Why do you believe so strongly that pope Francis is the 8th king of Revelation 17?
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December 31, 2022 We no longer believe that pope Francis is the Eighth king. However, we continue to believe that the seven mountains/kings are seven popes, with the now-deceased Pope Benedict XVI being the seventh king. The change in our understanding is primarily due to recently gained knowledge of the final events foretold by Prophet Ezekiel. After Yahuwah powerfully intervenes to destroy the armies of Russia, Turkey, and Iran in the mountains of Israel, it will take Israel seven years [Ezekiel 39:9] to clear the land from all of the military equipment of the defeated armies. Suppose we add to this period the time needed for Russia to complete its destruction of Ukraine and the demilitarization of NATO. In that case, we arrive at a longer timeline than the current age of Pope Francis can permit. Furthermore, the phrase [Rev. 17:11] describing the ‘Eighth as one of the seven’ perplexes us. One possible speculation of this divine riddle may be that the pope that will come after Francis may be the long-thought-of demon impersonation of John Paul II. If this were to happen, it would fit the description that the Eighth is indeed one of the seven. Thus, Pope Francis is a transitional pope because he is not one of the seven. It makes more sense that the impersonation of John Paul II is delayed because the world’s stage is not entirely ready for the confluence of the final events that will concurrently unfold on several fronts, climaxing with the return of Yahushua. We are as eager as ever for the return of Yahushua to rule the nations of the world from Jerusalem. But we can’t trump Yahuwah’s timeline. |
Question: Why do you believe so strongly that pope Francis is the 8th king of Revelation 17? Why do you believe that Revelation 17 is referring to kings, rather than kingdoms?
"And the angel said to me, Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, that has the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to ascend out of the abyss and go into perdition. And those dwelling on the earth will marvel, those whose names were not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. And here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits. And there are seven kings; five have fallen, and one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into perdition." (Revelation 17:7-11)
Answer: WLC believes that Revelation 17 is dealing with kings (i.e. popes) rather than kingdoms for several reasons. Here are 3 major points to consider.
- The 7 kings of Revelation 17 can either refer to kingdoms or kings. There is no third possibility. The context of Revelation 17 is all about the Church of Rome. To apply the "kings" in Revelation 17 to kingdoms would be a flagrant violation of the context, but even if we were to apply kings to kingdoms, there is no combination of kingdoms possible that would be in harmony with description given for the kings, especially as it applies to the reign of the 7th king, which was foretold to be of short duration. There is no kingdom today that would fit the short duration description and that would fall before the commencement of the reign of the 8th.
- The "wilderness" context (vs. 3) demands that we focus attention on the time when the papacy was indeed in its "wilderness" experience. This took place when the papacy received the deadly wound in 1798, when Napoleon banished and exiled Pope Pius VI to Valence in France. Prior to 1798, the papacy was supreme to all the emperors, kings, and princes of Europe. And in 1929, the papacy was content to see the popes relegated to mere kings over a land mass of only about 100 acres in Rome. (Until 1860, the papal states alone covered over 1/3 of Italy.) The count of the 7 kings thus began with Pius XI.
- The consequential order of the popes from Pius XI to Benedict XVI fits perfectly with the prophetic description given in Revelation 17 in two ways: in the reign of the 6th king/pope, and the reign of the 7th king/pope. In the former, it was confirmed when the angel took John to the reign of the 6th king (JPII), the longest reign amongst the 7 kings, and the pope who will be most remembered by the end time generation. This consequential order was also astonishingly confirmed by the unprecedented and sudden resignation of Benedict XVI, which has shocked the world and shaken the Catholic Church. Here, now, is the strongest point in support of the heads being 7 actual popes: the sudden resignation of Benedict XVI on Feb 11, 2013. When describing the 7th king, John does not tell us that he will "fall" like the previous 5 kings. Instead, John tells that the 7th will conitnue "for a short space" (Revelation 17:10). We only understood this most important detail after the fact, for we are not accustomed to seeing popes resign. Popes rule until they are dead. Benedict XVI, however, fulfilled the exact description assigned to him, both in the shortness of his reign and, more importantly, in the manner of how his reign ended. This is why, today, our faith in the interpretation of Revelation 17 has never been stronger.
The speed with which Pope Francis has achieved superstar status with the world is most amazing; he has been called the most popular pope in history, Christianity's shining star, humanity's role model, a rock star, the champion of the poor, the real revolutionary, the People's Pope, etc. This is a clear indication that Satan has chosen him as the human agent that will command and execute the final war against Yahuwah's people in these last days. How could a human achieve such an unprecedented worldwide acceptance by all classes and types of people in so short a time, if this was not indeed the last pope? We can ill afford to have our eyes and attention diverted. We are staring into the eyes of Revelation's 8th King.
