The HISTORICIST View of Eschatology 

An internet search today on “who is the antichrist” will reveal anything from the star of the Baywatch TV series to the president of the USA. God’s Word does not instruct us to make ridiculous wild guesses or any guesses for that matter as to what we think Bible prophecy says. In this article we are going to do something totally different than the majority. We are going to discover the truth about who is the antichrist using the Word of God and support it with many sound historical quotes. None of what we cover will be speculation and none will be private interpretation. When you finally realize how to understand the symbols of Prophecy and how to comprehend them, you will be surprised how simply it comes together.  

In Daniel 2, we find a king who dreamed of world events that spanned over 2,500 years. Those events have come to pass with such precision that only the hand of God could have been involved. It is a prophecy that has almost been totally fulfilled. Daniel 2:1 says: “In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him.”

This was the king who ruled the great Babylonian Empire 600 years before Christ and who built the Hanging Gardens which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that seemed to be of great significance, but when he awoke he could not remember what he had dreamt. So he called his wise men who claimed to see into the future and asked them to tell what he had dreamt. When they admitted that they could not, Nebuchadnezzar condemned them to death.

Young Daniel, though a prisoner in Babylon, was counted among the “wise men” for his gifted intelligence and understanding. When the king’s captain came to execute Daniel, he asked for time to pray for God to reveal the dream which of course God did. Then Daniel went before Nebuchadnezzar and told the king that no mortal man could reveal the dream. “But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has revealed ... what will be in the latter days.” (Daniel 2:28). The dream starts with Nebuchadnezzar and marches through history to God’s final kingdom.

You, O king, were watching: and behold, a great image! This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Daniel 2:31-35 NKJV

The King was excited. “That’s exactly what I saw! But Daniel, what does it mean?” Daniel continued: “You, O King ... are this head of GOLD.” Daniel 2:37-38. The Babylonian Empire of Nebuchadnezzar (which made more lavish use of gold than any kingdom since) was secure as the dominant world power from 605 B.C. to 538 B.C., but he was to be overthrown by a kingdom represented in Daniel 2:32 as “the breast and arms of SILVER.” In Daniel 5:28, the next world ruling power is named, the joint empire of the Medes and the Persians. Again a fitting symbol, the two arms joined at the chest to show two kingdoms being the Medes and Persians. They ruled the world for two centuries, from 538 B.C. to 331 B.C., but they also were overthrown by a third kingdom.

This third kingdom, depicted in verse 32 as the “belly and thighs of BRONZE,” was the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great which was taken over by his four Generals after he died. And what did Alexander’s men wear into battle? Bronze - Bronze breastplates, bronze helmets, bronze shields, bronze swords. Once again, God chose a fitting symbol to describe the kingdom that would rule the world from 331 B.C. to 168 B.C.

But history doesn’t end with this third kingdom. Greece did not rule the world forever, for there was a fourth metal after the gold of Babylon, and the silver of the Medes and Persians, and the bronze of Greece. The next kingdom is represented by IRON. Daniel 2:40 says, “The fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron.” The iron monarchy of Rome was the last world kingdom, which in 168 B.C. overthrew

the Greeks. Just as legs form the longest part of the body, Rome had the longest reign of any other of the world powers. For more than 500 years, half a millennium, Rome was invincible. But what did the Bible predict would happen next? Daniel 2:41-43 says, “Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom.”

History confirms that this seemingly unconquerable Roman Empire crumbled from within and without. From within wealth poured into Rome through taxes collected from all over the world and the simple Roman life was replaced with luxury and pomp. The political world brewed with corruption, crime infiltrated the streets, the work ethic was lost, sexual immorality was rampant. And as the mighty Roman Empire weakened from within, Rome was attacked from without and divided into ten smaller kingdoms.

Today we are living right down in the toenails of history! Every part of this prophecy has come to pass except one. Daniel told the king in verses 34 and 44, “You watched while a STONE was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. ... The God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. ... It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” That Rock cut out without hands symbolizes Jesus Christ who will arise and establish His everlasting kingdom with and through His body, the church.

God through the prophet Daniel foretold the break-up of the Roman Empire into ten toes of the Image, representing the ten kingdoms into which Rome was divided when barbarian tribes carved up the empire.

These last three have no modern names for they originally took over parts of the Roman Empire but were eventually destroyed, “plucked up by the roots” as Daniel 7:8, 20, and 24 foretold. Daniel 2:41-43 says, ten toes, ten kingdoms, and just as IRON and CLAY won’t mix together, so the ten kingdoms will not be joined. No matter how many battles are fought, no matter how many Hitler’s or Napoleons or Charlemagne’s seek to conquer, the Bible says the world will never be united under one ruler again. So it turns out a majority of our modern prophecy teachers, who claim that the world will unite under a single future antichrist in a “one world order”, are completely mistaken.  Only one kingdom remains to be established. Soon the kingdom of God will crush every other kingdom and fill the earth.  Jesus won’t do it Himself, but rather with, through, and in His saints:

Da 7:18  But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.  (KJV)

DANIEL 7 ENLARGES ON DANIEL 2
Remember that Daniel 2 gives us the whole basic time line from Babylon to beyond the second coming of Christ. Keeping that in mind, Daniel 2 informs us the fourth kingdom is the legs and feet of IRON with ten toes (divided Europe) and Daniel 7 says the fourth beast has IRON teeth and ten horns (divided Europe). In both chapters we have a consistent theme and we are most significantly told that these represent the “fourth kingdom” on earth and that they both “break in pieces.” The Bible is not inconsistent and therefore this fourth kingdom is one and the same. Starting with the iron legs:

Daniel 2:40 “And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.”

Daniel 7:7 “...and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.”

Daniel 7:23 “...The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.”

So inescapably did Daniel’s prophetic portrayal correspond to its historical fulfilment that the great English historian Edward Gibbon (1737-1794), though not a Christian or Bible believer himself, wittingly or unwittingly used Scriptural language in his monumental History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire when he wrote: “The images of gold, or silver, or brass, that might serve to represent the nations and their kings, were successively broken by the IRON monarchy of Rome.” Historians mark 168 B.C. as the starting point of the “IRON Monarchy of Rome.” On June 22 at the battle of Pydna, the Greeks fell to the Romans who ruled the then known world to about 476 A.D. Let’s give one more example using the first kingdom.

Since Daniel 7:23 tells us “The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth” and Daniel 7:17 says “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings...”, then the first beast is of course the first kingdom which Daniel 7:4 says, “The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings...” In Daniel 2:37-38, speaking of the metal man, Daniel says to Nebuchadnezzar, “You, O King ... are this head of GOLD.” This lion on the Ishtar gate from the ancient ruins of Babylon is one of many and is not coincidence. The evidence is overwhelming from both the Bible and history that Daniel 7 is indeed enlarging on Daniel 2 and so on.

So what does this all tell us?
Again using the principle of repetition and enlargement, we now know from Daniel 2:37-38 that Babylon is the first kingdom. “You, O King ... are this head of GOLD.” From Daniel 5:28; 8:1-7, 8:20, we know that Medo-Persia conquered Babylon. Daniel 5:28 “Your kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” Daniel 8:20 “The ram which you sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.” From Daniel 8:1-7, 21 we know Greece conquered Medo-Persia. Daniel 8:21 “And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.” God did not name the fourth kingdom directly as He knew the Bible would be in the hands of a very powerful Church for a very long period of time and would be prone to editing if they knew that they were described in these prophetic books of the Bible. However, there is no mistaking that history reveals Rome conquered Greece and is the fourth kingdom and is described as having IRON legs (Daniel 2:33), IRON teeth (Daniel 7:7) and that Rome is known as the IRON monarchy that fell and was divided into ten kingdoms. (Daniel 7:23-24)

Daniel 7:1-8 – Daniel’s vision of four beasts

·         The Lion - Babylon. Wings represent conquering speed. King Nebuchadnezzar.

·         The Bear - Medo-Persia. One shoulder raised above the other represents the dominance of the Medes over the Persians. The three ribs represent the three kingdoms overthrown by this kingdom - Egypt, Lydia, and Babylon. (Daniel 8:20)

·         The Leopard - Greece. Four wings representing great conquering speed. The four heads represent Alexander the Great’s four generals who ruled Greece after his death – Seleucus, Ptolemy, Lysimachus and Cassander. (Daniel 8:21-22)

·         The different beast - Rome. The ten horns - the divisions of Rome (Same as the toes of Chapter 2) The ten horns are the 10 divisions of the Roman Empire as it fell apart. These were the Anglo Saxons (England), Alemanni (Germany), Heruli (x493AD), Vandals (x534AD), Ostrogoths (x538AD), Visigoths (Spain), Suevi (Portugal), Lombard’s (Italy), Burgundians (Swiss) and the Franks (France).

What nine characteristics help us to identify the little horn power?

·         Location: out of 4th beast and among the ten horns (v.8) - The Papacy arose out of Rome among the ten tribal divisions of Rome

·         Timing: after the ten were established (v.8) - the Papacy became a political power by decree of the Roman emperor Justinian in AD 538 which was after the emergence of the ten tribal divisions that emerged as the Roman Empire fell apart in AD 476.

·         Uprooted three of the ten horns (v.8) - As the Papacy came to prominence, it influenced Pagan Roman armies to destroy three of the tribes which opposed its Christian doctrines. These three were the Vandals, Ostrogoths, and Heruli. The last of these was destroyed in AD 538 when Justinian’s decree went into effect.

·         Eyes and mouth of a man (v.8) - the Papacy has a man as its visible head.

·         Persecutes the saints (v.21, 25) – During the Papal persecution in the dark ages (Inquisition), More than 50 million Protestant Christians tortured and killed by the Catholic Church.

·         Different from the other ten horns (v.24) - the Papacy was a religio-political entity different from the kingdoms before it.

·         Speak out against God (v.8, 11, 20, 25) - Verse 8 says it will utter boastful or blasphemous things. One quote of many like it from Prompta Bibliothea Canonica Juridicia Moralis Theologica appearing in the Catholic Encyclopedia Volume VI, pp. 25-29, “The Pope is of so great dignity, and so exalted, that he is not a mere man, but as it were, God and the Vicar of God. The Pope is, as it were, God on earth, chief king of kings, having plentitude of power.”

·         Little Horn attempts to change God’s times and laws (v.25) - The Papacy deleted the second commandment of the Decalogue on idolatry, changed the Sabbath to Sunday in favour of sun worship and divided the tenth commandment on coveting into two parts to get back to Ten Commandments.

·         Have power for a time, times, and half a time (or three and a half years, forty two months, or 1260 days - see Revelation 12:6, 14) (v.25) - Applying the prophetic day for year principle established in Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6 that equals 1260 years. The Papacy lasted in primary power from AD 538 to 1798 in which year Napoleon’s general Berthier marched into Rome, deposed the Pope, and carried him into exile where he died.

History reveals only one power that has persecuted Christians for 1260 years and only one power that had the privilege of taking out three of the ten kingdoms from the collapse of the Roman Empire. It can be no other than the Papacy on these two points alone, and as we have seen there are far more identifying points. The enemy will always have someone he can find to dispute truth and this is no exception so further into this document we will cover the history in greater detail with a large number of historical quotes proving in fact that the Papacy did rule for this very significant 1260 year period from 538 to 1798 and uprooted three of the ten kingdoms from the collapse of the Roman empire that opposed them.

Revelation 13

In Revelation chapter 13, John is shown exactly the same thing that Daniel saw in his vision as a composite beast. Note the perfect parallel to Daniel chapter seven. It says that a beast (kingdom government or political power) with seven heads and ten horns rises out of the sea with a crown upon each horn (ten kings) and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. The crowns now being upon the horns indicates that the kings of divided Europe are now ruling. See Revelation 12:3. Verse 2 states the beast was like unto a leopard, had the feet of a bear, and the mouth of a lion (same four beasts) and that the dragon (Satan through Pagan Rome) gave this beast his power, his throne, and his great authority. Revelation 17:15 explains the meaning of the sea from which the beast emerges, “And he saith unto me, The waters which you sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”

Verses 3 to 6 then states that one of the seven heads (the Papacy head) received a fatal wound (causing death) but his deadly wound was healed and all the world would wonder after the beast and they worshipped the dragon which gave power to the beast and they worshipped the beast also. The beast was allowed to make proud claims which were blasphemous to God, and it was permitted to have authority for 42 months. Daniel 7:25 says, “a time (1 year) and times (2 years) and the dividing of time (half a year = total 3.5 years * 12 Months = 42 months)” which of course is the same period of time. (Bible time works in lunar months which = 30 days * 42 months = 1260 days and using the day for a year rule = 1260 years). It opened its mouth and uttered blasphemies against God and blasphemed his name and his residence, that is, those who are living in heaven. Verse 7 states that it was also allowed to fight against God’s people and defeat them, and it was given authority over every tribe, nation, language and race.

Every criterion mentioned in the Bible is met by this Antichrist power. The Bible says that this beast would receive a deadly wound to one of its heads (the Papacy head). The Pope took over Rome and rose to power in 538 A.D. under the military protection of Belisarius when Emperor Justinian’s decree was given. The Bible says he would have power for 1260 years which takes us to 1798. What happened in 1798? Precisely on time as prophesied in the Bible, in 1798 Napoleon’s General Berthier was sent down to Rome to kidnap the Pope and exiled and imprisoned him in France. The Encyclopaedia Americana, 1941 edition says. “In 1798 he (Berthier) made his entrance into Rome, ABOLISHED THE PAPAL GOVERNMENT and established a secular one.” In 1799 the Pope got sick and died. For a while there was no head of the Roman Church but the Bible says the deadly head wound would be healed and in 1800 they elected a new Pope and the healing of the deadly wound began.

However, this new Pope had no real power until 1929. At that time a man in Italy called Benito Mussolini signed a concordat in Rome giving back to the Pope, not the whole city but about 108 acres called the Vatican and so the deadly wound began to be healed even further. As a result, the Bible says, “the whole world wondered after the beast” (vs. 3). In this picture, Benito Mussolini reads his credentials prior to signing the Lateran Treaty on behalf of King Victor Emmanuel III. Cardinal Gasparri (seated), signed on behalf of Pope Pius XI. American Presidents have bowed before the Pope but they have never bowed before the head of any other Church.

Verses 5 and 6 stress this Antichrist power makes blasphemous claims which the Pope does firstly by declaring to be God on Earth and therefore also puts himself in place of Christ which matches the definition of antichrist; against or in place of. Here are some quotes made by the Roman Catholic Church.

“The Pope is not only the representative of Jesus Christ, but he is Jesus Christ, Himself, hidden under the veil of human flesh.” — Catholic National, July 1895.

“The Pope and God are the same, so he has all power in Heaven and earth.” — Pope Pius V, quoted in Barclay, Chapter XXVII, p. 218, “Cities Petrus Bertanous.”

“We hold upon this earth the place of God almighty.” — Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter, June 20, 1894.

Please note that what is written here is not intended to offend anyone and applies to the Papal system and not the many wonderful Christians in this Church. Verse 7 says “it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them.” The Catholic Church murdered an estimated 50 and 100 million saints as heretics. Below is what they say they can do to anyone they consider a heretic, which is anyone not in their Church. They demonstrated this for 1260 years by burning millions of innocent Christians.

“The church may by divine right confiscate the property of heretics, imprison their person, and condemn them to flames. In our age, the right to inflict the severest penalties, even death, belongs to the church. There is no graver offense than heresy, therefore it must be rooted out.” — Public Eccliastical, Vol. 2, p.142.

Claiming to be God on earth is not the only criterion for blasphemy. Luke 5:21 reads, “And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” Today the Roman Catholic Church still alleges that every Priest can forgive sins.

“Seek where you will, through heaven and earth, and you will find but one created being who can forgive the sinner...That extraordinary being is the priest the Catholic priest.” — Michael Muller, The Catholic Priest, page 78.

“To pardon a single sin requires all the omnipotence of God...The Jews justly said: ‘Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ But what only GOD can do by His omnipotence, the PRIEST can ALSO do by saying ‘Ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis’ [I absolve you from your sin].” — Alphonsus de Liguori, Dignity and Duties of the Priest, pages 34-35.

As for power, besides the persecution of the saints, (vs. 5) Elizabeth I defied the Pope and he sent word to all Catholics in England not to obey the Queen. Henry of Germany offended the Pope and he had to stand barefoot in the snow for three days to pay penance to the Pope before he would forgive him.

The following table shows the common elements that help identify who is the Antichrist.

With the arrival of the printing press in the 15th century and the resulting explosion of Bibles accessible in the common language from Protestant sources, it became readily apparent to those who could now study the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation in particular, that Bible prophecy identified by symbols a persecuting apostate entity generally known as Antichrist. If we list the main characteristics of Antichrist, the following becomes readily apparent and who is the antichrist becomes unmistakable fact.

1. It will rise to be a great power after the fall of the pagan Roman Empire (after 476 AD)

2. It would uproot three of the ten kingdoms the Roman Empire collapsed into

3. It will be a geographically small nation (a little horn)

4. It will rule over many people, nations and tongues (it will be universal)

5. It will be headquartered in the city of seven hills, Rome

6. It will be a religio-political entity - a political city-state ruled by a priest-king

7. Its priest-king will make great and blasphemous claims

8. It will claim authority over all kings

9. It will claim its power to change the holy times and laws of God as its mark of authority

10. It will be an apostate Church that makes the nations drink her cup of apostate doctrine

11. It will be a “mother” Church, with apostate daughters coming from her (denominations)

12. It will be a persecuting power, killing the faithful saints of Jesus Christ as heretics

13. It will hold power and authority for 1260 years following the fall of pagan Rome

14. It will suffer a deadly wound that will end 1260 years of dominance and persecution

15. It will be revived after the deadly wound, and all the world would wonder at its revival

In this “Historicist” interpretation, the Antichrist was clearly not merely a single individual, it was a system of apostasy and persecution that would hold control for over twelve centuries. Paul made it clear that the “man of sin” is a “son of perdition”, just like Judas (Jn 17:12)– someone who falls away from the faith.  John confirms this when he wrote concerning the antichrists, “they went out from us, but they were not of us” (1 John 2:19). The inevitable conclusion of those who studied these prophecies in scripture, before and during the Protestant Reformation, was that there was only one entity that fit all these characteristics and perfectly: the Papal dynasty of the Roman Catholic Church. Is it any wonder that the Catholic Church was so violently opposed to the scriptures being available for everyone to read for themselves? There was such a stir created during the reformation that the Fifth Lateran Council (1512-17 A.D.) resorted to strictly forbidding anyone to publish a book without prior censorship, and also prohibited anyone from preaching on the subject of antichrist. The intent of both Futurism (Pre-Trib rapture) and Preterism was to be a diversion, to counter or offset the Protestant Historical interpretation, and present alternatives, no matter how implausible they might be.

The result is evident from the following chart, which illustrates the three schools of interpretation regarding antichrist. Francisco Ribera (a Jesuit priest) formulated futurism (Pre-trib rapture), which puts the antichrist into a future three and one-half literal years. Alcazar, another Catholic, formulated preterism, which identifies the antichrist as Emperor Nero. Both of them put antichrist outside of the middle Ages and the reformation period, identified by Protestant Historicists as Antichrist’s dark reign of 1260 prophetic years.

God’s true Church is represented as a woman
Understanding that a Woman in Bible prophecy represents a Church is an extremely important point that must not be overlooked as it proves that a “WOMAN” (includes mystery Babylon) has to be a “Church.” God also refers to “Israel” as a “Woman” (HER) as it represents the Old Testament Church that brought forth the Man child (Jesus Christ) in Revelation 12. Do not miss that God called “Israel” a “Harlot” because she worshipped other gods and committed spiritual adultery. Which Church deleted the Commandment on idolatry in the ten commandements? Which Church has the statue of St Peter in St Peters Cathedral which was originally the statue of the pagan god Jupiter? This statue has had its foot kissed away and replaced several times because of the multitude that have bowed down to this statue and kissed its foot.

When the Church apostatized it was compared with a corrupt Woman
This next verse refers to Israel’s temporary ceremonial law. Note how God calls them HER sabbaths and HER feast days etc. Israel is frequently through the Old Testament referred to as a “Woman” (HER) as the Old Testament Church and when she worshipped other gods etc, she was called a “Harlot” and a “Whore.”

Hosea 2:11 “I will also cause all HER mirth to cease, HER feast days, HER new moons, and HER sabbaths, and all HER solemn feasts.”

Ezekiel 16:26-32 “You have also committed FORNICATION with the Egyptians your neighbours, great of flesh; and have increased your whoredoms, to provoke me to anger... 28 You have played the WHORE also with the Assyrians, because you were unsatiable; yes, you have played the HARLOT with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.

Jeremiah 3:1-25 “...If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? ...but you have played the HARLOT with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD. 2 ...you have polluted the land with your WHOREDOMS and with your wickedness. 3 ...you hadst a WHORE'S FOREHEAD, you refusedst to be ashamed... 6 The LORD said also unto me... Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there has played the HARLOT...

Revelation 17:1-5 “...I will show unto you the judgment of the great WHORE that sitteth upon many waters: 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed FORNICATION, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3 ...I saw a WOMAN sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the WOMAN was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her FORNICATION: 5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON the great, the MOTHER of HARLOTS and abominations of the earth.”

God’s true Church is represented as a Woman
Isaiah 54:5-6 “For your Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and your Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. 6 For the LORD has called you as a WOMAN forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when you were refused, saith your God.”

Jeremiah 6:2 “I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate WOMAN.”

2 Corinthians 11:2 “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”

Ephesians 5:31-32 “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning CHRIST AND THE CHURCH.”

Christ is represented as the Bridegroom and the Church is the bride which of course is a Woman.

Matthew 9:14-15 “Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but your disciples fast not? 15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.”

Revelation 12:1 “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a WOMAN clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:”

Revelation 19:7-8 “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his WIFE has made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.”

How much of Revelation references the Antichrist?
Revelation 12 shows God’s true Church represented as a woman clothed with the sun and a crown with twelve stars that brings forth the man child Jesus. This woman represents the Old Testament Church as Israel and later in the chapter as the New Testament Church. First we see Satan trying to stop the Old Testament Church (Israel) bringing forth the man child being Jesus and then later Satan pursuing God’s true Church through the Papal system shown also by the two references to the 1260 dark Papal years.

Revelation 13 We saw previously that the first composite beast represented the Papacy and was unlocked by Daniel 7 and revealed who is the antichrist that shed the blood of millions of innocent Christians which we will see mentioned many times. As we have also seen, this first beast received a deadly wound in 1798 but we are told that the wound will be healed and so the Catholic Church has revived much of its power again. The second beast gave power back to the first beast and the mark of the beast has been enforced. The Mark of the Beast is ‘666’, which is the number of man (Man was made on day 6).  To get the beast’s mark in your head is to fill your mind with the inventions of man-made religion. Historicists have various views as to whose “name” the number 666 refers to, since it is called the “number of his name”.  Andreas Helwig (1572–1643) explained the mystic number 666 by reference to the pope’s official Latin title: Vicarius filii Dei (translated: “Vicar of the Son of God”). The Roman numeral value of this title (i.e., V= 5, I= 1, C= 100, L= 50, D= 500, all other letters = 0) totals exactly 666. This title reportedly was written upon the crown known as the “Triple Tiara” worn by the popes at their coronations. In the seventeenth century, it was erased from the miter.

Revelation 14 The three angel’s messages are given and we are told that we should worship God only and not the antichrist beast power. Those who worship the beast get their mark and incur the wrath of God and those that do not worship the beast go through another time of tribulation under the false religious system (as in the dark ages) because they refused to worship the beast and they do this by keeping the Commandments of God by the faith of Jesus. Revelation 14:7-12.  Here we see the first reference to the beast being referred to as Babylon.

Revelation 15 We see seven angels with the seven last plagues preparing to deal with the antichrist beast power, those that received their mark and the false prophet. We also see those that “had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name.”

How Babylon Fell
Before going into the next chapter we must first study some Bible history about ancient Israel and literal Babylon. In 605 B.C., “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon” came “to Jerusalem, and besieged it” Daniel 1:1. Jerusalem was conquered and Judah was taken captive for 70 years Daniel 9:2. After 70 years, an amazing set of circumstances occurred. The Euphrates was dried up, Babylon was conquered from the east and God’s people were delivered. Ancient Babylon sat on the Euphrates River which ran through Babylon entering and exiting through two spiked gates whose bars reached down into the riverbed. When these twin gates were shut and all other entrances were closed, Babylon was virtually impregnable. In 538 B.C. when ancient Babylon fell, her king and subjects were drunk with wine (see Daniel 5) and so were the guards who forgot to fully close the double doors. Over 100 years earlier, God had predicted concerning Babylon and the Euphrates, “I will dry up your rivers” Isaiah 44:27. The Lord also spoke about “Cyrus” the man who conquered Babylon saying, “I will...open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut” Isaiah 45:1. Moreover God called Cyrus “my shepherd” and “his anointed” Isaiah 44:28; 45:1. Thus Cyrus was a type of Jesus Christ and he ALSO came “from THE EAST” Isaiah 46:11.

The Two Babylon’s
The first kingdom in Daniel 2 is Babylon which Nebuchadnezzar built and was king of. From this came Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. In the world today you can see the evidence of paganism and traditions from all these first four kingdoms which is why the beast power in Revelation 13 is a composite beast made up of all the beasts that represented these first four kingdoms shown by the same individual corresponding beasts found in Daniel 7. This first beast in Revelation 13 which is Papal system is the result of all the paganism and traditions that date right back to Babylon. In the Old Testament Babylon was a pagan nation who took God’s people into captivity and defiled the Temple of God. They worshipped idols and their king, and trod the Word of God underfoot. This great city was finally destroyed just as the prophets predicted. This is going to happen again spiritually. As this Apostate Church has taken on all the paganism and traits of what came from literal Babylon, God refers to this Apostate Church also as “BABYLON.”

Now, in Revelation 16 the angels commence pouring out the punishment from God as we draw very close to the second coming of Christ. We are told that “great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.” The “sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of THE EAST might be prepared.” Remember there is a lot of symbolism and PARALLELS here to literal Babylon and so this is not the literal river Euphrates that Babylon was built upon which was dried up to defeat Babylon.

Revelation 17 shows “the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters.” This “woman is drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” This is referring to spiritual Babylon. She also sits upon the river Euphrates that is dried up as mentioned in Revelation 16 but this is not referring to the literal river. Literal Babylon sat upon the literal river Euphrates but spiritual Babylon sits upon a spiritual or symbolic river Euphrates. We are not left to guess what this symbolic water represents. Verse 17 says that the water that spiritual Babylon sits upon represents “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” So what is dried up is the support of the people for this antichrist Papal system. God opens people’s eyes so that they realize they have been deceived and they “shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.” Literal Babylon was defeated by Cyrus drying up her literal water (the Euphrates) and spiritual mystery Babylon will be defeated by God drying up her symbolic water (the support of many people). For more information, see this page of the Battle of Armageddon.

Revelation 18 We are told that Babylon is fallen that made “all nations drank nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of HER fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with HER.” “In HER was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth” through the dark ages. We also see a call for “God’s PEOPLE” to come out of “HER” so they do not partake of HER sins or plagues. Revelation 18:2-4. God knows that there are many of His true children innocently caught up in this antichrist Papal system that do not understand what this Church is truly all about or has done.

Revelation 19 The punishment is complete and the false religious system is destroyed, “And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he has judged the GREAT WHORE, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand... And her smoke rose up for ever and ever... 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.”

As you can see, the Papal system is the major theme in Revelation as well as Daniel because since not long after Christ, SHE has continued to have a massive impact on what truly does matter to God, i.e., His Church. She is the root of many false doctrines, has changed God’s law and shed the blood of millions of innocent Christians they called heretics etc. Now for more evidence on who is the antichrist by proving the Beast power is also Mystery Babylon. When Israel committed spiritual adultery, God called His Old Testament Church a “WHORISH WOMAN”, a “HARLOT” and a “WHORE” and accused her of “FORNICATION” and “ADULTERY.” The Catholic Church is guilty of much worse than Israel. In a recent address to the nations, Pope Benedict caused a major uproar among many Churches as he referred to the Catholic Church as being the “MOTHER” Church and called for all the daughter Churches to come back to HER. A large percentage of the Churches today are called daughter Churches because they originally came from the Catholic Church, eg: Martin Luther, who had been a Catholic priest established the Lutheran Church. Sadly, many of the daughter Churches have also ignorantly inherited various false doctrines and this is why SHE is called the “MOTHER OF HARLOTS” as is Mystery Babylon.

God’s True Church versus the False apostate Church
In Revelation 12, God’s true Church is described as a “great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars” in strong contrast to the “great whore” of mystery Babylon; “the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication.” Revelation 17:4. God likens His Church to a “wife” (woman) that “has made herself ready” for “the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Revelation 19:7-9, “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready. ... 9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Here Christ is the bridegroom and the Church is the bride (woman). The Babylonian woman who has “fallen” (Revelation 14:8; 18:2) therefore has to signify that “Mystery Babylon” represents a globally supported Church that has “fallen” away from her true lover, Jesus Christ, and from Bible truth and God’s law. The woman “clothed with the sun” (vs. 1) on the other hand is God’s true Church bringing light into the world and still keeps God’s Commandments (vs. 17) in loving obedience the same way the early Church did, hence the term remnant. Note how the 12 stars constitute the crown (vs. 1). The crown denotes rulership and organization. In the Old Testament you had 12 tribes of Israel and 12 judges and in the New Testament you had 12 Apostles and the final remnant Church that will be translated is symbolised by the number 144,000 which is a multiple of 12. Note God’s true Church having to flee for the 1260 years from the same seven headed, ten horned beast described in Revelation 13 and Daniel 7 representing the Papacy. (Revelation 12:6, 14.) Compare Daniel 7:25.

As one can see from the above comparison, in Revelation 17 we have the absolute opposite to God’s true Church. Here we find the WOMAN representing a Church described as the GREAT WHORE which is an apostate Church drunk on the blood of the saints and is absolutely and unquestionably the Papal Church of the dark ages.

Revelation 17:1-6 “...Come hither; I will show unto you the judgment of the GREAT WHORE that sitteth upon many waters: 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed FORNICATION, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a WOMAN sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, the MOTHER OF HARLOTS and abominations of the earth. 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.”

Numbers 15:38-39 “Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: 39 And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that you may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that you seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you use to go a whoring:”

Besides blue, the other colours of the garments that the priests were to wear had the colours purple, scarlet and gold. Blue represents God’s law.  Though the Catholic priests’ robes have purple, scarlet, and gold, they don’t have the color blue; nor does the great whore (Rev 17).  True religion keeps the commands of God (Rev 12:17, 14:12, 22:14).  False religion does not.

Exodus 28:3-6 “And you shall speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office. 4 And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office. 5 And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. 6 And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work.”

In John’s vision in Revelation 17, we are shown the judgment that must come upon the mother of all Churches, Mystery Babylon. The judgment is because she thought to change God’s law and has the blood of millions of Christians the Papacy called heretics on her hands etc. You will note many of the same identifying marks as the Antichrist beast power described in Revelation 13:1 being Papal Rome. Since a woman in Bible Prophecy represents a Church and a beast a kingdom, what we symbolically have is a woman riding and in control of a beast. This literally would be a Church in control of a kingdom or more specifically, a Church in control of state as was the Roman Catholic Church for 1260 dark years.

Other Chapters in Revelation Summarized

The 7 Churches (Revelation 2,3) – Of course these were real churches with real issues in the first century.  However, these also reflect successive phases of Christianity from the time of John to the consummation.

The 7 Seals (Revelation 5,6) - These also reflect successive phases of Christianity from the time of John to the return of Jesus Christ. For instance Ambrose, Bishop of Havilburg, wrote in approximately 1145 AD, "The white horse typifies the earliest state of the church, white with the luster of miraculous gifts: the rider Christ, with the bow of evangelical doctrine ... The red horse is the next state of the church, red with the blood of martyrdom; from Stephen the proto-martyr to the martyrs under Diocletian ... The black horse depicts the Church's third state, blackened after Constantine's time with heresies ... The pale horse signified the Church's fourth state, colored with the hue of hypocrisy ... This state he makes to have commenced from the beginning of the fifth century ...". This historicist view of the Seals was "the usual" view of most expositors down through the ages.

The 7 Trumpets (Revelation 8, 9) - Daubuz, Mede, and Jurieu, along with almost all Reformation Protestants, saw Trumpets 1-6 as depicting the desolations and fall, first of the Western empire, then the Eastern. Mr. Gulloway's (1802) brief commentaries, in harmony with other Protestants, viewed "the first four [trumpets] depicting that of the Gothic invasions of the West; the 5th and 6th, or two first woe- trumpets, those of the Saracens and Turks in the East". Mr. Bicheno (1793) also saw the 5th and 6th trumpets like most other Protestant interpreters, of the Saracens and Turks. Some historicists apply the 5th and 6th trumpets (The army of locusts) to Islam.

The Two Witnesses (Revelation 11) - Tichonius (4th century) saw the sackcloth-robed witnesses as either the two Testaments, or the light-giving Church fed by the oil of the old and new testaments. Most Protestants saw the two witnesses as faithful Christians throughout the Dark Ages who opposed the Papal Supremacy. Sir Isaac Newton wrote of the bitter times of the [Papal] Beast's 1260 years, and the Witnesses' prophesying in sackcloth. Vitringa (18th century) discerned the Witnesses prophesying in sackcloth with a bold antipapal testimony from Peter Valdes to the Reformation. The two witnesses are not two individuals.  They are the church!  How do I know that?  Because John tells us that they are the candlesticks (Rev 11:4), which he earlier said were the churches (Rev 1:20). 

THE PRETERIST VIEW VS. THE HISTORICIST VIEW

Let us for a moment consider the Preterist view of prophecy.  Preterists teach that most prophecy (if not all of it) has already been fulfilled with the destruction of Jerusalem and the fall of the Roman Empire.   There is a major problem with this view.  The Roman Empire was represented by the legs of iron on Nebuchadnezzar’s statue, not the feet of iron mixed with clay (Daniel 2)!  The Second Coming of Jesus will be in the days of the feet of iron mixed with clay not in the day of the legs of iron.  Why do the preterists insist on such a view?  There are many reasons, but I’ll list a couple reaons that they claim teach such a thing.

·         First of all, they claim that there are many exhortations in the New Testament that coming of Christ is very soon (e.g. Rev 1:3) – and these statements were written 2000 years ago.  So Christ must have “come” 2000 years ago.  I understand the effort to try to be faithful to our modern day understanding of what “soon” means.  Yet, Paul warned against presumptuous teachers who would claim Christ’s coming was really “at hand” in that day (See 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3).  God’s days are as our thousand years.  Sometimes I think God put such imminent warnings in the New Testament to keep us on our toes.

·         Secondly, they claim that there are verses which confine the “coming” of Christ to within a generation of Jesus. Theses verses are given below:

Matthew 16:28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

At first glance, this may seem like Christ is referring to His second coming.  The parallel accounts in Luke and Mark give a better description of what He means by “coming in his kingdom”:

Luke 9:27  But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.

Mark 9:1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

So we see that Christ is speaking more about a manifestation of the power of the kingdom of God that they would see in their lifetime.  If we read on, we see that a glimpse of His kingdom is demonstrated to them: 

Matthew 17:1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 2  And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light… 5  While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

Peter later tells us in his epistle that this is the event Christ was referring to when He spoke of His coming and power in Matthew 16:28:

2 Peter 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17  For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.         

Another popular verse that Preterists allude to is Luke 21:32:

Luke 21:32  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

They claim that the pronoun “all” is referring to all of the events in Luke 21, including the coming of Christ in verses 27-28.  I’ll make three critical points:

1)   Concerning the signs of the coming of Christ, verse 28 tells us, “when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” What type of redemption happened in 70AD?  None! The same Greek word for ‘redemption’ is used in Romans 8:23, which tells us that the redemption is the “redemption of our bodies” (i.e. the resurrection/glorification).  This event is still in the future.  It did not occur in 70 AD. That’s for sure.

2)   Luke 21:36 demonstrates that Luke uses the phrase “all these things” to speak solely of tribulation events, not including the “Son of Man coming”.  Certainly the disciples wouldn’t want to “escape” the coming of Christ.  So we can safely understand verse 32 as saying, “this generation shall not pass away till the tribulation preceding His return be fulfilled.”

3)   The verb “fulfilled” is an aorist tense verb.  Depending on the context, an aorist verb can be interpreted different ways. Since we have already seen in previous studies that tribulation spans the entire church age, I am inclined to interpret this aorist verb as an ingressive aorist verb which would have us translate it "from the perspective of initiated action" and therefore render it: "I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things begin to come to pass" (William Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek, pg 193). 

In other words, Jesus is simply telling them that great tribulation would be initiated in their generation, which was certainly true.  He didn’t mean that everything would happen in that generation.  Of course, Titus destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD.  Yet that wasn’t the end of great tribulation. It was merely the beginning.  Tribulation continues until the future second coming. We know this because Jesus said, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days … they shall see the Son of man coming” (Mt 24:29-30).  We already established that the “redemption”, which coincides with His “coming”, is yet future. Therefore, great tribulation spans from their “generation” up until the “Son of man coming”. This tribulation takes on various forms, from the inquisition dungeons of the dark ages, to the modern day martyrdoms in Muslim nations, to the subtle verbal persecution in the American workplace.

CONCLUSION

The Historicist view has been the interpretive approach of numerous well-known individuals: Albert Barnes, Bengel, Elliott, Martin Luther, Joseph Mede, Isaac Newton, Vitringa, William Whiston, and John Wycliffe, and John Wesley. The Historicist School contained the viewpoint of almost all Protestant Reformers from the Reformation into the 19th century. Historical research shows that both the Preterist and Futurist schools were definitely put forth by Jesuit scholars in their earnest attempts to divert the unanimous Protestant application of Daniel's "little horn" prophecy and Revelation's "beast" prediction to the rise and work of Papal Rome.