Luke 21:8

Christian, Be Not Deceived!

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT 

"WHEN HE-THE 7th HEAD-COMETH, HE MUST CONTINUE A SHORT SPACE." 

In a previous chapter it was necessary to make mention concerning the 7th head, about which it was declared: "And when he cometh he must continue a short space", or "little while" (R.V.). This is the only occasion when mention is made regarding time concerning these 7 heads. Therefore the mention of the duration of the 7th head in contrast to the complete silence regarding the time element in regard to the other heads, would surely suggest its importance to the people of God. The application of this 7th head to the Exarch of Ravenna caused those who adopted that interpretation to assume that because this head was to operate for "a little while" it was therefore of such little importance that it need not be counted as one of the heads! Thus the only head to have a time period mentioned in connection with it was singularly selected to represent a power not worth considering. But surely by the very fact that this 7th head is selected from among all the others as the only one to have time connected with it indicates its importance. We have already shown that the period covered by the Exarch of Ravenna, instead of being "a little while" when compared with the short two years of the Decemvirs, was actually a very long period by that comparison. But we need not consider that illogical view any further in this chapter as we have already dealt with it previously.  

As we have shown he 7th head is the last of the heads!—the beast has but 7 heads–and this beast in its resurrected state is aided in its deadly work against the remnant church by the ten horns, or the ten kings, that "receive power as kings one hour with the beast." (v. 12). Thus the "short space", or "little while", finds a parallel in the time the ten kngs enjoy power with this resurrected beast for "one hour". 

From the Greek word hora it is not possible to obtain an accurate idea of the actual length of time intended. Dr. Strong says that this word means "day, hour, instant, season". While a certain indefiniteness as to the actual length of time may result from the word itself, yet the context guides us in our understanding of the significance the Lord thus sought to convey. Rev. 17 and 18 must be understood as being supplementary and complementary to each other-the destruction of Babylon as a city described in Rev. 18 pictures the same destruction of Babylon – the destruction of the Babylonian whore who is said to be 

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"that great city"–mentioned in the closing verses of Rev. 17. Three times in Rev. 18 the destruction which is to befall Babylon after her brief hour of triumph, is said to come in "one hour": "Alas, alas, that great city, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come" (v. 10) ; "For in one hour so great riches is come to nought" (v. 17); "For in one hour is she made desolate" (v. 19) In a previous publication–"Before Probation Closes"–we have had occasion to mention in detail the fact that Babylon controls the nations from the time of the enforcement of Sunday laws, occurring before probation closes,   until the outpouring of the 6th-plague, which quickly merges into the opening of the 7th plague. Then, through God's intervention on behalf of His people, when His mighty voice is heard throughout the whole world and is associated with astounding demonstrations of His almighty power on behalf of His people, the false religious leaders make their confession of wrong-doing, which results in Babylon being divided; each section turning with fury upon the other until the whole world becomes one vast battlefield. As we have shown in "God Speaks-and Israel Triumphs", from the time that God determines to utterly destroy the hitherto triumphant forces of Babylon at the opening of the 6th plague (note Rev. 16:19 and remember the significance of v. 12), until the coming of Christ is, in the words of the Spirit of Prophecy, "a number of days"; "soon", "close upon" (for extracts see p. 72 of "God Speaks-and Israel Triumphs").  

From these facts we know that this "hour" for the destruction of Babylon can be no more than "a number of days–that is, when the entire length of time taken to completely destroy Babylon, from the time of the 6th plague until the coming of Christ, is considered. The use of the word hour may also be intended to convey the suddenness with which disaster overtakes Babylon. As the "one hour" of Rev. 17:12 is associated with the "one hour" of Rev. 18:10, 17, 19 one is justified in concluding that as the hour mentioned in Rev. 18 refers to a very brief period, so also does the hour of Rev. 17. We have shown that the 7th head is the last of the heads to persecute God's people and will continue from the time Church and State unite in the last days to enforce the mark of the beast until that unity is broken up at the time of the 6th and 7th plagues. Of the length of time this 7th head is to operate we are informed: "And when he cometh, he must continue a short space", or "a little while" (R.V.). The Revised Standard Version reads: "When he comes he must remain only a little while". Goodspeed's translation reads: "The other is not yet come and when he comes his stay must be brief." The New Testament in Modern English, by Montgomery, reads: "And 

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when he does come he must remain a short time." James Moffatt's translation reads: "And when he does arrive, he is only to stay a little while." 

As the hour of Babylon's destruction is "only little while", "a short space", the period during which the 7th head will be permitted to carry out its persecution of the people of God will also be "one hour", "a short space", "a little while", "only a little while"; "when he comes his stay must be brief"; "when he does come he must remain a short time"; "when he does arrive, he is only to stay a little while". The evident meaning is that the 7th head is to be limited to a short space of time when he appears, for it will be observed that when this 7th head comes into being–when the 6th head that was wounded is healed of its death-stroke and resurrected to life and power again (assisted thus by apostate Protestantism)– then it is said that the kings "have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast" receiving "power as kings one hour with the beast". Thus the length of time the 7th head (which is stamped 8 because of its being resurrected from a state of death) persecutes the people of God is plainly declared to be "one hour", for that is the length of time the kings "receive power as kings one hour with the beast"; that is, both the beast and the kings persecute God's people for "one Hour “, "a short space”, "a little while", "only a little while"; for when the beast comes "his stay must be brief, "he must remain a short time", "he is only to stay a little while". 

The writer has already shown that this prophecy, as with some others, has had   an earlier fulfillment. In the Dark Ages the beast persecuted the people of God, and the kings of Europe gave their power and strength unto the beast. Commenting upon “the woman Babylon, of Revelation 17", the Lord's servant says: "The power that for so many centuries maintained despotic sway over the monarchs of Christendom, is Rome" (GC. 382) Thus an application of Rev. 17 to the days Papal tyranny in the Dark Ages is clearly made. Such an application of course is obvious from the chapter itself. Often one finds instances of a fulfilment of prophecy in a general sense which is later repeated in a more specific sense; fulfilled in a more world-wide sense. It is obviously thus with this prophecy. What Rome did during the days of her supremacy when her power was confined mainly to the things of Europe, will be repeated upon a world-wide scale. As the time draws near for the more specific and world-wide fulfilment the more will the Holy Spirit reveal that larger fulfilment to the people of God, and thus prepare them for the scenes therein depicted. The "hour" in the Dark Ages when the kings gave their power and strength unto the beast could he said to be "an era", 

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but as the events portrayed in the prophecies are to be accelerated greatly (as explicitly stated in a number of prophecies) the "hour" is to be seen more explicitly as "a short space", "a little while"; it will be understood in the light of the "hour" mentioned in Rev. 18 for the destruction of Babylon. That destruction will be brought about suddenly in "a number of days", "soon". For "one hour"–"only a little while"–Babylon will persecute the people of God; for one brief hour she will be triumphant. But that hour of triumph changes suddenly into the "hour" for her destruction. 

God gave this message concerning the brevity of the time during which His people would be persecuted over the Sunday-Sabbath issues, in order to encourage them. In "Before Probation Closes" and "God Speaks-and Israel Triumphs", the writer has sought to present facts relative to the length of time involved from the time Sunday laws commence being enforced in the United States until the deliverance of God's people at the time of the 6th and 7th plagues, and from information therein revealed from the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy we were able to show that it will be indeed "only a little while". That time will be terrible in its intensity, but the Lord has given His people assurance that it will be "only a little while". In bringing the controversy to a head, the Lord will permit the power of Babylon to be restored: "For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil His will, and to age, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled" (Rev. 17:17). That agreement, however, will last but "one hour", "a little while", "only a little while", until the outpouring of the 6th plague. When Babylon's fury is let loose, then God will speak to His people through such passages as Isa. 26:20: "Come, My people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity." 

The truth that the storm of Satanic wrath against God's people in the last great conflict will last "as it were for a 'little moment", only for "a short space", for "a little while", "only a little while", only for one brief "hour", Satan has sought to hide under the application of the 7th head to the Exarch of Ravenna, or by misapplying the 7th head to any other power than the one that will exist until the time of the 6th and 7th plagues. 

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