Prophetic Word 19th August 2021
God gave me the name Catherine de’Medici.
I don’t recall ever knowing that name as history is not my strong point, and as I researched, several things became apparent:
1. Killing in the name of religion is delusion.
2. Catherine de’ Medici’s uncle Pope Clement VII commissioned the painting The Last Judgement by Michelangelo, a time we are fast approaching.
3. When kings disobey God, they "automatically abdicate their worldly power".
4. The government are under the control of the people, not the other way around.
The Most Powerful Woman in 16th Century Europe
Catherine de’ Medici was an Italian noblewoman who married King Henry II of France making her Queen consort from 1547 until 1559.
Catherine's marriage was arranged by her uncle Pope Clement VII who was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States.
Clement left many significant legacies including the commission of the iconic artwork by Michelangelo of The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel.
After Henry’s death, 3 of Catherine’s sons, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III, were also king and all reigned in an age of almost constant civil and religious war.
According to Mark Strage, one of her biographers, Catherine was the most powerful woman in 16th-century Europe and without her, it is unlikely that her sons would have remained in power.
A Ruthless Ruler
Catherine was a ruthless ruler and evidence can be found in her letters, which totalled over 6,000 and her policies which may be seen as desperate measures to keep the monarchy on the throne at all costs.
At first, she compromised and made concessions to the rebelling Calvinist Protestants or Huguenots, as they became known, but she failed to fully grasp the theological issues that drove them and in frustration and anger, she resorted to hard-line policies against them.
In return, she came to be blamed for the excessive persecutions carried out under her sons’ rule, and in particular, for the St Bartholomew’s Day massacre of 1572, in which thousands of Huguenots were killed both in Paris and throughout France.
This massacre was a targeted group of assassinations and mob violence directed by the Roman Catholics against the Huguenot Calvinist Protestants.
It took place several days after the marriage of Queen Catherine and King Henry II’s Catholic daughter Margaret to the Protestant Henry of Navarre (the future Henry IV of France) on the 18th August.
The St Bartholomew's Day Massacre
Many of the wealthiest and most prominent aristocratic Huguenot leaders had gathered to attend the wedding so they were easy picking.
Paris was a violently anti-Huguenot city, and Parisians, who tended to be extreme Catholics, found their presence unacceptable.
Encouraged by Catholic preachers, they were horrified at the marriage and both Parliament’s opposition and the court's absence from the wedding led to increased political tension.
The massacre, ordered by King Charles IX, Catherine’s son, began on the eve of the feast of the Apostle Bartholomew, lasted several weeks and deaths included Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, a disciplined Huguenot leader and a close friend and advisor to the King, who was dragged from his bed, killed and his body thrown out the window.
Modern estimates for the number of dead vary widely, from 5,000 to 30,000 and those who remained were increasingly radicalised.
The Sovereignty of The People
After this, throughout Europe, Protestants held the conviction that Catholicism was a bloody and treacherous religion.
In the years preceding the massacre, Huguenot political rhetoric believed that even ungodly kings should be obeyed, but this stance changed dramatically.
In part, this change was led by John Calvin in his book of 1561 called Readings of the Prophet Daniel, in which he stated that when kings disobey God, they "automatically abdicate their worldly power".
This change was soon picked up by Huguenot writers, who began to expand on Calvin and promote the idea of the sovereignty of the people, ideas to which Catholic writers and preachers responded fiercely.
Nevertheless, it was only after the massacre that these ideas found widespread support.
A True Democracy
Huguenot writers, who had previously been loyal to the Crown, now called for the deposition or assassination of a Godless king who had either authorised or allowed the murder of their fellow countrymen.
The massacre marked the beginning of a French Protestantism that was openly at war with the monarchy and against its very existence.
In summary, in a true democracy, the people are sovereign and not a government or monarchy.
The government are under the control of the people and not the other way around.
The same is true today, yet world “leaders” have significantly overstepped by using deception, corruption and force, and this is going to result in their demise.
Prophecies, Promises & Punishment
As prophesied, promised and proven in the Bible, all acts of malicious intent are punishable by death.
Michelangelo’s Last Judgment fresco covers the whole altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican in Rome.
It is a depiction of the second coming of Christ and the final and eternal judgment by God of all humanity.
The dead rise and descend to their fates, as judged by Christ who is surrounded by prominent saints.
In the lower part of the fresco, the saved ascend on the left and the damned descend on the right and in the upper part, the inhabitants of Heaven are joined by the newly saved.
The End Times
At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then.
But at that time your people - everyone whose name is found written in the book - will be delivered.
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.
Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.
But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge. (Daniel 12:1-61)
The Judgment of the Dead
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.
Another book was opened, which is the book of life.
The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.
Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15)
A Time of Great Turmoil
We are living in a time of great turmoil and upheaval and our future is uncertain. May we recall and respect all the blessings we receive on a daily basis and give thanks.
May we remember, reconnect with and revere the Creator of everything in existence including ourselves.
May we celebrate all that we are and all that we have and give all the gratitude and glory to God. May God bless, fortify and keep us during this time of deep cleaning and clearing as the wheat and chaff are separated and the threshing floor is swept.
May we take the time to focus on what’s truly important and may we ensure our lamps are full and stay lit.
May power be granted to the people, the righteous and all those who fight the good fight.
Amen.