Revelation 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
Women in prophetic scripture represent the church, or the people of God. IN the OT Israel, in the NT, the church. There are many texts that affirm this, and I think most of us are quite familiar with them. Often Israel was described as a harlot when she was walking in a backslidden or apostate state. In Revelation 12 the pure woman represents God's people in their faithful state. And elsewhere in the NT the church is described as a bride, adorned beautifully for her husband. The above verse describes the apostate church of NT times, having authority (sitting like as per Moses seat) over many people and nations. This indeed is appropriately applied to the Papacy particularly of the dark ages.
We know from Revelation 12:3 that the dragon is Satan. However, with a little exegesis, comparing scripture with scripture, we can deduce that the dragon also is a representative of pagan Rome. How do we do that? We read in Rev.12:4 that the dragon stood before the man-child, who we know as Jesus, to kill Him as soon as He was born. We know from the gospels that history reveals that Herod, representing pagan Rome as their appointed king over Judea, attempted to slay the infant while still in Bethlehem. We also have already ascertained in previous posts that the fourth beast of Daniel 7:7,8; 11; 19,20. was pagan Rome. As we read the description of both these beasts, we see a remarkable likeness between the two...which is only natural as the little horn which grew from pagan Rome, the papacy, should naturally inherit the characteristics of the parent stock...the dragon like beast...Satan. Yes, the Antichrist can be likened to the child of Satan...just as Jesus is the child of His Father and inherited His Father's full divine nature, so does the Antichrist bear the likeness of the wicked one.
Diadems represent kings. We must remember now that these ten are different to the ten horns of the beast of Daniel 7...albeit still a similar nature. Why these are different is because this vision is still future. We cannot therefore with any certainty claim to know exactly who these kings are. Nevertheless, we know from other texts in the same chapter and elsewhere, that the dominion of the Antichrist is a global dominion. We are told that the whole world will wonder after him. And that his prophet would enforce his ark on every man. What is interesting is that the UN of recent years has already divided the planet into ten separate territories, each one to have a chief administrator (king?) but all subservient to the global body, what we know as the NWO. Some of you would already be aware of your local territory as likely oppose the proposition, such as the one in north America, Mexico, the US, and Canada. There are similar proposed unions in our part of the world, and a little research will uncover world maps with the details.
The ten horns, that is kingdoms or political powers, as described above.
As mentioned above, the dragon represents Satan, and his earthly representative, pagan Rome. Who did the Catholic Church receive her authority from? We must remember, when we are discussing political powers such as horns and beasts, we are not discussing sole religious powers, but secular/political/civil rule. The Papacy is a mixture of both...a church / state union. It was not always so. In the beginning of the papal power she was just a church, but in the 6th century she received authority to rule as the civil magistrate in Rome in the absence of the emperor. It was Justinian, the pagan emperor of the eastern Roman state in Constantinople, that in 533AD authorised the Pope to have civil autonomy in Rome, as well as religious authority to weed out heresy etc. A quick google search will uncover plenty of detail and evidence to corroborate this.
Justinian's decree as I said, was drafted and sealed in 533 AD. But at that time the Popes or bishops of Rome were under the yoke and authority of the Goths. The Goths ruled Rome and most of Italy, and no bishops or popes were elected without Gothic approval. For the Popes to take full political power and independence the Goths needed to be removed. This did indeed take place. In February 538AD when Belisarius entered Rome and drove them out. Although from time to time the Goths attempted to return, they were unsuccessful in unseating the Pope from Rome, and eventually the Goths disappeared into history...the were the third horn uprooted before the little horn came to full power.
The 42 months cannot be literal, as the Antichrist is ordained prophetically to exist right up to the second coming. So what does the 42 months represent? The same as the 1260 days...a day for a year in like manner as the 490 day/70 week prophecy of Daniel 9 which is understood by all to mean 490 years. Thus the papacy was to rule in its first phase for 1260 years. Did she? Yes, absolutely.....
….In 1798 Napoleon's general Berthier entered Rome and took the Pope captive, removed the Papal states from his authority giving them back to Italy, and thus was the Antichrist "slain". His civil power at an end, and European leaders at that time thought the Papacy was finished. However...
….in 1929 Mussolini returned the Vatican to the Pope, declaring the Vatican an independent state through the Lateran treaty.
Since then the Popes have worked assiduously to regain their post prestige and power...their ambitions are global. All the world is now indeed wondering after the beast, and will soon bow down in submission and obedience to her doctrines and false commandments.
Ty!
