In verse 3 of the chapter we are told that in order to see the judgment of the great whore, John had to be carried in the Spirit into the wilderness. When he got there, what did he see? He saw the whore sitting upon the scarlet beast. Now if he had to go to the wilderness to see the whore, where must she have been? In the wilderness.
What does it mean for the woman to be in the wilderness? Is she always there or is it a temporary sojourn and not a permanent one? If we go back to Revelation 12, we find that when the woman (pure church) brought forth the man child (Jesus) where did she flee after the man child was taken up to Heaven? To the wilderness. Between 538 and 1798, the true church of God was in the wilderness. She went there in obscurity as a result of the persecuting powers that sought to destroy her.
Therefore, the true church was not "in the wilderness" when Jesus Christ was living upon the earth nor during the Apostolic period but when the persecution began, that is when she found herself driven into the wilderness. So, obviously, what does it mean to be in the wilderness? It means to be oppressed, persecuted; it means to be the tail and not the head, to be under, and not above.
During the time when the true church of God was "in the wilderness," was Papal Rome also in the same place? No. She was on top. She was sitting as a queen! Now, what about John's own day? Was Pagan Rome persecuted and driven away from her own natural habitat or was she likewise on top of the world? On top!
So, when did the papal power go "into the wilderness?" In 1798 the papacy was driven "into the wilderness" in a position of oppression and obscurity. But that did not stop the papacy from doing her work to regain the supremacy of the world. Since then she has been working in obscurity, working behind the scenes, pulling the strings, politically and religiously. Therefore, what was John's point of reference? After 1798.
Verses 9 and 10: "Here is the mind which has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. There are seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time."
In prophecy, what does a "mountain" symbolize? A kingdom. In Jeremiah 51:25, Babylon is described as being a "destroying mountain." Daniel 2 mentions two mountains. The one from which the stone was cut and the one under which the stone grew. What do these "mountains" symbolize? God's Kingdom.
"The seven heads are seven kings: five have fallen, one is, and the other is not yet come and when he comes, he must continue a short time."
To identify those kings, what must we have? Again, a point of reference before which five have fallen, one still remained, and the other had not yet come.
If we take John's own day as the point of reference this is what we get:
Five have fallen
1. Egypt
2. Assyria
3. Babylon
4. Medo-Persia
5. Greece
__________
6. Pagan Rome (POINT OF REFERENCE)
___the one that is in John's day_____
7. Papal Rome---yet to come
But then, we have a problem because we have one that is, and in John's day, that one was Pagan Rome and the other one which had not yet come was Papal Rome. But what about the beast of Revelation 11, Atheistic France, and the lamb-like beast of Rev.13, Apostate Protestantism? So if we take John's day as the point of reference, we have to say, 5 have fallen, one is, and THREE are yet to come! But does the Bible say that? It doesn't.
But if we take the point of reference given us directly from verse 3 of chapter 17, which is the time after 1798, we now ask the question: which are the five which have fallen? It is, very obviously:
1. Babylon
2. Medo-Persia
3. Greece
4. Pagan Rome
5. Papal Rome
6. Atheism in France (King of the south) after 1798... (POINT OF REFERENCE) Atheism is the one that is since 1798 pushing at the king of the north.
7. Apostate Protestantism (the one which is yet to come; Apostate Protestantism does not have a kingdom yet but when it shall receive power from the state it will have a kingdom; Apostate Protestantism is one of the 10 horns))
What was the satanic form which took over from Papal Rome after 1798? Atheism. Revelation 11:7; The Great Controversy, p.269,270. And what is the other one which has not yet come? The lamb-like beast of Revelation 13, Apostate Protestantism.
Papal Rome is the eighth being of the seven which was before 1798, is not after 1798 (going into obcsurity), and yet is again when her deadly wound is finally healed with the help of Apostate Protestantism.
