The Seven Year Tribulation, and Who Is He?

Most adherents of the Futurist interpretation do not even have a clue as to where the seven year tribulation is derived from in the scripture itself, though it happens to be the host period of every key event that differentiates their view from the historical position.

The Seven Year Tribulation Deception
There are two foundational scripture passages upon which the futurist seven-year tribulation is based:

The Seventeenth Century Puritans on the Revelation

The Seventeenth Century Puritans
In tracing the development of the interpretation of the Revelation as ceaselessly following the unveiling of the plan of Providence by the events of history, we direct our attention at this stage to the fresh page of history which lay before the eyes of prophetic interpreters in the seventeenth century.

I. The Reformation of the sixteenth century was succeeded by the great Papal Reaction of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; a movement which included the founding of the Order of the Jesuits, the Marian persecutions, the wars in France against the Huguenots; the Auto-da-fes of the Inquisition in Spain; the decrees and anathemas of the Council of Trent; the diabolical attempt of the Duke of Alva to exterminate Protestants in the Netherlands, of whom 18,000 were slaughtered in six years; the fearful massacre of St. Bartholomew in 1572; the invasion of the Spanish Armada in 1588; the Jesuit attempts on the life of Queen Elizabeth; the Gunpowder Plot in 1605; the sanguinary Thirty Years War beginning 1618; the massacre of 20,000 Protestants in Magdeburg in 1631; the diabolical barbarities of Count Tilly in Saxony; the massacre of 40,000 Protestants in Ireland in 1641; and wholesale slaughter of the Waldenses in 1655; together with other wars, massacres, and persecutions too numerous to be mentioned.

Interpreting the Seven Kings of Revelation 17

Interpreting the Seven Kings of Revelation 17 by the criteria in the divinely given interpretation.

(v. 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.

First of all verse ten, the Angel time dates the 6^th king (or power) as contemporary with John, that would be the Roman Empire present with him. Verse 11 identifies these kings (from the Greek βασιλεύς)^[1] as beasts. Therefore we must look in the scripture for our enumerated beast powers.

So as some believe Pagan Rome to be the 6^th, and Papal Rome to be the 7^th, this cannot be for several reasons:

1. Papal Rome is not a separate beast; and,
2. Papal Rome does not merely continue a short space, but in reality far exceeds the space of Pagan Rome.

Therefore the 6^th king/beast is both, Rome Pagan and Papal. The 7^th had not yet come. There is only one additional beast that shows up in the Revelation: and that is the Second or Earth Beast of chapter 13.

Interpreting the Earth Beast of Revelation 13

Rise of the Two Horned Earth Beast
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; (Rev 13:11-14)
Chapter 13 of the Revelation is an overview of the final phase in the life, machinations, and affiliations of the greatest and most enduring of the final world dominating powers, or beasts, created by mortal man, with its revived head and supporting companions, the Earth Beast and its Image, before it goes to perdition.

Attributes of the Earth Beast Prefigured in the Vision:
Let us examine the mentioned attributes of this seventh beast power from the divine text itself, and see if we can find a candidate in subsequent history that satisfies all of the criteria following. Here we refer to our previous discussion which identifies this new Beast Power, with the Seventh King/Beast of Revelation 17:9-11, and the attributes enumerated there:
1. He “is not yet come”:
Here is a direct future tense reference to an appearance of a seventh King/Beast Power that did not previously exist, future from the present tense of John receiving the Revelation, and future from the “one is” then in existence: the sixth King-Beast already identified as Rome. Revelation 13 has the only mention of the appearance of an additional and subsequent Beast Power in the scripture, so of necessity must be the same Beast Power mentioned in both texts;
2. And, when he cometh, “he must continue a short space.”
Still directing us to the future tense, the author asserts the continuance of this Beast Power must be relatively short in comparison to the other Beast powers before it, or at least the one immediately preceding and contemporary with it, of which the latter seems to be the case.
We now turn back to our primary text above. Revelation 13:11-14:
3. This Beast comes “up out of the earth”:
First, we notice that this Beast does not rise up out of the sea as did the four previous Beast Powers. The sea: waters or flood, each respectively indicating multitudes or a densely populated area, such as the Old World, and conquest by warfare or the sword; this Earth Beast would rise up without conquest of the Beast preceding it, nor would it occupy the highly populated locality of the preceding Sea Beast Powers.
There is only one symbolic use of the word “earth” that I could find in the Revelation, and that concerning the Church’s flight “into the wilderness”. This would seem to confirm the understanding that it refers to the opposite definition than that of the “sea” symbol: that this beast did not rise up in the old world locality where the sea beasts did, but rather would appear from a locality which was sparsely populated upon its rise.
4. “he had two horns like a lamb”:
For reference, averting our attention to the division of the Greek Empire with its singular horn being broke off and supplanted by four horns, signifying a new four-fold division; and the ten horns of the concurrent Sea Beast three being plucked before the little horn, etc.: We expect to see something representing a twofold division of power during the continuance of this Earth Beast as demonstrated by the short history of the Medo-Persian power.
It’s being described as like a lamb is a probable indicator of the attribute one of those horns, or division of power, and the other indicated by our next attribute:
5. “he spake as a dragon.”
This Dragon Influence or division would be concurrent throughout the life of this Beast Power with the two horns, as we notice no change or one horn being plucked up by another as in the Grecian and Roman Empire Beasts previous to it. This Beast may exhibit an equilibrium or even a constant power struggle between its lamb like qualities and dragon like conversation, something similar to the old cartoon caricature with a devil on one shoulder, and an angel on the other, especially in its support of the Sea Beast which derives its power from the Dragon or Satan, the god of this world.
6. “he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him”
In its history the Roman Empire ruled the then known world and all of its civilizations; it had military outposts in many of those nations; it was the police power of the world. This is the kind of power that will be necessary to fulfill the following tasks (7-14) set forth in the vision for this Earth Beast Power:
7. “causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast”
This is an overview of the end result and motivation of this horn division in the following actions or, in the biblical sense, its dragon conversation. He uses the following feats to accomplish world obedience to the First Beast.
8. “doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.”
In the context as in the Roman, this power is military, an overwhelming military power, and contemporarily, this means fire-power.
9. “deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast”
Here we continue the theme of an overwhelming military power that would seem miraculous by any historical standard, and the exhibition of such power in the locality of the sea beast,
10. “saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast”
So much so this power, that the entire earth will easily capitulate to the assembly of The Image of the Beast, and eventual worldwide obedience to it.
11. “he had power to give life unto the image of the beast”
The end result of the wonder, power, and miraculous machinations of this Earth Beast lead to the next step of worship or obedience to the Image of the Beast that was, and is not, and yet is, which will vicariously rule the world through the construct of this Image.
12. “and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”
Indicating that this Second Beast’s dragon speech or horn division of power must be the primary motivator behind the enforcement action of the image it creates.
13. “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark” “that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark…”

Identity of the Earth Beast Prefigured in the Vision:
Now we look to recent history, and it seems so obvious, so wonderfully fulfilled, that only one candidate among the prominent powers of the world stands out immediately as fulfilling every criteria of this Two Horned Earth Beast in every detail prefigured in the apocalyptic vision. Here we expound upon them one point at a time:
1. America had “not yet come” at the reception of the Revelation by John — the New World where this power appeared was an unknown. Upon the punishment and wounding “as it were to death” of that head of the Sea Beast, a dominion that lasted for 1260 years under that head, the Papal Power and its Holy Roman Empire seemed to disappear (was and is not, yet is). By 1870 it seemed only a powerless shadow of it remained.
2. America rises in the New World about the same time of the wounding of the Roman Papal Head and has now existed a little more than 200 years in its current Constitutional established form. How much time can this Beast Power continue before it exceeds the “short space” qualification? Exactly what is “a short space” in context of the prophecy? Even if Christ were not to appear for several hundred years more, America’s time would still be a short space by comparison to the contemporary sea beast.
3. America comes “up out of the earth”: rather than the sea, representing peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues, where the four previous beast powers rose up; this beast rises out of the New World, sparsely populated by comparison. There is no conquest or necessity of assimilation as noticed in the previous consecutive sea beast powers, so that this power can come along side of and support the Sea Beast as predicted at chapter 13.
4. “he had two horns like a lamb” and; 5. “he spake as a dragon.”
When a tenth part of the Papal Kingdom fell, which tenth we have identified as the falling away of Protestant England from the Papal States, many had been fleeing to the New World to escape religious persecution and Papal Inquisition in the same place where Protestant England eventually established thirteen colonies. Canada to the North was a Crown Colony of the Sovereign City of London. Mexico down through all of South America (Latin America) was conquered on behalf of the Vatican by the Papal vassals of Portugal and Spanish Conquistadores. These are all primarily Roman Catholic.
In the New World the only Power that rose up and came to exhibit all of the attributes of the Revelation 13 Earth Beast is the one that developed out of the thirteen colonies planted by Protestant England: The United States America.
These two horns appear to be life-long polar opposites as indicated, they coexist without change during the continuance of the Earth Beast: These two horns demonstrate two equal and opposing powers at the origin of this Beast: lamb like and draconic in speech.
The American Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, on November 15, 1777. The present Constitution for the United States was written during the Constitutional Convention, those that opposed the concentration of power, were able to get the Bill Of Rights attached to it in an attempt to preserve those liberties. It was signed on September 17, 1787.
F. Tupper Saussy, in his book, Rulers Of Evil, unquestionably exposes the dragon influence and intrigue present in the establishment of the U.S. Constitution, and more specifically the concentration of power in the newly created capital of this Beast, the Sovereign City of the District of Columbia. Though this power was founded upon many Godly or lamb like principles, the draconic influence would eventually turn it to come alongside the draconic power of the Sea Beast that infected it at its inception. The History of this alliance between these two Beasts is foretold in the 13th chapter of the Revelation.”
6. “he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him.”
It would take two World Wars centered around the dominant locality of the wounded head to lure this Earth Beast into its predicted apocalyptic position of help and support for the Sea Beast.
It is not insignificant that about the same time this First Beast receives it’s deadly head wound that the Second Beast rises in the New World and in time comes to exercise all of the powers of the First Beast before it until it finally, “causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.” It is all too evident that America exhibits the dichotomy which the Scripture indicates that it would in the two horns as this Earth Beast. As the Roman Empire was once the visible Police Power of the world, so today America, since WWII, has emerged as the Police Power of the world, and …exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him.
“Despite recently closing hundreds of bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States still maintains nearly 800 military bases in more than 70 countries and territories abroad — from giant “Little Americas” to small radar facilities. Britain, France and Russia, by contrast, have about 30 foreign bases combined.”

This Article is an excerpt from ch.8 of Reformed-Prophecy-Interpretation.