Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Revelation 17:9-13
Jun 27th, 2010
Exploring RevelationArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Prophecy;Book Study

"And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth," verse 9.

“Here is the mind that hath wisdom”, this is the tip off, we have a clue that makes us aware of the political and religious center of the last day’s scenario.

There are three women in Revelation that are symbols of religion. In Revelation 12 we have the woman, "clothed with the sun", which represents Israel.  In Revelation 19 we have the Bride of Christ who becomes the Lamb's wife. In Revelation 17 we have the harlot which represents counterfeit Christianity, a wife for Satan. There is only one city in the world which is a religious city which is located on seven hills, that city is Rome. Rome is the center of the kingdom of Antichrist not Constantinople. And it is the city in which the harlot church in located, “The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth."

Today it is the treaty of Rome that binds the EU nations together and it is the Roman Catholic Church that is at the center of the ecumenical union of the churches and religions of the world. Today the saying is true, all roads lead to Rome. The great religious system of the last days is not Islam but a union of all religions with Rome at the center.

“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,” Verse 10.

The five kings who had fallen or had come and gone in John’s are, Assyria, Egypt, Babylon, Persia, and Greece, notice kings and Empires are used interchangeably for identity purposes in scripture. These are the World Empires of history to that point. “One is”, this represents Rome which was in power in John’s day. “The other is not yet come”, this is the Antichrist which had not come in John’s and has still not come in our day. “He must continue a short space,” the Revived Roman Empire will last for only 3 ½ years. In verse 11 we see the final world Empire of the Beast or the Antichrist.

Verse 11, “And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.” We need to realize that there are these two end time Empires, they are separate and distinct, the Revived Roman Empire during the first half of the tribulation period and the world wide Empire of the Beast or the Antichrist in the last half of the tribulation period. “He is the eighth, and is of the seven”, the kingdom of Antichrist is the eighth kingdom and comes out of the seventh which is the Revived Roman Empire.

Verse 12, “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.” Now we go back and look at the Revived Roman Empire. The ten horns are representative of the ten kings which will come to power with the Antichrist. Again remember that kings or leaders are identified interchangeably with their nations or countries.

This verse indicates that the R.R.E. one day does not exist and the next day it suddenly appears. The leaders and the Antichrist  come on the scene and form the R.R.E., quite suddenly. Daniel talks about the Antichrist  “subduing three kings” and he says, “Three...horns are plucked up by the roots.” The picture given is of the Antichrist coming suddenly and violently on the scene and taking over these European countries, with these ten kings or leaders sharing power with him for 31/2 years.

Verse 13, “These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.” In verse 12 we see the ten horns sharing power with the beast and in verse 13 we see them giving their power over to the beast. This is the transition from the R.R.E. to the world wide Kingdom of the Beast.

Today we see these two entities forming before our eyes. The infrastructure for a R.R.E., and the infrastructure for a World Church.