ESCHATOLOGY AND ADVENTIST

SELF-UNDERSTANDING
by Jon Paulien
Adventist-Lutheran Dialogue
Publication Draft

Introduction
The Seventh-day Adventist Church, as I understand it, derives its unique witness to Jesus
Christ from the conviction that Biblical apocalyptic prophecies portray a relentless march of
history leading up to a critical climax at the End. That climax calls forth a people from every
nation and from every denominational background who will give voice to one great final Christian
witness to the world. This great final witness is not to be some cultically peculiar message that
stands in arrogant contrast to earlier witnesses to Christ, such as Luther. It is, rather, to be the
proclamation of the “everlasting gospel” (Rev 14:6) in a voice that is attuned to the unique
circumstances of that end-time situation laid out in the pages of the Book of Revelation.
While Lutherans have often relegated the Book of Revelation to a subordinate position
within the scriptural canon,1 SDAs have seen it as fully authoritative for Christians. In many
ways, Adventist interpretation of the last book of the Bible is at the heart of Adventist self-
understanding and identity. The specific contribution that I hope to make is to outline the
exegetical basis for Adventist self-understanding in the text of the Biblical Book of Revelation.
This proves to be a very foreign world to most Lutherans, so I would like to begin by affirming
that SDAs and Lutherans share a common understanding of the basics of NT eschatology.

The Dual Nature of NT Eschatology

This paper focuses on the Biblical perspective regarding the very last days of earth’s
history, the events surrounding the second advent of Jesus Christ. But the Biblical perspective is
broader than just an outline of final events. As Jörg Rothermundt points out,2 the NT writers
understood both the first advent of Christ and justification to be eschatological events.
“Now is the judgment of this world,” “you were justified,” “you have eternal life,” “the

1
See the Conclusion of Erwin Buck, “Interpretation of Biblical Apocalyptic Literature.”
2
See his “Eschatology in Lutheran Perspective.” I have discussed the dual nature of NT
eschatology extensively in an earlier work; Jon Paulien, What the Bible Says About the End-Time
(Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 1994), pp. 75-83.

1
kingdom of God is here”3 are ways that the NT writers expressed the eschatological nature of
Christ’s finished work at the cross. Nothing I say in this paper should be understood to negate
this central teaching of the NT. In the NT there is an ongoing and creative tension between the
indicative and the imperative, the now and the not yet, the inaugurated and the consummated, the
heavenly and the earthly, the realized and the not realized. This tension can be illustrated by
means of the following diagram:

Common understanding between Adventists and Lutherans on this point does not require
one or the other to give up Scripture, rather it calls both of us to stand together in maintaining a
healthy Biblical tension before our respective constituencies. Here we can learn balance from
each other’s testimony. The tension between a totally just and saved standing before God now
and the ongoing battle against the old reality is the sum and substance of NT eschatology at the
personal level. To the extent that Adventists have lost this tension in an enthusiastic pursuit of
end-time understanding, we must go back to our Lutheran roots and relearn the whole counsel of
God. On this point, at least, the “heart of Lutheran eschatology” should be the “heart of
Adventist eschatology” as well.

The Adventist Approach to Revelation

The 19th Century Setting
In the mid-19th Century early Adventists approached the Book of Revelation out of their
experience at the margins of American society. When they read about suffering and martyrdom in
the Book of Revelation, they felt a kinship with this book. Their experience as “outcasts” of
American society was an eschatological experience.
Some of the sharpness of early Adventist expressions toward the papacy and other
Christian groups, therefore, must be understood in the context of boundary-setting and the search
for a clear identity. From their study of the Bible, and particularly the Book of Revelation,
Adventists came to believe that the final days of earth’s history will throw all true Christians of
every denominational background into a similar experience of marginalization and persecution. In

3
John 12:31; 1 Cor 1:30; John 5:24; Matt 12:28.

2
that kind of end-time setting, Adventists expect that their past experience and their understanding
of the Scriptures will make an essential contribution to the understanding of other Christians as
well as themselves.

The Uniqueness of Biblical Apocalyptic

Seventh-day Adventists, as noted in the Introduction, differ sharply from Lutherans in
their assessment of the quality of the Book of Revelation and its authority. The Adventist-
Lutheran discussions have highlighted two further points of difference. Lutherans have been
presented to us as understanding that the works of biblical apocalyptic (such as Daniel and
Revelation) are no different than non-canonical apocalypses, which make use of pseudo-
authorship and portray the history of the past as if prophesied in advance (usually called “ex
eventu” prophecy or “periodization of history;” prophecy is written after the events “prophecied”
have already taken place).4 Lutherans, therefore, do not see in Revelation any element of
prediction of future events.
Adventists are in serious disagreement with this rejection of the special character of
biblical apocalyptic and of the predictive nature of some of the utterances found in it. SDAs
believe that God “knows the end from the beginning” and is well able to announce ahead of time
“what is yet to come” through the Holy Spirit (Isa 46:10; John 16:13). While acknowledging the
existence of pseudo-authorship and ex eventu prophecy in non-biblical apocalyptic,5 Adventists
believe that the inspired apocalyptic of the Bible is substantively different.
Non-canonical apocalyptic spoke to a time when people believed that the prophetic spirit
had been silenced (Ps 74:9; 1 Macc 4:44-46; 14:41, cf. mAboth 1:1).6 Without the gift of
prophecy it would be impossible for anyone to write history in advance. Nevertheless, the
historical time periods of ex eventu prophecy reflected the conviction that a prophet such as

4
See Buck, “Interpretation of Biblical Apocalyptic Literature,” especially pages 9 and 23.
See also Nelson Kilpp, “A Lutheran Interpretation of the Book of Daniel,” especially pages 6-9.
John J. Collins prefers the term “periodization of history” to the phrase “ex eventu prophecy.”
See J. J. Collins, “Sibylline Oracles: A New Translation and Introduction,” in James H.
Charlesworth, editor, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1, Apocalyptic Literature and
Testaments (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1983), p. 323.
5
History is divided into twelve periods, for example, in 4 Ezra 14:11-12; 2 Apoc Bar 53-
76; and the Apocalypse of Abraham 29. There is a ten-fold division of history in 1 Enoch 93:1-10
and 91:12-17, Sib Or 1:7-323 and Sib Or 4:47-192. History is divided into seven periods in 2
Enoch 33:1-2 and bSanhedrin 97
6
Note the esteemed work of D. S. Russell (not an SDA scholar) on the subject: The
Method and Message of Jewish Apocalyptic (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1964), pp. 73-
103.

3
Enoch, Moses, or Ezra would be capable of outlining history in advance.7 Since John, the author
of Revelation, believed that through Christ the prophetic spirit had returned (Rev 1:3; 19:9-10;
22:6-10),8 he would have every reason to believe that the cosmic Christ could reveal to him the
general outline of events between the advents. The return of genuine prophets would signal the
return of predictive prophecy. In the Book of Revelation the name John is not a pseudonym.9
The Book of Revelation is genuine, not ex eventu, prophecy and needs to be addressed differently
than non-canonical apocalyptic.10 Although written to the immediate time and place of the seven
churches of Asia Minor (Rev 1:3,11), Revelation also spoke to their future, the things which
would happen “after these things” (Rev 1:19). Adventists believe that most of the seven
churches’ future is now history to us.

The Relentless March of History

Since the concept of predictive prophecy is grounded in the inspiration and authority of
the Scriptures, it should not surprise anyone that the vast majority of Biblical interpreters
throughout Christian history, including Luther and the Reformers, believed in predictive prophecy
and felt that the Book of Revelation in some way offered an outline of Christian history leading to

7
Lars Hartman, Prophecy Interpreted, translated by Neil Tomkinson, Coniectanea Biblica,
NT series, no. 1 (Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksells, 1966), p. 25.
Russell commented on page 96 of his book The Method and Message of Jewish
Apocalyptic:
“The predictive element in prophecy had a fascination for the apocalyptists and it is to this
aspect of the prophetic message that they devote so much of their interest and ingenuity.”
“The predictive element in prophecy is not simply accidental, as Charles would have us
believe. It belongs to the very nature of prophecy itself.”
8
John J. Collins, The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to the Jewish matrix of
Christianity (NY: Crossroad, 1984), p. 212; ibid., “Pseudonymity, Historical Reviews and the
Genre of the Revelation of John,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 39 (1977): 331.
9
Adela Yarbro Collins, Crisis and Catharsis: The Power of the Apocalypse (Philadelphia:
The Westminster Press, 1984), pp. 27-28. John J. Collins, The Apocalyptic Imagination, p. 211;
ibid., “Pseudonymity,” p. 330-331.
10
To borrow a phrase from John J. Collins, the author of Revelation applied “the logic of
periodization”to his genuine prophecy. See Collins’ “Pseudonymity,” pp. 339-340 where he
argues for genuine prophecy in Rev 17 as an example; see also page 330 where Collins is explicit
on the absence of pseudonymity and ex eventu prophecy in Revelation.
For further study see Jon Paulien, Decoding Revelation’s Trumpets: Literary Allusions
and the Interpretation of Revelation 8:7-12, Andrews University Seminary Doctoral Dissertation
Series, vol. 11 (Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 1988), pp. 357-362.

4
the end of the world.11 Adventists, like them, see no indication in the text of Revelation that its
events were to be confined to the distant past. They understand that the Book of Revelation
speaks to the time of the seven churches, to the events of the very end of history, and also to
significant movements in the course of the history that runs between those two great standpoints.
As mentioned earlier, SDAs understand Biblical apocalyptic prophecies to portray the relentless
march of history leading up to a critical climax at the End.
In saying this it is not necessary to claim that John himself, or any of the other writers of
the NT, foresaw the enormous length of the Christian era, the time between the first and second
advents of Jesus. Our Lord certainly could have come in the first century if He had wished to do
so. But the passage of time has opened up new vistas in terms of the Lord’s patience and
purpose. Having foreseen the delay, would not God prepare His people to understand the major
events by which He is bringing history to its climax?
Our lack of foresight should certainly introduce an element of caution into any
interpretation of the “periods of history” that Adventists find in the books of Daniel and
Revelation. Only from the perspective of the Parousia will history speak with perfect clarity. We
will need to avoid the kind of historicizing interpretation which emphasizes minute details and
“newspaper” exegesis, while ignoring the plain meaning of the symbols in their original context.12
Adventists believe, however, that the broad sweep of Christian history was both known to God
and revealed through his servants the prophets (Amos 3:7).
Let me offer a brief example of historical prophecy from a piece which is neither
pseudonymous nor apocalyptic, the Gospel of Luke. Lutherans and Adventists would agree that
Luke 21 substantially represents the words of our Lord regarding the future from the perspective
of roughly 30 AD. The Lukan account of Jesus’ eschatological sermon “periodizes” the history
between the time of Jesus’ sermon and His second advent.13
Jesus, according to the account in Luke 21:5-11, described events leading up to the
destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, an event which took place in 70 AD. Verse 12 (“but
before all these things”) makes it clear that verses 12-19 also describe incidents leading up to this
event. Verse 20 (“when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies”) moves the account to the time
of the temple’s destruction in AD 70. This event is the primary focus of verses 20-24.
In Luke 21:24c there is an intervening period between the destruction of Jerusalem and
the signs of the second coming of Jesus called “The Time of the Gentiles.” No indication of the

11
Leroy Edwin Froom, The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers: The Historical Development
of Prophetic Interpretation, 4 vols. (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1950). On this point
Adventists feel a closer kinship with Luther than many Lutherans do.
12
For examples of the above fallacy see the voluminous historicist interpretation of Edward
B. Elliott, Horae Apocalypticae, 5th edition, 4 volumes (London: Seeley, Jackson & Halliday,
1862) and the material on the seven trumpets of Revelation by Uriah Smith, Daniel and the
Revelation (Nashville: Southern Publishing Association, 1944), pp. 475-517.
13
In Matt 24 and Mark 13, by way contrast, much of the account blends the descriptions of
the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world as if they were one event.

5
length of this period is given but a period of 2000 years is not excluded by the language. Luke
21:25-26 gives the signs of the impending approach to the second coming, and verse 27 briefly
describes the second coming itself.
Luke’s account of Jesus eschatological sermon, therefore, emphasizes five consecutive
periods and/or events in history:
1) The events leading up to AD 70
2) The destruction of Jerusalem
3) The “times of the gentiles”
4) The signs of the end
5) The second coming itself.
In a simpler approach, these five occurrences outline three great periods of Christian
history: 1) The events that would occur within the experience of Jesus’ disciples,14 2) the “times
of the gentiles,” a period of unspecified length intervening between the lifetimes of Jesus and His
disciples, and the final events of the era, and 3) the final events of earth’s history.15

Stage One: The Experience of Jesus and His Disciples (Luke 21:5-23)
Stage Two: The Times of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24)
Stage Three: The Final Events of Earth’s History (Luke 21:25-28)

A similar three-part outline of events is portrayed in Rev 12-13, with considerably more emphasis
on the second stage of Christian history.

14
Note the consistent use of the second person (“watch out that you are not deceived”
“when you hear. . .” “when you see. . .”) in Luke 21:7-20 and the switch to third person (“in Luke
21:21-27. Verse 28 functions as a general exhortation to readers.
15
Since the historical-critical perspective on Luke 21 is based on the conviction that there
is no such thing as predictive prophecy, the eschatological sermon of Jesus becomes largely
Luke’s construct, based on a standpoint in the 70s or 80s of the first century. From that
standpoint Luke projects the accounts of the destruction of Jerusalem and the events leading up to
it into the mouth of Jesus (see, for example, Werner Georg Kümmel, Introduction to the New
Testament, revised English edition, translated by Howard Clark Kee [Nashville: Abingdon Press,
1975], pp. 150-151. Since “the times of the gentiles” have already begun in Luke’s thinking, the
only predictive elements in Luke 21 are the programmatic listing of “signs of the end” and the
brief account of the second coming of Jesus. Adventists, of course, believe such an approach to
the Bible undermines the reliability of inspiration, and must be rejected.

6
 Exegetical Grounds for
Adventist Prophetic Self-Understanding
The Narrative of Rev 12: Three
Stages of History
Adventists understand Rev 12 to offer a prophetic overview of three stages of Christian
history much like that of Luke 21.

Stage One
The first stage is the Christ-event back in the first century: the birth, life, death,
resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ (outlined symbolically in Rev 12:5 and 12:10-12). The
woman of 12:1-2 is based on the OT image of a virtuous woman as a symbol of faithful Israel (Isa
54:5; 66:7-14; Hos 2:14-20). The image of the dragon (Rev 12:3-4) represents the devil, or
Satan (Rev 12:9), but is also based on the images of Dan 7.16 Specifically, the dragon’s attack on
the male child in Rev 12:5 represents Herod’s attempt to destroy the Christ child by killing all the
babies in Bethlehem (Matt 2:1-18). In His earthly life, therefore, Jesus was participating in a war
that had begun in heaven before His arrival on earth (Rev 12:3-4,7-9). At His ascension, Jesus
establishes His kingdom and casts the “accuser of the brothers” (Rev 12:10) out of heaven. This
implies that after the Christ-event, Satan has no more influence over heavenly deliberations. This
casting out is, therefore, more spiritual than physical.

Stage Two
Then comes the second stage of Christian history. After Jesus’ ascension to heaven, the
church took the brunt of Satan’s wrath on earth (Rev 12:13-16). The description in this section
again reminds Adventists of the prophetic vision of Dan 7. The breakup of Rome into ten parts
was followed by a little horn power, which was to persecute and “oppress God’s saints for a time,
times and half a time.” (Dan 7:25; Rev 16:14) The only time in history that comes even close to
matching this description is the Middle Ages, when the Roman Papacy dominated the Western
world and drove competing views of Christianity into obscurity.
“The mouth of the serpent” (Rev 12:15) reminds the reader of the deceptive words of the
serpent in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3). The flooding waters that attack the woman in the desert
(the faithful church), therefore, imply deceptive and persuasive words as much as persecuting
force. In the Middle Ages, unbiblical teachings were fed to the people in the name of Christ.
In Rev 12:16 the “earth” helped the woman. If “sea” represents the settled populations of
the earth,17 “earth” here may represent more desolate places where the true people of God

16
If you total up the number of heads and horns among the four beasts of Dan 7 you get
seven heads and ten horns. The heads of the dragon, therefore, represent civil powers that Satan
has used to oppress God’s people throughout history.
17
As Rev 17:15 may suggest.

7
obtained refuge from deceptive and persecuting opponents; the Alps in Europe during the Middle
Ages, and places like North America, South Africa, and Australia afterward. Toward the end of
the 1260 years (the 16th through the 18th centuries) many forces came together to elevate the Bible
and to end the persecution of God’s people; the Reformation, the Enlightenment, the American
Revolution, and the beginnings of the great missionary expansion of the 19th century. During that
period of calm, the dragon prepares for his final attack (Rev 12:17).

Stage Three
That attack, the third stage of Christian history, is described in more detail in Rev 13:12-
18. Adventists see themselves as the “church of the remnant” whose recognition of the realities
described in these prophecies enables them to help prepare their fellow Christians and others for
the unique challenges of the last times.
The three stages of Rev 12 can be summarized as follows:

Stage One: The Woman, the Dragon, the Male Child, and War
in Heaven, Rev 12:1-12
Stage Two: The Serpent Attacks the Woman, Rev 12:13-16
Stage Three: The Dragon and the Remnant, Rev 12:17

The Narrative of Rev 13: Two Stages of History

Rev 13 outlines in more detail the dragon’s war against the remnant of the woman’s seed
(Rev 12:17). Linguistically this occurs in two great stages signaled by the Greek tenses in relation
to the final attack of Rev 12:17. Two beasts (from the sea and the earth) are introduced in the
aorist tense (Rev 13:1-7; 13:11). These aorist portions begin with a visual description of each
character followed by an account of that character’s subsequent actions.18 Being in the aorist
tense, these actions would seem to have occurred prior to the dragon’s final war against the
remnant.
In each scene the Greek of Rev 13 then moves from description in the aorist tense to a
mixture of present and future tenses (Rev 13:8-10; 13:12-18), describing the actions of these two
beasts in the context of the final attack of Rev 12:17. So the two stages of history are clearly
marked off by the Greek tenses signaling events prior to the dragon’s war (aorist tense) and an
elaboration of the events of the war itself (present and future tenses). The following chart shows
a pattern within Revelation of introducing characters in general before describing their actions at
the time of the vision:

18
Similar introductory scenes also occur at the first mentions of Jesus (1:12-16), the two
witnesses (11:3-6), the woman (12:1) and the dragon (12:3) in the book.

8
The following chart analyzes the tenses of Rev 13 in relation to Rev 12:17:

Important verbal and thematic parallels between Rev 12 and 13 suggest that the two stages of
Rev 13 correspond to Stages Two and Three of Rev 12.19

19
The following chart is based to a large degree on that developed by Hans LaRondelle
and presented in Ministry, December, 1996, p. 13.

9
 Stage One

Stage Two

Stage Three

Stage Two Revisited

The sea beast of Rev 13 is a deliberate composite of all the beasts of Daniel 7.20 In a
sense, Rev 13:1-2 is giving the pedigree of the sea beast! The sea beast has a very dominant role
in the world at one point (13:2), but then goes into obscurity for a time only to be resurrected by
the dragon as an ally in the final conflict (Rev 13:3-4).
The dragon, with crowns on its seven heads, seems to represent the time of the fourth
beast in Dan 7, the pagan Roman Empire. But in Dan 7 the ten horns on the beast represent the
period following the break-up of the Roman Empire (cf. Dan 2:40-43).21 Since the sea beast of
Rev 13 has crowns on its horns rather than its heads, it must have arisen in history after the fall of
the pagan Roman Empire, and its early history would be parallel to the history of the little horn in
Dan 7:8,23-25. The pedigree of the sea beast, therefore, is the series of world empires

20
The beast comes up out of the sea (Dan 7:2-3), has seven heads and ten horns (which
equals the total number of heads and horns on all four beasts in Dan 7:4-7), a blasphemous name
on each head (Dan 7:8,20,25), resembles a leopard (Dan 7:6), has feet like a bear (Dan 7:5), and a
mouth like a lion (Dan 7:4).
21
This part of the paper assumes some familiarity with an Adventist view of Dan 7. For
further elaboration, see William H. Shea, Daniel 1-7: Prophecy as History and Daniel 7-12:
Prophecies of the End Time, The Abundant Life Bible Amplifier, George R. Knight, general
editor (Boise, ID: Pacific Press, 1996).

10
culminating in the great religious power symbolized by the little horn of Dan 7. While the sea
beast is called up to become involved in the final battle, the description of Rev 13:1-7 focuses
primarily on its early history.
Rev 13:5-7 indicates that the sea beast is a religious power that persecutes the true people
of God. The terms "every tribe, people, language and nation" in Rev 13:7 cover the same
territory to which the gospel is preached in Rev 14:6. The sea beast, therefore, offers a rival
gospel to that of the three angels of Rev 14. Over the last 2000 years, as recognized also by
Luther, the Roman Papacy has been the only power that met all the specifications of this passage.
After the fall of the pagan Roman Empire, the sea beast rules for a period of 42 months.
In prophetic time this is 1260 years in which the beast would dominate the scene.22 Generally
Adventists and others date this period from 538 to 1798 AD.23
Also part of this stage, the land beast is quite different from the sea beast. It has no
ancient pedigree like the sea beast does. It comes up from the earth, has two horns like a lamb,
and speaks like a dragon (Rev 13:11).
The description of the land beast has both positive and negative elements. On the positive
side, the Lamb is always a reference to Christ elsewhere in the book. And the beast's coming up
"out of the earth" (Rev 13:11) reminds the reader of Rev 12:16 where "the earth" helped the
woman. It was "the earth" that broke the 1260 years of persecution. The land beast, then, would
seem to have its origin in a positive way toward the end of the 1260 years (17th and 18th
Centuries). On the other hand, at the time of the final battle, when the dragon calls this beast into
service, he begins to speak more like a dragon than a lamb.
Adventists have noted that, historically, persecuting powers come in two types, religious
and political. A power can persecute on religious grounds when there is an unhealthy bond
between church and state (ancient Babylon, ancient Rome, Middle Ages). But a power can also
persecute on an anti-religious basis where there is hostility of the state toward religion
(Revolutionary France, Soviet Union). The land beast power seems to be different from either of
the above at first, the symbolism suggests a power that exercises a gentle and tolerant authority
over its people. But in learning how to speak like a dragon, it becomes a useful ally of the
dragon.
As mentioned in the previous section, the Reformation, the Enlightenment and the
American Revolution were forces that brought the persecutions of the Middle Ages to an end and
led to the widespread practice of religious liberty, particularly in the Western world. Historically,
no single power better fits the description of the land beast than the United States of America.
The scenario of Rev 12-13 leads Adventists to suspect, therefore, that the Papacy and the United

22
For an excellent summary of the arguments leading Adventists to subscribe to the “year-
day principle” of prophetic interpretation see Shea, vol. 2, pp. 40-44. For a more extensive
discussion see William H. Shea, Selected Studies on Prophetic Interpretation, Daniel and
Revelation Committee Series, vol. 1 (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1982), 56-88.
23
See C. Mervyn Maxwell, God Cares, Volume 2: The Message of Revelation for You and
Your Family, (Boise, ID: Pacific Press, 1985), 275-281, for a church historian’s perspective on
the issue.

11
States will somehow find their places as allies of the dragon in the final conflict of earth’s history,
a very distressing conclusion.

Stage Three Revisited

In Rev 13:8-10 and 12-18 the Greek tenses shift from the aorist to the present and the
future. These present and future tenses indicate that the material in these sections serves to
elaborate on the final conflict introduced in a nutshell in 12:17. The final events of earth’s history
include worldwide worship of the sea beast (13:8), captivity, and death accompanied by patient
endurance on the part of the “saints” (13:9-10), a coercive alliance between land beast and sea
beast (13:12), deceptive miracles, including fire from heaven (13:13-14), and the making of an
image to the beast24 as an object of worship (13:15) supported by both a death decree and an
economic boycott (13:15-17).

Summary
As Adventists understand it, Rev 13 describes the dragon's attempt to improve his end-
time situation by gathering two major allies to his support, the land beast and the sea beast. The
sea beast is the end-time reincarnation of the Papacy of the Middle Ages, while the land beast is
something new, a major political/religious power (probably the United States) which comes to
exercise the same level of authority in the world that the sea beast had in the Middle Ages.
The interconnections between the three stages of Rev 12 and the two stages of Rev 13
undergird the historical focus of the end-time material in the book of Revelation.25

The Biblical Concept of End-Time Deception

If Adventists should prove to be right in their interpretations, why would God seemingly
confuse things by raising up a people to give a message as peculiar as the above? The importance
of the Adventist message in the ultimate scheme of things, and the very basis of Adventist self-
identity, is suggested by the biblical concept of end-time deception.
Rev 12:17 serves as a summary introduction to Revelation’s portrayal of a great final
crisis at the conclusion of earth’s history. It indicates that there are two sides in the final conflict,

24
Exegetically, the symbol of an image to the beast is difficult to interpret. If that symbol
is played out anywhere else in Revelation, the best candidate would be the beast of Rev 17, which
looks like the sea beast, but is clearly different. From the text we know that the image to the
beast is a new player on the scene, different from all the others. It is set up by the land beast, but
looks like the sea beast. Historically, Adventists have tended to identify this image with a portion
of Protestantism in America which would abandon its faithfulness to God and instead play a major
role in moving the United States to support the agenda of the worldwide religious confederacy at
the end of time.
25
See again “The Progressive Parallelism of Rev 12-13" above.

12
represented by the dragon, on the one hand, and the remnant on the other. But a strange thing
happens next. The text says that the dragon “went away” to make war. Normally you make war
by attacking rather than retreating. But the dragon didn’t do this. He “went away” to make war.
Why? Because the dragon was angry (Rev 12:12) and frustrated by repeated failures in the
course of history: he was not strong enough to last in heaven (Rev 12:8), he failed to destroy the
man-child of the woman (Rev 12:3-5), and he failed to destroy the woman herself (Rev 12:16).
So now all that is left is to make war with the remnant of her seed (Rev 12:17).
But the dragon goes away instead of confronting the situation. Because of his repeated
failures he realizes he doesn't have the strength to defeat God’s purposes by himself so he decides
to enter the final conflict with allies, a beast from the sea and a beast from the earth. The remnant
are, therefore, faced with three opponents: 1) the dragon; 2) the sea beast, and 3) the land beast.
In the book of Revelation, God is often spoken of in three's--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
(Rev 1). So the dragon, the sea beast and the land beast would seem to be a counterfeit of the
holy three (Rev 13). They portray themselves as a divine alternative to the true Godhead. Of the
three, the dragon has the fundamental authority and gives it to the others. So he counterfeits the
position of God the Father.
The parallel becomes even more interesting when we examine the features of the sea beast
(Rev 13:1-10). The sea beast is portrayed as a parody or counterfeit of Jesus Christ. In Rev
13:1, the sea beast is described as having seven heads and ten horns, just like the dragon. As
strange as the dragon looks, the sea beast looks just like him. In the Gospel of John, Jesus said,
“If you have seen me you have seen the Father” (John 14:9). The sea beast is a parody or
counterfeit of Jesus Christ.
Rev 13:2 tells us that the sea beast gets his authority from the dragon. In Matt 28:18
Jesus said, “all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.” So once again, the sea
beast relates to the dragon in the same way that Jesus relates to His Father.
Rev 13:3 describes one of the sea beast’s heads being “slaughtered to death” and then
healed. So this sea beast counterfeits the death and resurrection of Jesus! This parody between
Jesus Christ and the beast from the sea is made explicit by the author when he uses the same
specialized Greek word for “slaughter” (esfagmenhn, esfagmenou) with reference to the Lamb in
13:8.
Not only is the dragon designed as a counterfeit of God the Father and the sea beast as a
counterfeit of God the Son, the land beast is portrayed in terms of a counterfeit of the Holy Spirit.
He has two horns “like a lamb” (Rev 13:11). The word lamb occurs 29 times in the book of
Revelation, 28 of those occurrences refer to Jesus Himself. The other occurrence is here. So this
beast too is like Christ. But the parody is somewhat different in this case.
In John 14-16 the Holy Spirit is called "another comforter". Who is the Comforter? It is
Jesus. The scene of John 14-16 is the upper room, just before the crucifixion of Jesus. The
disciples are quite depressed. They have heard that Jesus is going away. But Jesus says, “Don’t
worry, I will send you another Comforter. Someone who will comfort you the same way I do.”
The work of the Holy Spirit was to replace the work of Jesus in the disciples’ lives. The Holy
Spirit is “like the Lamb.” So is the land beast of Rev 13.
In verse 12 the land beast is not interested in promoting himself but rather the power and
interests of the sea beast. The Holy Spirit does not speak of Himself but rather of Christ (John

13
16). It is, therefore, clear that the dragon, the sea beast and the land beast together are portrayed
as a deliberate parody or counterfeit of the true godhead.
That brings us to verses 13 and 14. Just as the Holy Spirit brought fire from heaven to
earth to anoint the original disciples at Pentecost (Acts 2), the land beast brings fire down from
heaven in a counterfeit of Pentecost. The purpose is “to deceive the inhabitants of the earth.”
What we have in this chapter is a cartoon parable about conditions that God foresaw
would exist in the last days of earth's history. These texts indicate that there is to be a great, final
world-wide deception where a counterfeit trinity stands in the place of the true God. The purpose
of the counterfeit is to deceive the world.
Seventh-day Adventists understand, therefore, that in the last days of earth's history, Satan
brings in deception refined almost to perfection so that people will not be able to tell which side is
right--whether they are dealing with Christ or Satan.
There is one further passage in Revelation which speaks to this end-time deception, Rev
16:13-16, the famous Battle of Armageddon passage. Here the counterfeit trinity of Rev 13 uses
demonic spirits that look like frogs to gather the kings of earth for the final battle. Since frogs
were the last plague that the magicians of ancient Egypt were able to counterfeit (see Exod 7:18-
19 in context), the use of frogs as a symbol here signals that the message of Revelation 16 has to
do with the last deception of earth's history.
The three frogs are the demonic counterparts of the three God-sent angels of Rev 14:6-12.
Both groups of angels have a mission to the whole world (Rev 14:6; 16:14), one trio calling the
world to worship God, and the other seeking to gather the people of the world into the service of
the unholy trinity. The final showdown takes place at “Armageddon” (Rev 16:16).
My work on the “Armageddon” article for the Anchor Bible Dictionary26 led me to the
conclusion that the best way to understand the word Armageddon, in the light of the Biblical
evidence, is as the Greek form of a couple of Hebrew words that mean "Mountain of Meggido."
Meggido was a city on a small elevation at the edge of the Plain of Jezreel. Looming over the
place where the city of Megiddo was, however, is a range of mountains called Carmel.
What counts for Revelation is that Mount Carmel was the place where the great Old
Testament showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal took place (1 Kings 18:16-46).27
On that occasion God answered Elijah's prayer to bring fire down from heaven onto an altar in
order to prove that Yahweh was the true God, not Baal.
According to Revelation, the Mount Carmel experience will be repeated at the End. Once
again there will be a showdown between the true God and a devious counterfeit. But it will be
different this time. At the End the fire that comes down falls from heaven will fall on the wrong
altar. It will be the counterfeit Elijah and the counterfeit three angels who bring fire down from
heaven to earth (Rev 13:13,14). On that day all the evidence of the five senses will suggest that
the counterfeit trinity is the true God.

26
Jon Paulien, “Armageddon,” The Anchor Bible Dictionary, edited by David Noel
Freedman (NY: Doubleday, 1992), 1:394-395.
27
William H. Shea, “The Location and Significance of Armageddon in Rev 16:16,”
Andrews University Seminary Studies 18 (1980): 157-162.

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 Implications for Adventist Self-Understanding
Adventists believe that the message of this part of Revelation is uniquely relevant to the
present time. Belief within secular society focuses on what can be seen, heard, tasted, touched, or
smelled. Reality is based on what the five senses are capable of perceiving. But Revelation
suggests that in the final crisis of earth's history, those who trust in their five senses will be
deceived. It will be a battle between two truth systems; one will be confirmed by rational
observation; the other will be confirmed only by Scripture. To quote the words of Jesus, "I have
told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe" (John 14:29).
That is a major reason why Adventists are so committed to their message. People need to
know that at the end of earth’s history those who trust primarily in their senses will be deceived.
People need to know that beyond the five senses is a higher reality that can be tasted in Christ.
Revelation portrays the end-time in terms of a battle between the Scriptures and perception,
between reality as perceived by the five senses, and ultimate reality as revealed by God Himself.
This is the driving force of the message that Adventists have to bring to the world.
Adventist understanding of prophecy is firmly grounded on the conviction that the
Scriptures are the very Word of God and that they present a window into an ultimate reality that
transcends the five senses. The unique role of Adventism is based on the conviction that the
Scriptures are a reliable source of truth. We can stake our lives and our sense of mission on what
we find there. To lose confidence in God’s Word, therefore, is to give up the very basis for being
a Seventh-day Adventist.
It is true that Jesus is the center of our faith. It is true that the gospel is the root of
Christian life. It is true that Christlikeness is our goal. We share these beliefs with many other
Christians. We do not wish to lose sight of them. Neither do we wish to neglect the unique
mission to which we believe God has called us in the Scriptures. As a people of Bible prophecy
we feel called to prepare the world for events that are yet to come. If we lose sight of this
Biblical message, who will give it for us? 28

28
In the original paper presented at the Lutheran-Adventist dialogue at Cartigny,
Switzerland on May 11-17, 1998 there was an extensive section on the role of the Sabbath in the
descriptions of Rev 12-14. Since the issue of the Sabbath is thoroughly addressed elsewhere in
this volume, space considerations mandated that this section be left out of the publication version.

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