The Key to Revelation 17 is the Time

The Most Disputed Prophecy in Church History

Revelation's chapter 17 is indisputably the most disputed chapter of prophetic interpretation in Seventh Day Adventist history. The church has literally changed its official teaching on this subject from what the Pioneers and Protestant reformers agreed was indisputable to a teaching that all the SDA Pioneers agreed was egregious error, yet this was done without any official proclamation; it literally slipped into the church's teachings through popular sentiment. But what is peculiar even in the modern unified teaching is that none of these men agree on the particulars of this subject, only that the pioneers were in error of this text, although none of them are bold enough to address it in that way and despite the fact that the original rational was supported by history and the Testimonies. When presented with this fact pastor Doug Batchelor from Amazing Facts told me "the pioneers didn't know everything" and he refused to get into what the Testimonies say on the subject to defend his unique teachings.


So is this the way God would lead us to the end of time? Are we never to be corrected and unified in our teachings on one of the most important end time prophecies written in scripture?

Look to the 'Tense'

The key to understanding the meaning of this disputed chapter is in the tense of the prophecy. In every paragraph there are clues to help us understand from what perspective John is writing this chapter.


Some people in our church teach that John is presenting the prophecy from his timeframe; which makes the Roman empire the sixth 'head' of the beast because they were who "is" in power in his day. But this is easily dismissed in every paragraph beginning with the first where he is taken in the Spirit to see the "judgment" of the whore. First, every Protestant reformer and SDA Pioneer believed that this harlot is the Catholic church who was not yet formed in John's time, and they only received civil authority (to sit on the beast) after they assumed control of Rome's civil government in 538AD, beginning the 1,260 years of Papal oppression. Secondly, the investigative judgment did not begin until 1844 and since this first verse is obviously referring to the final judgment, including that of the living church in the last days, it must be from that perspective to which John is taken to see, specifically when the investigative judgment passes from the dead to the living and the plagues are about to be poured out. So John is taken to see the actual judgment scene when the books are opened and this harlot is judged after she had already done the things prophesied throughout the book which had not yet taken place in John's time, but before the end of probation to give the final warning to those who are about to lose salvation. The Testimonies and scripture alike calls this the time of the Loud Cry. This one verse sets the scene for what is about to be discussed, delineating the judgment of the things the harlot has done in history and will do until it's too late.

Here are the forensics of the vision

• In verse 1 John is told that he is to be taken in the Spirit to see the Judgment scene in heaven when the fallen church comes into remembrance.
• In verse 2 the kings "have" already committed fornication with her and the whole world is again already drunk with her false doctrines when this judgment will take place.
• In verses 3-5 John is taken to witness the judgment scene which begins from the wilderness when the Papacy persecuted God's people for 1,260 years, and culminates in verse 5 when the Protestant churches begin to join forces with the Harlot which is a recent event. The harlot officially became a mother in 1999 when the Lutherans became the first Protestant church to sign the first ever ecumenical agreement with the Papacy. Never before had any other church officially united with her and the harlot cannot be sealed with the title "MOTHER OF HARLOTS" until she has daughters.
• In verse six it shows how the Protestants should know better than joining forces with the harlot because she is still drunk from the blood of their founding fathers and when John saw this scene even HE wondered with great admiration, showing how cunning all of this will be even to the elect.
• Verse seven says an angel has to explain these things to John (and obviously to us too) so we will not be confused, which is a direct reference to the three angels message refining our prophetic insight.
• Verse eight gives us clarity on who this harlot and beast is which is obviously necessary on this subject with so much confusion out there. The angel says this beast "was" yet "is not" when the deadly wound was inflicted on the head of the beast in 1798 and the mystery of iniquity began to be proclaimed that the Papacy is this deadly power. (perfectly fulfilled exactly on schedule) This verse also says that anyone who cannot see this will follow the beast to hell.
• Verse nine details exactly where this beast power has it's headquarters, the seven hilled city of Rome.

Verse 10: The Center Point of the Prophecy

Verse ten shows what Papal king after the healing of that deadly "head" wound will be in power when God begins to judge the Harlot and this is the center point of the prophecy, giving the exact timeframe of when the Judgment of the living church begins. It shows that John was taken in the Spirit to see the reign of the six pope after the deadly wound was healed and the Papacy began to regain it's political power. Since the Papacy regained it's title of "king" in 1929, John Paul II was this sixth king when this judgment scene began and this fits perfectly with verse 5 because the Lutherans joined with the Harlot in 1999 during the reign of the sixth king John Paul II. What are the odds of this happening?


All of this proves that John the Revelator was taken in the Spirit to see the year 1999 when the Harlot became a mother which is why she has the title "THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS" sealed on her forehead in capital letters so we cannot miss it. But gee, why is it that every pastor in the SDA church has missed this point? Why am I the ONLY person who has seen this so far? I have yet to read anyone else say these things, even from the few pastors I have heard teach that the seven heads of the beast are the last seven popes before the eighth and final pope (Pope Francis). If looked at from this perspective it empowers the message beyond just conjecture but no one seems to want to test this message because it comes from someone who claims that God gave it to him in a vision?


Again, I adjure the leaders of the SDA church to test this message. You are losing precious time to share this with the world, and every day you lose the possibility to strengthen the loud cry.


Once you get to this point in the prophecy the seventh and eighth kings and the perspective of the rest of Revelation 17 are easy to place.


The seventh king was Benedict 17 who became the only uncontested pope to retire so he "must remain a little while" after his reign just as the prophecy says. On the anniversary of the Lateran Treaty in 2013 he heard a voice tell him to retire and lightning struck St. Peter's twice. Coincidence?


The eighth king is Pope Francis the Jesuit. The Jesuits were the nasty army of the pope in the Dark Ages and responsible for millions of Protestant deaths. They were the "beast that was" just as the prophecy says the eighth king would be. The Jesuits call themselves perinde ac cadaver which means to be 'like a corpse' and in Matthew 24:28 Jesus said the sign of His soon second coming would be "where the CORPSE is there the eagle will gather". Now "the beast that was" will regain its strength and the eagles will gather, and the United States invited this pope to SPEAK from congress for the first time ever so the lamb-like beast has begun to SPEAK like the dragon but I suppose this is all coincidence?


Father please wake your church up. In Jesus name amen.