Syria and Egypt, and were a constant source of disunion and trouble to the empire. Justinian was one of the many emperors who tried to reconcile them by concessions. His wife Theodora was a secret Monophysite; influenced by her, the emperor, while maintaining Chalcedon, tried to satisfy the heretics by various compromises. First came the Theopaschite question. Peter Fullo of Antioch had introduced into the Trisagion the clause: "Who didst suffer for us". Pope Hormisdas (514-23) refused to admit it, as savoring of Monophysitism. But Justinian approved it and promoted a Monophysite, Anthimus I (536), to the See of Constantinople. Then followed the great quarrel of the Three Chapters, the lamentable attitude of Pope Vigilius (540-55), and the Second Council of Constantinople (553). In all thus story Justinian appears as a persecutor of the Church, and takes his place, unhappily, among the semi-Monophysite tyrants who caused the long series of quarrels and schisms that were the after-effect of Monophysitism. His ecclesiastical tyranny is the one regrettable side of the character of so great a man.
https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08578b.htm
The Development of Papal Supremacy
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
· Explain the development of papal supremacy
KEY POINTS
· During the early history of Christianity, Rome became an increasingly important center of the faith, which gave the bishop of Rome (the pope) more power over the entire church, thereby ushering in the era of papal supremacy.
· When Catholicism became the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380, the power of the pope increased, although he was still subordinate to the emperor.
· After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the pope served as a source of authority and continuity; however, for several centuries afterward the Eastern Roman Emperor still maintained authority over the church.
· From the late-6th to the late-8th century there was a turning of the papacy to the West and an escape from subordination to the authority of the Byzantine emperors of Constantinople.
· When Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as Roman Emperor in 800, he established the precedent that, in Western Europe, no man would be emperor without being crowned by a pope.
· After a conflict known as the Investiture Controversy, as well as from the launching of the Crusades, the papacy increased its power in relation to the secular rulers of Europe.
· Throughout the Middle Ages, popes struggled with monarchs over power.
TERMS
Papal supremacy
The doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church that the pope, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ and as pastor of the entire Christian Church, has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole church.
Investiture Controversy
The most significant conflict between church and state in medieval Europe, in which a series of popes challenged the authority of European monarchies.
Arianism
A Christian sect in late antiquity that asserts that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who was created by God the Father at a point in time, is distinct from the Father, and is therefore subordinate to the Father.
Byzantine Papacy
A period of Byzantine domination of the papacy from 537 to 752, when popes required the approval of the Byzantine Emperor for episcopal consecration.
Overview
Papal supremacy is the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church that the pope, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ and as pastor of the entire Christian Church, has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered—that, in brief, “the Pope enjoys, by divine institution, supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of souls.”
The doctrine had the most significance in the relationship between the church and the temporal state, in matters such as ecclesiastic privileges, the actions of monarchs, and even successions. The creation of the term “papal supremacy” dates back to the 6th century, at the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire, which was the beginning of the rise of the bishops of Rome to not just the position religious authority, but the power to be the ultimate ruler of the kingdoms within the Christian community (Christendom), which it has since retained.
The Church And The Roman Empire
In the early Christian era, Rome and a few other cities had claims on the leadership of the worldwide church. During the 1st century of the church (c. 30–130), the Roman capital became recognized as a Christian center of exceptional importance. In the late 2nd century CE, there were more manifestations of Roman authority over other churches. In 189, assertion of the primacy of the Church of Rome may be indicated in Irenaeus’s Against Heresies: “With [the Church of Rome], because of its superior origin, all the churches must agree … and it is in her that the faithful everywhere have maintained the apostolic tradition.” In 195 CE, Pope Victor I, in what is seen as an exercise of Roman authority over other churches, excommunicated the Quartodecimans for observing Easter on the 14th of Nisan, the date of the Jewish Passover. Celebration of Easter on a Sunday, as insisted on by the pope, is the system that has prevailed.
When Constantine became emperor of the Western Roman Empire in 312, he attributed his victory to the Christian God. Many soldiers in his army were Christians, and his army was his base of power. With Licinius (Eastern Roman emperor), he issued the Edict of Milan, which mandated toleration of all religions in the empire. Decisions made at the Council of Nicea (325) about the divinity of Christ led to a schism; the new religion, Arianism, flourished outside the Roman Empire. Partially to distinguish themselves from Arians, Catholic devotion to Mary became more prominent. This led to further schisms.
In 380, the Edict of Thessalonica declared Nicene Christianity, as opposed to Arianism, to be the state religion of the empire, with the name “Catholic Christians” reserved for those who accepted that faith. While the civil power in the Eastern Roman Empire controlled the church, and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the capital, wielded much power, in the Western Roman Empire the Bishops of Rome were able to consolidate the influence and power they already possessed. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, barbarian tribes were converted to Arian Christianity or Catholicism; Clovis I, king of the Franks, was the first important barbarian ruler to convert to Catholicism rather than Arianism, allying himself with the papacy. Other tribes, such as the Visigoths, later abandoned Arianism in favor of Catholicism.
The Middle Ages
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the pope served as a source of authority and continuity. Pope Gregory I (c. 540–604) administered the church with strict reform. Gregory was from an ancient senatorial family, and worked with the stern judgement and discipline typical of ancient Roman rule. Theologically, he represents the shift from the classical to the medieval outlook; his popular writings are full of dramatic miracles, potent relics, demons, angels, ghosts, and the approaching end of the world.
The Byzantine Papacy was a period of Byzantine domination of the papacy from 537 to 752, when popes required the approval of the Byzantine Emperor for episcopal consecration, and many popes were chosen from the apocrisiarii (liaisons from the pope to the emperor) or the inhabitants of Byzantine Greece, Byzantine Syria, or Byzantine Sicily. Justinian I conquered the Italian peninsula in the Gothic War (535–554) and appointed the next three popes, a practice that would be continued by his successors and later be delegated to the Exarchate of Ravenna. With the exception of Pope Martin I, no pope during this period questioned the authority of the Byzantine monarch to confirm the election of the bishop of Rome before consecration could occur.
From the late-6th to the late-8th century there was a turning of the papacy to the West and an escape from subordination to the authority of the Byzantine emperors of Constantinople. This phase has sometimes incorrectly been credited to Pope Gregory I (who reigned from 590 to 604 CE), who, like his predecessors, represented to the people of the Roman world a church that was still identified with the empire. Unlike some of those predecessors, Gregory was compelled to face the collapse of imperial authority in northern Italy. As the leading civil official of the empire in Rome, he was compelled to take over the civil administration of the cities and negotiate for the protection of Rome itself with the Lombard invaders threatening it. Another part of this phase occurred in the 8th century, after the rise of the new religion of Islam had weakened the Byzantine Empire and the Lombards had renewed their pressure in Italy. The popes finally sought support from the Frankish rulers of the West and received from the Frankish king Pepin The Short the first part of the Italian territories later known as the Papal States. With Pope Leo III’s coronation of Charlemagne, first of the Carolingian emperors, the papacy also gained the emperor’s protection; this action established the precedent that, in Western Europe, no man would be emperor without being crowned by a pope.
Second Phase Of Papal Supremacy
The second great phase in the process of papal supremacy’s rise to prominence extended from the mid-11th to the mid-13th century. It was distinguished, first, by Gregory VII’s bold attack after 1075 on the traditional practices whereby the emperor had controlled appointments to the higher church offices. This attack spawned the protracted civil and ecclesiastical strife in Germany and Italy known as the Investiture Controversy. At issue was who, the pope or the monarchs, had the authority to appoint (invest) local church officials such as bishops of cities and abbots of monasteries. The conflict ended in 1122, when Emperor Henry V and Pope Calixtus II agreed on the Concordat of Worms, which differentiated between the royal and spiritual powers and gave the emperors a limited role in selecting bishops. The outcome seemed mostly a victory for the pope and his claim that he was God’s chief representative in the world. However, the emperor did retain considerable power over the Church.
Papal supremacy was also increased by Urban II’s launching in 1095 of the Crusades, which, in an attempt to liberate the Holy Land from Muslim domination, marshaled under papal leadership the aggressive energies of the European nobility. Both these efforts, although ultimately unsuccessful, greatly enhanced papal prestige in the 12th and 13th centuries. Such powerful popes as Alexander III (r. 1159–81), Innocent III (r. 1198–1216), Gregory IX (r. 1227–41), and Innocent IV (r. 1243–54) wielded a primacy over the church that attempted to vindicate a jurisdictional supremacy over emperors and kings in temporal and spiritual affairs. Throughout the rest of the Middle Ages, popes struggled with monarchs over power.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/atd-herkimer-westerncivilization/chapter/the-development-of-papal-supremacy/#:~:text=The%20creation%20of%20the%20term,kingdoms%20within%20the%20Christian%20community%20(
To find out how the Little Horn Power of Daniel 8 and Daniel 7 persecuted the people of God see the book “Fox’s Book of Martyrs”. You will be amazed at the extent to which the devil, throughthe papacy, conspired to martyr or blot out Christian witnesses. See chapters IV -XXIII
https://www.biblestudytools.com/history/foxs-book-of-martyrs
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/22400/22400-h/22400-h.htm#Page_184
During the 1260 years of papal oppression many witnesses for God let their lights shine and many shining lights were cast to the ground and stomped upon. However, the light of their holy fire kindled by Heaven did not go out but was only the kindling of other lights. I am sure the Christians of that age must have taken comfort in the following Words of Life.
8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
12 So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/2-Corinthians-Chapter-4/
CHAPTER SUMMARY
We should understand the prophetic symbol of the stars. Stars, by definition, shine and prophetically represent those who shine or once shone as witnesses or messengers for the cause of God. Starring examples in scripture include the twelve tribes or twelve apostles of Israel as they related to the church of God both in Old Testament and New Testament times; angels or messengers both fallen and unfallen; and Christ and Satan.
Scripture is telling us that the Little Horn Power would cast down some of the armies of God and His shining stars or witnesses in one of two ways: either by persecution or by intermingling truth with error to cause a spiritual fall into sin in those with a lack of faith.
A prime example of a Star being cast to the ground by persecution happened at the cross when Satan placed Christ, the Morning Star of Righteousness, on a cross to die and then put Him in a tomb.
A spiritual fall is defined by scripture as a person who believes themselves to be a shining witness for God who hears God’s Word but chooses not to do it. When the storms of persecution and tribulation come, this lack of faith in God causes a spiritual fall. An example is the fall of Satan and his angels from their place in heaven.
When Daniel 8:10 says the stars fell and were stamped on, it reminds us of how after Christ was killed, some did not even think His sufferings, by which His holiness, obedience and love was revealed, worthy of their thought. Some have chosen to stamp upon His spilled blood by refusing the gift of the Holy Spirit in their own lives.
To trample would be to consider something that is holy or of high significance to Heaven as only ordinary and unworthy of thought and good for nothing. The lives of the people of God, cleansed by the blood of Christ are considered holy by heaven. The lives of these people, Satan, through the papacy, considered unworthy, and trampled upon during the 1260 years of papal oppression.
We learned the method that Satan used to cast God’s people down at the cross and through the medium of the Little Horn Power during the 1260 years of papal oppression. That method was to combine the efforts of state and church powersto consent to kill the people of God.
During the 1260 years of papal oppression many witnesses for God let their lights shine and many shining lights were cast down and stomped upon by the papacy. But they chose to place their trust in God. Though perplexed by persecution they were not in despair or destroyed, choosing to remember by faith the promise of the resurrection and to allow the Holy Spirit to use the affliction to work inside them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Their Holy light still lives on today in our hearts. Thank you Heavenly Father for these dear souls who gave their all for You!