1. Summary. Saints’ age-old conflict is with the world.
In AD 313 ‘world’ overturned by earthquake - Constantine.
Saints persecuted by ‘Christians’- original faith infiltrated by paganism.
Prayers of Saints evoked the Trumpet blasts against Roman Empire - Barbarians and Saracens.
Rome overcome but not disappeared for ever.
The plan of God has unfolded as a continuous story upon the pages of history. The saints, the true believers, were led to prayer as they were engaged in a struggle against the cruel world in which they lived. A world which in AD 313 had been turned turned upside down as the result of a great earthquake. Overnight Christianity had become popular and apparently espoused by the Emperor Constantine instead of being punished by death.
The saints quickly realised that this new Christianity bore little resemblance to Jesus and the Apostle’s words. They stood apart from it and soon became persecuted and some were put to death by ‘Christians’ who had earlier rejected the use of violence and the sword. The work of the Two Witnesses provided by God, who stood for freedom of speech even though they did not necessarily agree with the saints, eg. the Donatists. These eased the problems of the saints and kept back some of the waves of persecution.
God’s judgments have been poured out upon this wicked world as a response to those prayers. The Trumpets of His judgments were blown. The west was attacked by the Barbarians and the east by the Saracens and Turks. Jesus encouraged the saints to overcome. As the centuries have rolled by it is evident that the enemy of the saints has always been the world - the social, political and religious environment.
Assurance is given in the Book that prayers of the righteous are heard and that they will be raised to life again, to help the Lord Jesus set up the true Kingdom of God on the earth.

2. History Written in Advance.
Able to look back - all predictions in Revelation of AD 96 accurate - actually fulfilled in history.
Events controlled by Jesus from heaven - still allowing freewill choice to all.
At the time believers enabled to see events to come - and they did - writing of Tertullian for example.
The amazing thing for us to realise that it was history written in advance! This applies to the seals and the trumpets for instance, recently studied. Looking back it is evident that l the predictions in the book of Revelation of AD 96 were accurate and history actually did fulfill them.
People saw where they were in history and made predictions on the basis of what they read in this book. The purpose of Jesus’ prophecy was thereby fulfilled :“And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe” (John 14:29).
The predictions imply that they are read and understood. They are to lead people to look for events. Believe is the same word as faith and these prophecies can lead to conviction which is based on reason and which can be tested.
It is also a powerful witness to read what the early Christians expected the future to bring, on the basis of their reading of the book :
“The writings of Tertullian ( ) abound with references to the millennium and the coming stone that would smite the image of Daniel’s prophecy. In fact, he makes quite a remarkable prediction stating that on the basis of Scripture he expected an apostate church with temporal power to grow up in Rome, rising from the fragmented ruins of imperial Rome. Hippolytus (died 236) wrote similarly of a revived Roman Empire under a new guise and governing by Roman law” (Alan Eyre, The Protesters, p.13).

3. Summary.
Expectation was fulfilled - Rome developed religious system based on old Roman empire.
Whole empire became “Christianised” under Constantine in AD 324.
In AD 800 Pope crowned Charlemagne as emperor beginning whole new phase of Roman history.
Implications to be considered, in next chapters.
The expectation of Revelation was fulfilled. Rome did develop a religious system and it was very much based on the old Roman empire. In fact the whole Roman empire became Christianised under Constantine in AD 324. It has been noted that in AD 800 the Pope crowned Charlemagne as emperor and so began a whole new phase of Roman history. These are the developments and the implications which will form the basis of future studies.