Seven Kings
Revelation 7:10 "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.
17:11 "And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition."
With the "selection" of the new pope the world waits to see what happens next. A cardinal from Argentina who has taken the name; "Francis".
"Jorge Mario Bergoglio" is the first "Jesuit" to become a pope and his choice of a name no doubt has some reference to "Francis Xavier" one of the first seven Jesuits.
It is being reported in several papers that this "humble" Jesuit pope was directly involved with the military junta that ruled in Argentina for seven years. While appearing to be a non-participant in their reign of terror, he approved the arrest and torture of two of his own priests who were not obeying his orders! "Once a Jesuit - always a Jesuit"!
For those who search the Scriptures, it is a very interesting moment in world history. For 1260 years, that is from 538 AD until 1798 AD, the popes had ruled all of the nations of Europe which emerged after the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD.
Rome was divided into ten kingdoms exactly as the Prophecies of Daniel foretold centuries before it happened. The feet and toes of the image that the king of Babylon saw in his dream showed that Rome would be divided into ten nations, some strong, some weak .
God makes it so plain that we need not guess at anything ! Then in Daniel chapter seven, God repeats the lesson for us.
By 476 AD, Rome is invaded by Germanic tribes from the north and divided into ten kingdoms.
The "ten horns" on the 4th beast, are also a symbol of the ten tribes that over ran the Roman Empire. The following history is important as we consider the progress of the ten horns and the coming of the "seventh king" !
"Constantinople was the former name of the city of Istanbul, Turkey. It is located on the frontier of Europe and Asia. The city was protected by a natural and man-made fortress. Three of the sides with cliffs, and on the fourth side they built up a defensive barrier. The city was founded as Byzantium in the 7th century B.C. It was renamed Constantinople 330 A.D. when the Roman Emperor Constantine I moved his capital there from Rome (Encylopedia Americana).
The result of that move by Caesar to Istanbul which he renamed; Constantinople, left the bishop of Rome as ruler of the Western Empire as described in the Catholic Quarterly Review.
"Long ages ago, when Rome through the neglect of the Western emperors was left to the mercy of the barbarous hordes, the Romans turned to one figure for aid and protection, and asked him to rule them; and thus, . . . commenced the temporal sovereignty of the popes. And meekly stepping to the throne of Caesar, The vicar of Christ took up the sceptre to which the emperors and kings of Europe were to bow in reverence through so many ages."--American Catholic Quarterly Review, April, 1911.
The purpose of this study is to discover for certain the idenity of the
mentioned by John in the book of Revelation. John wrote:
Revelation 7:10 "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.
17:11 "And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition."
On the following web page found @:
http://ancient-rome.com/ppl.htm#kings
are listed the first seven kings of the early founding of the Roman Empire. They were:
The first king was, Romulus, 753 bc to 715 bc.
The second king was, Numa Pompilius, 715 - 673 bc.
The third king was, Tullius Hositilus, 673 - 642 bc.
The fourth king was, Ancus Marcius, 642 - 617 bc.
The fifth king was, Tarquinius Priscus, 617 - 579 bc.
The sixth king was, Servius Tullius, 579 - 535 bc.
The seventh king was, Tarquinius Superbus, 534 - 510 bc and he was the last king of Rome.
The Senate voted to never again allow the rule of a King and formed a Republic government in 509 BC. Lucius Junius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus went on to become the first Consuls of this new government. Free from the rule of kings, the Romans developed a strict social status hierarchy that would set in motion the conquest of the Western World."
But John was not shown these kings which all existed 700 - 500 B.C. because he said,
"Revelation 7:10 "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."
"One is, could only be The Roman Empire where John was alive and writing the book of Revelation! To say that it represents seven forms of Roman government does not do justice to the text!
Rome began with seven kings who ruled for the first 200 years as the empire grew but then they formed a republic with various forms being tried until it collapsed in 476 AD. There were several hundred rulers over the period from its beginning until John wrote the prophecy of the "seven kings" in Revelation 17: 10. It is a fact that hundreds of "kings" had fallen, not just "five"! The only way to arrive at the correct understanding, is to let the text say what it says. Five kings are fallen, not five forms of government! Does it really make sense to call these "forms of government"; kings? The reason Rome became a republic was because they never wanted another king and there never was! Rome was a republic until its demise!
Here are the facts.
"BEFORE the Babylonian Empire of Nebuchadnezzar arose to power, the empire of Assyria ruled the world, as described in Eze. 31:1-6, and mapped in "Empires of the Bible" at page 374.
{March 15, 1898 ATJ, ARSH 172.1}
"ATJ" is Alanzo T. Jones in his book: "The Empires of The Bible from the Confusian of Tongues to the Babylonian Captivity"
And before Assyria ruled the world, Egypt ruled the world. A.t. Jones writes:
"The conquered kingdoms and peoples remained submissive, and sent their presents to Amenophis IV at his accession, as to his predecessor. Even the strong kingdoms of Babylon and Assyria sent presents to Egypt, and her suzerainty was still recognized there. This we know by letters from the kings of those countries. {1904 ATJ, EB 101.3}
A.T. Jones, records several letters in his book showing this is true. Go to the EGW CD and access the, "Words of The Pioneers" and type the words;
"Amenophis IV at his accession..." in the search bar!
This history proves that the five kings that are fallen in Revelation 17: 10 are:
,
,
,
,
and
Revelation 7:10 "And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is,..."
When the Apostle John wrote these words he was living in the time of the "sixth king" or "kingdom"
which was pagan Rome.
The "one is" was in John's day.
".......the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
17:11 "And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition."
The "one is" was Pagan Rome, the 6th king and John saw there was another one coming after Rome who would be # 7.
What "king" ruled after Rome fell? All Bible Students know that it was the Papacy. From 538 to 1798 AD the nations of Europe being formed from the ten tribes that over-ran the faltering kingdom of Rome, gave their, "power and strength unto the beast" for 1260 years.
Rev. 17:12 "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.
17:13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast."
The Beast is that great system of deception and cruelty called the Roman Catholic Church!
Revelation 13: 3, reveals another very important event about this Catholic power.
"And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; 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.
In 1798, The Jesuit Illuminati, having brought Napoleon to power in France, ordered the arrest of the Pope and exiled him to France. The Catholic Beast had received a, "deadly wound"
But, The Bible says: ".......and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
The pope that was exiled to France died and the Jesuits placed a pope on the throne in Vatican City. Read the history in the Wikipedia to get the events from 1798 to the signing of the concordat with Mussolini in 1929.
From 1798 to 1929 Vatican City as a sovereign state did not exist! After the concordat with Mussolini, the Papacy, though only 108 Acres, was a soveriegn state. The "beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth and is of the seven".
Rev. 17: 11
The "revived" Papacy is King # 8 and "all the world wonders after the beast"
Rev. 13: 3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_States#Italian_nationalism_and_the_end_of_the_Papal_States
http://www.remnantofgod.org/was-isnot-yetis.htm
Send us your comments @: star707@uniserve.com
Peace In Jesus,
Rich & Joyce
http://www.unrv.com/empire/kings-of-rome.php