164 The Revelation of Jesus Christ The head that was wounded to death was the imperial form of government, which was in existence when John lived and for about four hundred years thereafter. Later the Huns and other barbarian tribes from the north and east swooped down and overwhelmed the Roman Empire. It was broken in pieces, and the head that was then in existence, the imperial government, was wounded unto death. But we read further ".. . and the wound was healed." While the Roman Empire has been non-existent since that time. it is a marvelous thing that all these nations have much in common; and from time to time the different groups have formed political alliances. The time will come when the beast will form the greatest alliance known to human history, and the world will see "the man of sin," for a time exercising great authority over the revived Roman Empire. In Revelation 17:8 there is a reference to "the beast that was, and is not. and yet is." "It was" in John's day. "It is not" at present. But it shall ascend out of the pit immediately after the translation of the church when the Antichrist, the last c~sar, appears. I am sure, from the statements of the late highly esteemed Woodrow Wilson and others in high authority, that it never entered their heads that the very thing they were trying to do will be accomplished by the devil himself. When the empire comes up, it will be the last counterfeit that the devil will pro duce-the supposition that there can be a millennium without the Son of God. "And the beast that was. and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition" ( Rev. 17: I I). The man that will come will be an imperialist. The ten horns are the ten kings that have received no kingdom as yet. Seven heads represent seven forms of government. England was originally in the Roman Empire, together with Spain, Italy, . Portugal. France, the Balkans, Asia Minor, Palestine, and northern Africa. When the church is raptured, a man will appear on the earth-a man who will epitomize in general all other world emperors. He will be the greatest scientist, the greatest leader, the most brilliant thinker the world has ever known. He will have a conference that will bring the ten kings into a great confederation; he will accomplish what Mussolini
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