God has prophesied that there will be only seven kings: “And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.” Revelation 17:10.
From this verse the following facts can be gleaned:
1. Seven kings in total.
2. John was taken in vision to the time of the sixth king: “five are fallen, and one is.” He comes after the first five have fallen. Again, it is not coincidental that when taken in vision, John was taken to the time of the sixth king. It is a divine hint by which God is guiding us to focus our attention on this particular king, as he will play a very important role in the end-time events.
3. The seventh king “must continue a short space.”
So who are the seven kings/popes? Pius XI was the first Roman Catholic pope (from February 6, 1922) who became king as well on February 11, 1929. He along with Mussolini, engineered the Lateran Treaty.
“And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.” Revelation 17:11.
Here, we learn the following:
1. The Roman Catholic Church was once a beast (up to 1798), but now is not (as she has been in the wilderness experience since 1798); however, she will regain the beast status (meaning she will come out of her wilderness experience) after the fall of the seventh king, Benedict XVI.
2. The next one to come after Benedict XVI will be one of the other seven kings. But he will no longer be considered a mere king, but will be a beast as well; for with him the Roman Catholic Church will regain her former power to persecute her enemies.
3. The eighth, when he comes, will be the last; for he “goeth into perdition.”
The purpose of This Bible prophecies
The purpose of this prophecy is to warn us about future crises. For example, God warned Noah of the coming flood, Abraham and Lot of the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and He told Moses of the plagues of Egypt. They all had to obey the warning in faith. These events were recorded to teach us that whatever God foretold happened exactly as He said. Hence, we cannot afford to ignore any of His yet to be fulfilled prophecies as they serve as warnings that, if we obey, will protect us from crises.
Therefore, Bible prophecies serve a double purpose - to impress on our minds the existence of God who is in control of all events and, to warn us of a grave situation.
So How can I avoid worshipping the beast and his image and receiving his mark? Good question. In order to answer it we need to identify the beast, the image of the beast , and the mark of the beast. It is only logical to assume that God would not warn us about such dangerous entities without helping us to identify them in a conclusive way. Our loving God would not subject us to guesswork, when our eternal destiny is at stake. Not surprisingly then, we find a description of the beast and his image in the previous chapter where many keys are given to unlock their identity.
Identifying the Beast
The only motivation that goads us to share this soul-saving message is God’s love. We hereby state, in the hope of removing prejudices, that all entities spoken of in this article, are referred to as systems, and definitely not the genuine truth-seekers currently part of such systems. We pray that this message is accepted by all readers as heart-felt appeal to study the prophecies in the Bible, because God’s Word is our only guide and safe-guard against deception.
"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns tens crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. 4 And 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? 5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemi es; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 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 earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world... 16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the bea st: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six" Revelation 13: 1-8, 16-18.
We need to allow the Bible to interpret its own symbols. We should expect that God, for our benefit, revealed within the Bible the meaning of these symbols. Therefore, what we need is some diligence in study to find their interpretation in the Bible. By such a method, we avoid all human conjecture and speculation.
The Bible actually condemns human conjecture and speculation because "no prophecy... is of any private interpretation" 2 Peter 1:20. The Bible defines its own symbols. For example, the book of Revelation contains 404 verses. Out of these 404 verses, 278 are found almost word for word in other books in the Bible, where their meaning is expounded.
Therefore, we encourage you to do as the Bible Bereans (see Acts 17:10, 11) and bring every teaching to the test of the Scripture. As, whoever will prayerfully study the Bible, desiring to know the truth, that he may obey it, will understand the Scriptures. "If any man will do His will, he shall know...whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. "John 7:17.
There are many symbols for the beast: nevertheless, we will suffice ourselves with those necessary to identify the beast. These symbols are 'beast', 'dragon', 'sea', 'forty-two months', and 'blasphemy'.
Beast: In Bible prophecy, a beast is a symbol of a king or kingdom. "These great beasts , which are four, are four kings ... the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom ..." Daniel 7:17, 23. With this beast, we are studying a unique kingdom for it is not only a political power but a religious one as well, because people "worshipped the beast" Rev. 13:4.
Dragon: According to the Bible, the dragon is another name for Satan, the father of lies and deceptions, "the great dragon ...called the Devil , and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world."This would mean that when Satan gave"his power, and his seat, and great authority"to the beast, we can expect the beast to behave in the same deceptively evil ways of Satan. Thus, a great deal of deception will be found in the affairs of the beast. Rev. 12:9; 13:2
Sea: In Bible prophecy, sea is symbol of a multitude of many different people."...The waters ...are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues"Rev. 17:15. Accordingly, this unique kingdom or power rose out of the sea, signifying that it came out of a location in the world that was densely populated with different nationalities of people.
Forty-two months: This period is equivalent to three and half years (42 divided by 12 months). And the Bible was written based on the Jewish calendar where every Jewish year is 360 days (30 days for each month). So, three and half years and forty-two months are both equal to 1260 days. The reason why we are changing the months to their equivalent in days is that when God gave time prophecies, He often equated a day for a year "...even forty days , each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years..." "I have appointed thee each day for a year "Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6.
Therefore, the forty-two prophetic months imply a period of 1260 years during which the beast was given, a "mouth speaking great things and blasphemies"and would"make war with the saints and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations"Rev. 13:5, 7.. Meaning that during this period the beast would blaspheme, persecute Christians, and have great authority.
Blasphemy: In the Bible, blasphemy is defined in two ways. The first is when a person claims to be God or His representative. "...for a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God "John 10:33So the beast, this religio-political power and kingdom, has blasphemed God by pretending to be in the place of God on earth. The second way of committing blasphemy is by granting absolutions (claiming the power to forgive the sins of others). "Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies ? Who can forgive sins but God only?"Mark 2:7.
The beast, this religio-political power and kingdom, has blasphemed God not only by taking His place on earth, but also by claiming the rite of absolution. No wonder the beast has the "name of blasphemy" and speaks "blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name"; this is because the beast claims powers that are the sole prerogative of God. (Rev. 13:1,6.)
Nine Key Marks
Having allowed the Bible to unlock the meaning of its own symbols we can now highlight the nine major identifying marks of the beast to determine which power in history fulfills these features. These are not the only identifiers: there are many more in the Bible. We hope this compilation of identifying keys will lead you to search the Bible to find out more.
(1) The beast combines religious and political power simultaneously, "they worshipped the beast ..." Rev. 13:4.
(2) The beast came to power in a densely populated area of the world,"I...saw a beast rise up out of the sea" Rev. 13:1.
(3) The beast obtained its power and authority from Satan, thus we would expect its history to contain a great deal of deception,"the dragon gave him [the beast] his power, and his seat, and great authority" Rev. 13:2.
(4) The beast ruled ruthlessly possessing absolute hegemony (domination) for 1260 years. This period must have a clear starting point and end with the 'deadly wound'."Power was given unto him to continue forty and two months." "And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death." "And power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations" Rev. 13:5, 3, 7.
(5) The beast persecuted Christians during the 1260 years."And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them" Rev. 13:7.
(6) The beast has a mysterious 666 that identifies his office and name,"count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six" Rev. 13:18.
(7) The beast will fully recover from its 'deadly wound' and the world will marvel after it,"and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast" Rev. 13:3.
(8) The beast blasphemes by claiming to be God and granting absolutions (the power to forgive sins of others).
(9) The beast made other blasphemous claims, undertaking actions that are God's exclusive prerogative."And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies" Rev. 13:5.
The Antichrist and The Woman Riding On A Beast
The attention of almost all Christians these days is focused on the coming Antichrist. Many are also keen to know which character is described in Revelation 17. A woman who rides a beast is another mystery at the heart of prophecy. Who is this woman? The woman riding on a beast represents a universal church that will play a well-defined and powerful role in the Antichrist's future kingdom.
A woman always symbolizes a church in the Bible, in this - an impure church. And a beast has always signifies a kingdom or state that persecutes God's people. So we have an impure church sitting on (i.e. controlling) beast (state). This again reinforces the reality of the Catholic system being the only system that is a church and an earthly kingdom at the same time. This whore is described as being eminently rich, proud, and more importantly, very corrupt.
The Roman Empire was established on seven hills by Augustus in 27 BC and divided in AD 395 into the Western Roman Empire and the eastern or Byzantine Empire. The empire got its divine powers by the name of Holy Roman Empire with the papal coronation of Otto I as the first Holy Roman Emperor in 962. This lasted until 1806 when the empire was dissolved by Napoleon, and it was literally driven into the wilderness.
This is important as it is not by happenstance that the "woman who sitteth upon the beast" was seen in the wilderness. God is indicating the time-period that the Roman Catholic Church will come out of her wilderness experience.
The following verses are key verses: "And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition." Revelation 17:10, 11.
God elaborates on the seven heads of the beast, which are identified as seven kings. Significantly, the vision was viewed during the reign of the sixth king. He was to be followed by the seventh king, who will rule for a short time. However, the eighth king is going to be one of the previous seven kings, but that when he appears from the bottomless pit (v. 8), he will not only merely be a king (pope) but the Antichrist (a persecuting power); finally, he will then go into perdition.
So who is the antichrist? Pius XI was the first Roman Catholic pope (from February 6, 1922) who became king as well on February 11, 1929. He along with Benito Mussolini (Former Italian President) engineered the Lateran Treaty. Pope Benedict XVI is the seventh king/pope since the Lateran Treaty.
In conclusion: The Roman Catholic Church is a beast (church and kingdom), however she is in the wilderness now and she will regain her beast status after the fall of the seventh king, Benedict XVI. The next pope to come after Benedict XVI will be one of the other seven popes, very likely the sixth pope. But he will no longer be considered a mere pope, but will be a called a king, the ruler of the world, and through him the Roman Catholic Church will regain her former power to persecute her enemies. The eighth, when he comes, will be one of the seven popes and he will be the last; for he "goeth into perdition." In the end of time, the Antichrist and his corrupt kingdom on earth will be destroyed at the second coming of Christ at God's final judgment of the world.
REPENT: JESUS IS COMING SOON
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