The more they studied the Apocalypse the plainer became the signs of the times.

Satan was being let loose for a period.

They had been looking for the coming of Antichrist and now he had come! The man in whom the spirit of Satan was incarnate was Peter the Great.

How else could they explain such impious demeanor in a Tsar of Russia--except that he was of Satanic origin, and was the Devil in disguise?
By his newly invented census had he not "numbered the people"-- a thing expressly forbidden?
And his new "calendar," transferring September to January, was it not clearly a trick of Satan to steal the days of the Lord?
And his new title _Imperator_ (Emperor), had it not a diabolic sound?
And his order to shave, to disfigure the image of God! How would Christ recognize his own at the Last Day?
Hunted like beasts, these people were living in wild communities, dying often by their own hands rather than yield the point of making the sign of the cross with two fingers instead of three--2700 at one time voluntarily perishing in the flames, in a church where they had taken refuge.

Peter put an end to their persecution.