This podcast explains the symbolism used by John in Revelation 13:4 to describe worship in the period of time from the fall of Rome in 476 AD until 607 AD, when Phocus‒the Emperor in Constantinople‒decreed that the bishop in Rome was chief among all other bishops and clergy in the Roman empire. This verse covers more than 100 years between the fall of Rome and the emergence of papal authority in what would later become the Holy Roman Empire.

Revelation 13:4 states that "they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?” This verse describes two separate forms of worship, homage, adoration or reverence for things that are not of God. The first form relates to the worship of the Dragon or Satan, which is more universal and wo ...