Sabbath School Mar 19-21

Ranko Stefanovic brought our attention on the similarity of Revelation 13:8 and 17:8. This would indicate that the beast of Revelation 13 and 17 are the same beast, the first of which was the beast of Daniel 7. Therefore we can say that the beast of Revelation 17 is the beast of Daniel 7, even though the beast’s horns are interpreted a little differently by Gabriel:

Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life…from the foundation of the world.

Rev 17:8    …and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world….

Words removed from Revelation 13:8 and 17:8 to show their similarity:

Rev 13:8 of the Lamb slain

Rev 17:8    The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition:…

Rev 17:8    when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Notice that the setting of this vision is “the wilderness” (Rev. 17:3). This is a reference to the Revelation 12 prophecy, in particular verse 13-16. Even though the persecutor appears as the Dragon, the Dragon delegated and inspired the beast to do his work of persecution. We read of this beast in the next scene. We have traditionally interpreted this beast as primarily the Dark Ages Papacy. But, primarily it represents the resurrection of the Dark Ages Papacy. It most accurately describes the final version of the Papacy, the Papacy that is resurrecting today. The sea from which it arises, if viewed from the immediate context, seems to allude to the flood that the Dragon cast out of his mouth, the flood of persecutors that he cast out of his mouth, i.e. the Counter Reformation during which the newly ordained “Company of Jesus” tortured and martyred 900,000 Protestants in 200 years until Protestantism could be safeguarded by its land of refuge, America. (But the war didn’t end there, the Dragon was more enraged than ever before, vowing to get his victims and destroy their religion and national refuge (Revelation 12:17).

“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 ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard…and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” (Rev. 13:1,2). The Dragon and his beast are left high and dry in the wilderness, after Providence rescued His Protestants.

In the wilderness the beast that “was” during the 1,260 year prophecy, “is not” while left in “the wilderness” (Rev. 17:3). And “yet is” later when it ascendeth out of the bottomless pit and goeth into perdition. “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (Rev. 13:8) when he “shall ascend out of the bottomless pit” (Rev. 17:8).

“And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.” (Rev. 11:7).

“And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.” (Rev. 17:11).

A text that brings these two above verse together is Revelation 13:3.

“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.” (Rev. 13:3).

When the pure church got away from her voracious predator, the Lord established her in the new continent and gave her a protective government that God blessed. Her Democratic Republic and Protestant religion became the vanguard against despotism in the world, which together overthrew her predatorial persecutor. The beast no longer “was”. But it would make a powerful comeback. Its near death and resuscitation are repeated in Revelation 17:8, except for the fourth and final phase.

Rev 17:8

1) The beast that thou sawest was,

2) and is not;

3) and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit,

4) and go into perdition:…

Rev 17:8   

1) when they behold the beast that was,

2) and is not,

3) and yet is

4)

It is the beast’s reinstatement to power that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24.

“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)” (Matt. 24:15).

The abomination of desolation is restated for clarity in Daniel 11, as “the abomination that maketh desolate” (Dan. 11:31), spoken of as a “vile” (vs. 21) “king of the north” (vs. 21,40).

“And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.

And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.

And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days.” (Dan. 11:31-33).

 And the above text is giving more light on the vision that it lays over—Daniel 8:10ff.

“And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.

Yea, he magnified himself even to the Prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down.

And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.

Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?” (Dan. 8:10-13).

The abomination of desolation and the transgression of desolation are the same corrupting and destructive earthly power. The abomination refers to the corrupt temptation the church fell into, and the transgression refers to the church’s act of being corrupted. And the “host” that “was given him” refers to superstitious, Dark Ages Europe, “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” (Rev. 17:15), whose hearts he stole from the Prince of the host, and used them to form his beast power. The woman sat on the beast which came out of the sea.

“And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” (Rev. 17:15).

“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.” (Rev. 17:10). I will explain this verse at the end of this post. But for now, this second beast of Revelation 13 receives the spirit of the Dragon, which he uses to restore the first beast with the fatal wound caused by Protestantism and its protector government.

“And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

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.” (Rev. 13:13-16).

“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of His mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.” (Rev. 19:20,21).

The sword is the word of God, “It is done!” It is also the brightness of His glory. The lake of fire burning with fire and brimstone is the wrath of God against the beast-false prophet alliance against the grace and truth of the gospel. This day is the fulfillment of the 3rd angel’s message. “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure.” (Ps. 2:4,5). The remnant are the kings and people, small and great, who are slain by the sword that will come from the mouth of Him that will sit upon the horse.

“Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.” (Isa. 28:17-19).

Per the Adult Sabbath School Quarterly, 3-20-19

“The angel explains that the seven heads are seven mountains. Some translators think that these mountains allude to the seven hills upon which the city of Rome is situated, and for this reason, they translate the Greek work oroi (‘mountains’) as ‘hills’. There are seven kings, too, who are symbolized by the seven mountains. Also, these mountains are successive, not simultaneous.

   These mountains do not symbolize individual kings, because Revelation does not deal with individual persons but with systems. In the Bible, mountains often symbolize world s powers or empires (Jer. 51:25; Ezek. 35:2,3). In biblical prophecy ‘kings’ represent kingdoms (see Dan. 2:37-39, Dan. 7:17). Thus, the seven mountains symbolize seven great successive empires that dominated the world throughout history, through which Satan opposed God and harmed God’s people.

   From John’s time perspective, five of these empires have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. While no single view has been agreed upon by all Adventists interpreters, many hold that the five that have fallen are the great kingdoms that in Old Testament times dominated and (on occasion) harmed God’s people: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Media-Persia, and Greece. The ‘one is’ kingdom was the Roman Empire of John’s time.

   The seventh kingdom that ‘has not yet come’ is the sea beast of Revelation 13—the papacy, which dominated and harmed God’s people—that was to come after the time of John and after the fall of the pagan Roman Empire. History has powerfully attested to the truth of this prophecy, written many centuries before the events unfolded. [But, that beast continued a long space of time. ‘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.’ (Rev. 17:10). Because of this discrepancy the concluding interpretation of the eighth head is skewed. He calls the eighth head the same as the seventh head. And the seventh world power is put off into the distant, unrecognizable future.]

   John is further told that the scarlet beast is an eighth world power. Although it is one of the seven heads (world powers). Which of the seven? Because these heads are sequential in time, the eighth must be a seventh head that received the deadly wound. It is at the time of the eighth world power that the scarlet beast appears, carrying and advancing the goals of the harlot Babylon. Today, we live at the time of the healing of the deadly wound. This eighth world power will appear on the scene right after the end and will go to perdition.” [If the eighth head is not the seventh head, and if the medieval beast was the fifth king of the seven, then the sixth king would be the slaying power of the fifth king, i.e. Protestant America. And then the seventh king would be the apostate Protestant that is currently healing the medieval beast today, and will continue only a short space compared to the period of the papal supremacy.]

My thoughts on this interpretation:

The seventh king who continues a short time must be a relatively quick last day event. Here is my interpretation of the seven kings [remember that the setting is in “the wilderness” (Rev. 17:3), and thus the perspective of the vision, rather than Imperial Rome, is at the end of the 1,260 year papal supremacy and the start of Protestant America]:

“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.” (Rev. 17:10,11).

Because the setting is the wilderness, and the seventh king is a short span of time, the puzzle pieces of this prophecy can’t be situated any other way.

(Kings)

1) “Five are fallen”: Babylon (608-538 BC),

2) Persia (538 BC-331 BC),

3) Greece (331 BC-168 BC),

4) Imperial Rome  (168 BC-476 AD),

5) Papal Rome (538 AD-1798),

6) “One is”: America, Protestant America (1620-1849). Its colonial KJV upbringing; but then its rejection of Second Advent and the Law of God, the first four trumpets; and Apostate Protestant America (1849-1999), under the influence of “the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit” (Rev. 11:7, cf Rev. 9:1-20) constitutes the “king” that “is”, the 5th trumpet, 1st woe; the 1849-1999 5 prophetic month time period represents 150 years beginning at the California Gold Rush to the late 1990s stock market gold rush that ended in the 4th quarter of 1999, during which 5 prophetic month period the locusts were released from the bottomless pit to torment and later to kill “any green thing” in “the earth” (Rev. 9:4, cf Rev. 12:16,17; Rev. 13:11); the 5th and 6th trumpets are about Jesuit locusts devouring the consciences of Protestants primarily in America in order to prevent the seal in the forehead, the abomination of desolation in the holy place of Americans’ hearts place there the mark of the beast-fire and smoke and brimstone from God’s wrath, and the 5th and 6th trumpets prophecies develop Revelation 6:17-7:3 and the 3rd angel’s message (particularly Rev. 14:10 and 11),

7) “The other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space”: 6th trumpet, 2nd woe (year 2000 to some point in our near future);

8) “And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth”, “and goeth into perdition” (Rev. 17:11), the finale of the abomination of desolation, a global kingdom of “blessed”, conscience-less Jesuit locusts sitting on every country’s Imperial throne, in every Roman Senate and high court, with an unconscionable Jesuit Papacy overseeing it all, and the avenged Dragon ruling over his favored earthly organization.

Because the setting is the wilderness, and the seventh king is a short span of time, the puzzle pieces of this prophecy can’t be situated any other way.

Satan was wroth with his favored earthly institution was cast down and “was not”. So he brought up a new, more determined host in the “Company of Jesus”, the Jesuits. The infernal genius from hell could not rely upon the age-old religious leaders who make mistakes in judgment, or on their state leaders who might be converted and defect to the side of the Redeemer. In order to never again be vanquished by Christ, this new Jesuit Order would be especially honed to be unmovable from their service to him. Like furniture that can’t think for itself, they do as they are told by their Jesuit overlords. This is the new papacy that will rule the world until Jesus comes to destroy them. It will be a juggernaut that no earthly power can put down. Who shall be able to stand? Who will maintain their faith in all of their duplicitous machinations and baleful brutality?

“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for My name’s sake.

And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” (Matt. 24:9-13).

“Hearken unto Me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My Law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but My righteousness shall be for ever, and My salvation from generation to generation.” (Isa 51:7 ,8).

The survivors of that first time of trouble will be finally humbled beyond measure and become the 144,000 that God always wanted from His Protestants and Adventists. They will preach to the whole world.

“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matt. 24:14).

“And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.” (Rev. 14:5).

But don’t think that will be the downfall of the Jesuit Papacy. That will only stir up the hornet’s nest.

“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains….” (Matt. 24:15,16).

The Jesuit Vatican’s redoubled determination, dogged by the devil to win the war, will only be heightened. That will be the time of trouble such as never was.

“Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” (Matt. 24:17-22).

Finally will come the grand climax of the troubles that will prepare a people to stand in the day Jesus returns. Satan will impersonate Christ’s Second Advent.

“Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Behold, I have told you before.

Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth: behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matt. 24:23-27).

Satanic hosts will descend as shining angels to a world prepared to receive them as messiahs, extraterrestrial beings, personalities from the New Age astral planes, UFOs, etc. And the left behind, waiting church will see them as Jesus and all His hosts of heaven after the 3 ½ years of rapture tribulation. Even the plagues will be falling upon the world, because Jesus is on the way. No longer having our Mediator between God and man, everyone will be stressed almost to insanity. Even the elect will feel the wrath of God upon all who have rejected Him and His Law. This Jacob’s Troubles will be Gethsemane for the 144,000 and their great multitude which no man can number. But by clinging to Jesus they will get through this final distress. They have been purified by the first time of trouble, which prepared them for the Latter Rain when they preached the gospel to the whole world. They were further purified by the Latter Rain and the great time of trouble that it spawned among the rebellious, unbelieving wicked. Now their arduous purification process is complete.

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matt. 24:29-31).

“And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” (Isa. 25:9).

“The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.” (1Thess. 4:16,17).

“He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. And He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.

And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.” (Isa. 25:8,7,6).

“And so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1Thess. 4:17).