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"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."
"No reasonable method of counting can make the passage fit a Domitianic dating." (n. 114)
L. Michael White
James M. MacDonald (1877)
"It is difficult to account for a theory that fixes the chronology of Revelation in the latter part of the Domitian reign when he, the
seventh, had not come."
Jay E. Adams (1966)
R.C. Sproul (1998)
"A more natural approach, however, is to begin the list of kings with Julius Caesar, as was the custom of ancient historians such as Josephus and Suetonius, as well as Dio Cassius. In this series (see table 6.3, option 3), the sixth king is Nero. If he is the king referred to in Revelation in the present tense, then this adds considerable wright to the argument for dating the book in the mid- to late-sixties." (ibid., p. 147)
Moses Stuart (1836)
But why only seven kings? First because the number seven is the reigning symbolic number of the book; then, secondly, because this covers the ground which the writer means specially to occupy, viz., it goes down to the period when the persecution then raging would cease. (2:325,326)
Foy Wallace (1966)
The five Caesars had passed before John wrote this apocalypse; and Nero, the sixth Caesar, was reigning at the time Revelation was written. The apocalypse belonged to the Neronic period." (The Book of Revelation, p. 371-372)
"Omitting quite properly the subordinates, or mock rulers, Domitian was the seventh Caesar; and the text specifically stated that he had not come. It is difficult to account for a theory that fixes the chronology of Revelation in the latter part of the Domitian reign when he, the seventh, had not come. The rectification of the traditional chronological error attached to the Book of Revelation will automatically correct the "future prophecy" theories so full of misconcepts." (ibid., p. 372)
What do YOU think ?
From Ronald Johnston: Here is another view point. Revelation 17 John is told come hither to see the judgment of the great whore. We see this judgment in Revelation 18 for her plagues come in one day, death,mourning and famine. John see's the kings of the earth committing fornication with her. The above is yet future to our day. Then John is taken into the wilderness setting where he see's this woman sitting on the heads of the scarlet colored beast who is full of blaspheme. To understand this we must go to Daniel 7, the third beast is a leopard with four heads, we all understand to represent Greece under Alexander the Great, after his death we see his four generals divide his empire yet the 4 heads are Greek. These four generals had lines of kings after them until the Roman empire represented by the dreadful beast rose to power, slowly disolving the Greek empire. Yet notice the heads were still Greek, first the body as Alexander the Great then the four heads came after Alexander and continued with their lines of kings until the dreadful beast represented by Pagan Rome came on the scene. Here is my point, in Daniel we see a progression in time from the body, to the heads, and to horns. With all these body parts we see a forward progression in time. In Revelation we have three chapters all with with 7 heads and ten horns, Revelation 12, 13 and 17. Protestants long have taught the leopard in Revelation 13 represented the politcal power of the Papacy. The papal power was given 42 days prophetic months to rule this would be by decree, 43 x 30 days to month = 1260 prophetic years. The Papal power was decreed into power in 5438AD by Justinains decree making the pope sole interpetor of scricpture and final word in Europe on politcal items. 538 to 1798 when Napoleon decreed its death, interesting exactly 1260 years. Intersting that there is no explaination of the 7 heads in Revelation 13, you must go to Revelation 17 for a detailed explaination. John see's in the wilderness setting a beast with a woman riding its 7 heads, notice the woman is not on the back of the beast, but riding on the 7 heads, odd ha! And there are 10 horns. The body of the scarlet beast in Revelation is full of blaspheme, notice the same in Revelation 13 a mouth was given the leopard beast in Revelation 13 and it speaks blaspheme. John see's the beast as "WAS" "is not" and "yet is" So the scarlet colored beast John see's "was" this politcal power as represented by BEAST's "was" past tense to seeing the vision. The next phase of the beast "is not" John is seeing the vision at the time there is no political power, only the woman is seen at this time, she is drunken with the blood of the saints. He has stopped killing during the "is not" and is totally drunk with God's people's blood. It was the dark ages we saw God's people blood spilled. The Papal reign and terror for which John Paul II apolized took place during the dark ages. The politcal power of the Papacy ruled supreme 538 to 1798 be decree of Justinan. The reason we see the woman sitting on the 7 heads and not the back of the scarlet beast is because this show's the church dominating after 1798, and the poltical power of the Papacy has lost its control over the kings of the earth, "is not". During the second phase of the Papal power we see 7 heads, 7 mountains, 7 kings. John is told five are fallen, one is, Since the woman sits on the 7 heads during the "is not" phase we should look to its leadership as heads, just as we did in Daniel 7 and its four heads and lines of rulers in Greece. The 7 Papal heads are after 1798. This whole vision is for us today. Christ comes and destroys the 8th Papal head since 1798 he does not live out his full live span he is destroyed by Christ second coming. All the cardinals to replace John Paul II are now in their 70's. So time is short!!
Also notice in Revelation 18 John says after seeing the things in Revelation 17 he sees another angel come down with great power and enlighten the earth, is the great enlightenment, the cry is to come out of Babylon the Mother of harlots. Harlots are childern of the mother, there were no harlots during the dark ages, not until the refomation took place did we see protestant spring up. Revelation 18 protrays the Papal power and protestants her childern all in apostasy from God. Her plagues come in one day, death, morning and famine. These are the plagues of the 7 vials in Revelation 16. The details John saw regarding Babylon and its fall is a message John see's for the last days. Remember the message is for the end time's. John saw this woman sitting on the 7 heads, the Mother of harlots sits on the 7 Papal heads during the "is not" phase of its political power after 1798 after its decreed death. The political power of the Papacy has been restrained by God since 1798, it does not control the world during the time of the 7 papal heads, we only see the church. But as the 8th comes to power after John Paul II, we see massive changes. God will release the restrains imposed on its politcal power to control the kings of the earth as we will see ecumencial movement to unite the entire world under the power. The message if Babylon's fall is for us today, christ is to return under the "yet is" 8th Papal name since 1798. This message as nothing to do with Roman emperors, or ancient kingdoms, this is a message God has blinded us to until now!! The political power of the Papacy was 538-1798 by decree for 1260 years. After 1798 the political power is restained by God and we see 7 Papal name's adding to 665 as of JOhn Paul II, After John Paul II we will see a new 8th Papal name, none of the previous name's in history will be used. Then its polical power becomes "yet is" as the entire world comes under its power, the kings of the earth will commit fornication with its polital power as they did prior to 1798. Ron
Date: 09 Jul 2007
Date: 15 Jun 2010
Date: 12 Jun 2012
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