Will the Churches rise to power?
This article being assembled April 25, 2023

This discussion triggered by a discussion about the "one hour" Rev. 17:12.

This chapter is about "the judgment of the great whore." We do not need to question who this is for we are told in verse 5 that she is "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH"

In order to understand when the "one hour" of verse 12 takes place we must first determine what time our context shows us.

In verse 3 we are told of a red dragon with 7 heads and 10 horns. This is the Roman Empire. Historically the 7 heads were:
1Consular (Republic) 60 B.C. to 31 B.C.
2Imperial 31 B.C. to 476 A.D.
3Gothic 476 A.D. To 538 A.D.
4Papal 539 A.D. To 1799 A.D.
5Napoleon 1799 A.D. To 1814 A.D.
6Papacy restored 1814 A.D. To 1870 A.D.
7Monarch 1870 to 1946 A.D.
Seven Heads of Rome


Ten horns -- The ten divisions of power of the Roman empire. see Dan. 7:7 The ten toes of the image represent the ten divisions of the Roman Empire, though they have varied over the centuries.
  1. France
  2. Germany
  3. Austria
  4. Switzerland
  5. England
  6. Spain
  7. Portugal
  8. Lombardy
  9. Romania
  10. Ravenna.
Please consider the Additional Comments for Rev. 17:10-12.

Rev. 17:18 Tells us exactly who the woman is: "And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." Under the Seventh Plague (Armageddon) this same city referenced in Rev. 16:19 where it is broken down into its 3 component parts. These are the same 3 parts described under the Sixth plague (vss 12-16), i.e., the dragon (civil power), the beast (church of Rome), and the false prophet (organized Protestantism - which came into being in 1846.)

The connection to the "Times of the Gentiles" should be clear. Remember that "the times of the Gentiles" relates directly to Gentile rule over the city of JERUSALEM! When that time was due to end (after 2520 years) the true King (Christ) takes unto himself his great power and begins to "dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." When Babylon falls it will NEVER rise again. Jer. 25:27,29 ("the city which is called by my name.") Rev. 18:2,4 Rev. 18:10 Rev. 18:21.

A Principle of God. Rom. 4:17. "God, who .. calleth those things which be not as though they were." Isa. 55:9,11. The principle here is that God marks the beginning of something that HE has started as being the fulfillment. Case in point – Isa. 34:2.

The point here is that we should look for the Beginning of these things as marking their fulfillment, no matter how long it may take for them to reach their fulness.