Next & Last Pope Will be a Devil Impersonating John Paul II

Through the study of Revelation chapter 17, the Lord has led us to a most startling truth, confirming that we are
nearer to the end of all things than ever imagined. We are prompted by our loving God to share this prophecy, that
none need be ensnared by the global events soon to transpire which will engulf the world in the grandest deception
yet contrived by Satan.

World's Last Chance dares to declare this interpretation to the world because we adhere only to sound Biblical
interpretation. This means we unlock Bible prophecy by using the Bible as its own interpreter. By doing so we are
certain of the correctness of the revelation.

With the vivid realization that we are living in the age just prior to the second coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven,
we pray the Lord will impress you with the shortness of time available before the fate of every living person is
decided, and may His Spirit give you the discernment and wisdom needed as you undertake this solemn study.
AMEN.

REVELATION 17
1. Which part of the Bible led you to reach this conclusion?

"And there came one of the seven angels... saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the
judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2 With whom the kings of the earth have
committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her
fornication. 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a
scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the
woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and
pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5 And
upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF
HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood
of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of . . . [Yahushua]: and when I saw her, I wondered
with great admiration. 7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the
mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into
perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, 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. 9
And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the
woman sitteth. 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet
come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11 And the beast that was, and is not,
even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 12 And the ten horns which thou
sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour
with the beast. 13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. 14
These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords,
and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. 15 And he saith
unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and
nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the
whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 17
For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast,
until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city,
which reigneth over the kings of the earth".Revelation 17:1-18.

2. Give a short explanation of all this.

Briefly, John is shown the final judgment of the great whore due to her own course of action. This great whore,
referred to as Babylonthe great, was shown to John in the wilderness (v. 3). This is an important setting, as will be
seen later.

The description of the whore is parallel to the first beast of Revelation 13 that also has seven heads and ten
horns (v. 7) indicating that both symbols represent the same entity – that being the Roman Catholic papal system.
Furthermore, the whore is described as sitting on seven mountains (v. 9). Rome has frequently been identified as
the City of Seven Hills, from classical times down to contemporary time.

Whereas in Revelation 13 the union of church and state was blended in one symbol, in Revelation 17 God has
pictured them separately. A woman always symbolizes a church in the Bible, in this case the whore – an impure
church. And a beast has always signified a kingdom or state that persecutes God's people. So we have an impure
woman sitting on (i.e. controlling) a scarlet-colored (a bloody) beast (state). This again reinforces the reality of the
Catholic system being the only system that is a church and an earthly kingdom at the same time. This whore is
described as being eminently rich, proud, and more importantly, very corrupt (v. 4, 5). Indeed, it represents Satan's
final supreme instrument of deception. (For more on the prophetic symbols: Prophetic Symbols)

The following verses are key verses: "And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet
come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the
eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition".Revelation 17:10, 11. God elaborates on the seven heads of the
beast, which are identified as seven kings. Significantly, the vision was viewed during the reign of the sixth king. He
was to be followed by the seventh king, who will rule for a short time. However, the eighth king is going to be one of
the previous seven kings, but that when he appears from the bottomless pit (v. 8), he will not only merely be a king
(ruling power) but a beast (a persecuting power); finally, he will then go into perdition.

When one of the seven kings reappears from the bottomless pit as the eighth king but in the form of a beast, the
ten kings of the earth (v. 12) (ten is an all-inclusive, universal number indicating that this includes all earthly rulers;
cf. parable of ten virgins) will be greatly awed by the beast, and will willingly surrender their power to the beast for a
short time (v. 12, 13). Both the beast and the ten kings will rule and war against Christ in the person of His followers
for a short time, but will not overcome them (v. 14).

Just before the end of all things, the ten kings will discover that they have been ensnared and deceived by the beast
(the eighth king from the bottomless pit) and they will turn with vengeance against the beast system, and destroy it (v.
16). For they will this time, though belatedly, be doing God's will (v. 17).

3. Great whore sitting on the beast was viewed in the wilderness (Rev. 17:3).

This is important as it is not by happenstance that the "great whore who sitteth upon the scarlet beast" was seen in
the wilderness. InRevelation 17, God is indicating the time-period that the Roman Catholic Church is viewed in. To
understand what will happen to the world when she comes out of her wilderness experience, we need to understand
how the Roman Catholic Church entered this wilderness experience.
4. What does wilderness mean in Bible prophecy?

In the Book of Revelation we have another instance of a church that went into the wilderness. It was God's true
church during the Middle Ages, when the church was subject to papal persecution: "And the woman (church) fled into
the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand and two hundred
and threescore days."Revelation 12:6. We know that this church was pure, for it is God who led her to the wilderness,
away from the papal persecution that raged for 1260 years from 538 A.D. until 1798 A.D. The dragon (Satan) was
warring against the church during this period, using his earthly instrument, the Roman Catholic Church: "And to the
woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is
nourished for a time, times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." Revelation 12:14. The wilderness then, in
Bible prophecy, is a figure of speech picturing the harsh conditions facing a church in a particular period in her
history.

5. When did God's true church come out of her wilderness experience?

The logical answer to this question would be, when the papal persecution ceased. This officially happened in 1798,
when Napoleon Bonaparte sent to Rome where he exiled Pope Pius VI to Valence in France. At the same time
Berthier declared an end to the temporal power over much of Europe that the Catholic Church had enjoyed up to that
time. It was a most humiliating and abrupt end to a long rule of power that lasted 1260 years. Shortly after, Christian
Bible Societies spread all over the world, with their work unhampered or threatened by papal constrictions. Thus,
1798 marks the date when God's church ended her wilderness experience. Now God's church was totally free to
focus her energies on translating and printing the Bible in as many languages as possible and to conduct missionary
activities all over the world.

6. Did the Catholic Church then enter her wilderness experience just as God's true church came
out of it?

This was exactly the case. In 1798 the Catholic Church not only lost her temporal power over the kings, dukes, and
princes of much of Europe, but was in fact no longer free to carry her own ecclesiastical privileges, such as selecting
a pope to succeed Pius VI. Her representatives needed the permission of Napoleon Bonaparte before they could
appoint Pius VII in 1800 to succeed the pope who died in exile, a year earlier.

Furthermore, the wilderness experience for the Catholic Church came to bear on her in a most profound way from an
entirely unexpected direction – from her own backyard, Italy. Here is the background for the harsh and arid realities of
life that faced the Catholic Church in Italy in the nineteenth century.

After the second and final defeat of Napoleon in 1815, Italians found their peninsula divided into states, duchies, and
Papal States. Metternich, the strong Austrian leader at the time, used to refer to Italy as a mere 'geographical
expression', reflecting the absence of united country. This odd situation gave rise to nationalistic attempts to unify
Italy into one country. However, these attempts were met with great suspicion and resistance from the Catholic
Church. Over time, the conviction grew in the minds of these nationalistic leaders that the Catholic Church was
indeed a serious obstacle to the fulfillment of their national aspirations.

However, the move to unite Italy and form a united nation passed an important milestone when the Papal States were
usurped in 1860 by force. There remained one major obstacle, however, for the creation of one Italian nation. The
Italians wanted Rome, the seat of the Roman Catholic Church and the last piece of property left for the Church, to
serve as the capital of their united country. This Italian dream came about when Italian troops occupied Rome on
September 20, 1870, during the reign of Pope Pius IX. Shortly after, the Kingdom of Italy was declared.
Understandably, the pope refused to recognize the new kingdom and went into voluntary captivity in protest. This
unprecedented situation came to be known historically as the Roman Question. It remained unresolved for 59 years,
during which time all succeeding popes confined themselves to movement within the few buildings in the Vatican in
Rome, refusing to leave Rome. Indeed, the Catholic Church in the nineteenth century was engulfed in a very hostile
wilderness setting.

In summary: we have seen thus far that from 1798 (when Pope Pius VI was banished to Valence by the French
general) up to 1870 (when Rome was usurped by the Italian army), the Roman Catholic Church was entrenched in
her wilderness experience – a far cry from the dominating beast status she had enjoyed during her 1260 years of
supremacy when she was a global persecuting power which directly, or through her over-powering influence over
European rulers, caused the martyrdom of close to one hundred million of God's faithful followers.

7. How was the Roman Question between Italy and the Roman Catholic Church resolved in 1929?

It was incomprehensible for the Roman Pontiff to be the head of Catholics the world over, yet in his own country be
subject to another head of state. The Catholic Church believed that by virtue of his calling, the pope had an
inalienable right to a temporal sovereignty. Only then could he conduct fully and freely his duties as head of the
universal Catholic Church. But this demand conflicted with the natural desire of the Italians for a united nation with
Rome as its capital. Italians after 1870 found themselves torn between their allegiance to the Catholic Church as
Catholics themselves, and their allegiance to their newly-established country. This unresolved tension between the
two sides undermined the new country internationally as well as domestically. A solution for the Roman Question had
to be found!

Both sides of the conflict were eager for an end to this lingering problem. In 1922, Benito Mussolini, the Duke,
and Pope Pius XI came to power. And by 1929 they had at last found a solution to the thorny Roman Question that
had lasted 59 years. On February 11, 1929, three sets of documents, known collectively as the Lateran Accords,
were signed in Rome at the Lateran Palace by Cardinal Gasparri, representing Pope Pius XI, and Mussolini,
representing King Victor Emanuel III.

8. Give a summary of the highlights of the 1929 Lateran Treaty between Italy and the Catholic
Church of Rome.

1. The Italian State recognized the sovereignty of the Catholic Church, and regarded the Church as an
independent member of the international community. By this agreement the Church obtained an
independent state in Rome with an area of about 44 hectares.
2. The Italian State recognized the Roman Catholic Church as the official state religion, and the Catholic
church recognised the independent Kingdom of Italy.
3. All anti-clerical laws passed by the Italian parliament since 1870 were annulled and made void.
4. Cash settlement was made to the Roman Catholic Church to compensate her for renouncing all legal claims
to the City of Rome and the old Papal States.
5. The pope pledged to perpetual neutrality in international relations, and abstention from mediation in any
controversy except when specifically requested by all concerned parties.

9. What is the significance of the Lateran Treaty of 1929 to the wilderness experience which the
Roman Catholic Church was in since 1798?

What the Roman Catholic Church got in 1929 was its independence and sovereignty. The political independence
means that now they had a monarchy, although on much reduced area of land, where the pope was the absolute
ruler. The pope now was not only the supreme head of the Catholic Church universally, but also the indisputable
temporal king over the State of Vatican City. He was no longer a prisoner of captivity.
Notwithstanding, the Roman Catholic Church did not, in 1929, even remotely regain the stature she had prior to 1798,
when she was a beast power. As such, she did not, in 1929, yet come out of her wilderness experience. Although in
1929, and by virtue of the Lateran Treaty, the popes were now universally recognized as sovereign kings, the Lateran
Treaty however stipulated that the popes must pledge to perpetual neutrality in international affairs. This restricting
condition could not have been imagined to be agreed upon by any pope prior to 1798. The Catholic Church long
believed that Christ is the Lord of the whole world, and that at His departure He left His dominion to His
representative, Peter, and to Peter's successors, the popes. Therefore, it is the stated position of the Catholic Church
that true and genuine temporal power and dominion lie exclusively in the hands of the pope. Consequently, every
earthly ruler or monarch possesses only so much power and area as the pope would deem appropriate and good.

In sum, while tangible gains were secured for the Catholic Church by the Lateran Treaty, it did not restore the
primacy and power the Church had enjoyed globally up to 1798, which had enabled her to persecute her enemies,
and hence was tagged in Bible prophecy as a beast power. Hence there is not much significance of the Lateran
treaty of 1929 to the wilderness experience of the Roman Catholic Church, as she still remained in the wilderness,
even after 1929.

10. What about the seven kings of the Roman Catholic Church during her wilderness period?

Now we come to the most important part of the whole chapter. God has prophesied that there will be only seven
kings: "And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he
must continue a short space."Revelation 17:10. From this verse the following facts can be gleaned:
1. Seven kings in total.
2. John was taken in vision to the time of the sixth king: "five are fallen, and one is."He comes after the first
five have fallen. Again, it is not coincidental that when taken in vision, John was taken to the time of the sixth
king. It is a divine hint by which God is guiding us to focus our attention on this particular king, as he will play
a very important role in the end-time events.
3. The seventh king "must continue a short space."

11. So who are the seven kings/popes?