The woman of Revelation 17 sits on many waters, which are many nations. But the immediate location of her seat is on a monstrous animal, first introduced to the readers of John in chapter 13. We must go there if we are to understand the seven heads and ten horns of this beast.
Juan sees the beast for the first time coming out of the sea. From John’s perspective in the first century Roman Empire, this can only be the Mediterranean Sea. From the midst of a configuration of nations that surround the Mediterranean Sea, one arises that somehow represents all the evil empires of all time, all those that have come against God and his people.
To make sure we’re on the right track here, several animals are mentioned as part of his description. The animals are the same as those mentioned in Daniel 7! These were the representations of the four kingdoms that would appear in Daniel’s day and onward.
Seven heads are seven kings and their kingdoms, which we will see in chapter 17. But before that, verse 8 is a serious key to unlock a mystery for us. This animal, the beast that many evangelical scholars view as the antichrist, lived once before. He is not alive on earth now. But he will rise from his place of detention, do his cowardly deeds, and then go to eternal perdition.
Listen to it again. The antichrist – if we can assume that the beast is the antichrist – already lived on Planet Earth, he was a historical figure, in the days of John. Also in John’s day, he was not alive on Earth. But he was alive somewhere. As we know? Because that same person is going to reappear on Earth in the last days announced here in Revelation 17.
A resurrected emperor!
He will come out of the “abyss”. The hole. How does this work? Revelation chapter 9 makes it clear. Whether speaking in symbolic or literal language, the message for us there is that the bottomless pit contains evil forces that, when the pit is “opened” in some way, are unleashed upon the earth. In chapter 9 it is a horde of locusts. In our 17th chapter, it will be the antichrist.
But as Paul says in 2 Thessalonians: “He who hinders will hinder until he is taken out of the way.”
Has he been preserved from death? Maybe. Or he rises from the dead, imitating Christ, the One whom the antichrist hates so much.
His body will be resurrected, it will join his spirit in the “Pit”, and then he will be filled with the spirit of Satan, says Revelation 13:2, “…and the dragon [ the devil] gave [the beast] his power and his throne and great authority.”
This prophecy is not child’s play. The angel tells us that to understand this word God’s wisdom is needed. This is my understanding of what John was told:
Based on the prophecies of Daniel 2 and 7, we know of five of the seven mountains or kingdoms that have risen historically. Daniel was able to define Neo-Babylon, that is, Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon, then Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. He also saw a consequence of that Roman Empire in the last days.
Where are the other two?
Before Neo-Babylonia there was Assyria. And before that, ancient Babylon, based on the original city of Babylon, started by Nimrod from the book of Genesis. These kingdoms form the backdrop for the entire Biblical story! In each generation, in each human empire, the antichrist, the anti-God, has tried to thwart the Creator’s plans to have his own kingdom.
That kingdom will come, and “Jesus will reign wherever the sun makes its successive journeys, His kingdom will stretch from coast to coast, until the moons wax and wane no longer.”
But there is another kingdom or two before that.
Before we continue, we should note that the angel said “kings,” not “kingdoms.” Is there one man who stands out as the worst of men in each of these empires?
Babylon: Nimrod himself? A rebel against God, says Josephus. He is the one who caused a tower to be erected that would reach Heaven. A mighty hunter “against” the Lord.
Assyria: Sennacherib? Killed by the sword, as hinted at for the death of the antichrist.
Neo-Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar? Has he ever fully repented?
Medo-Persia: Was it Xerxes?
Greece: Antiochus Epiphanes is a safe candidate in the prophecy of Daniel, chapters 11-12. One moment the prophecy is talking about Antiochus, and the next it’s describing the end-time king, or antichrist. Daniel 11 is fascinating and many point to this man as the one to return.
Rome: If there is a man in the Roman Empire who personified evil against the church, it would have to be Nero.
But Nero cannot be, because of verse 10. The angel there tells us that “five have fallen.” That is, Babylonia, Assyria, Neo-Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Greece. And he says that “one is”. Rome, of course. But Nero was not alive when John received this message. Trajan would be the man…
…were it not for verse 8: the beast “was and IS NOT…” We are left with the first five candidates.
It is not my purpose here to further limit the search for the antichrist. I have published work on this topic elsewhere. I am trying now to establish the state of the final condition of the world when everything is ready for the end. One of these men will return. Revelation chapter 13, verse 3, tells us that one of the heads of the beast was mortally wounded, but healed. That is resurrection.
I should mention in passing the distraction known today as the seven mountain mandate. According to its founders, and there are various voices vying for who it could be, there are seven spheres of influence that Christians must conquer before Jesus comes.
I call it a distraction because it diverts people’s attention from the actual setting of the seven mountains of Revelation. In each of those mountains there is one who hates the believers and will do everything possible to stop them. The sad truth is that Christians will not conquer any of those mountains, but will instead be sacrificed and sent to Heaven.
This is where the angel is extremely specific about what is coming, what the world will be like at the end of days. Listen carefully.
After telling us that five mountains have fallen, and one, namely Rome, exists at the present time, in the days of John, he says that there is one that has not yet arrived. And as I write, it still hasn’t arrived. But he will come. And he will stay only a short time. The number three and a half is mentioned several times in different ways in Revelation. Most believe that this “short time” of the seventh kingdom will be three and a half years, or the first half of what is commonly called the Tribulation, but should biblically be known as Daniel’s “seventieth week.”
Wait now. More details. That’s not the last kingdom and king to look for. There is an eighth. The eighth (are you listening?) is one of the seven. Read them!
That sounds like a new piece of information, but it’s what I’ve been saying. The Antichrist is a resurrected Emperor. He is one of the seven kings and his kingdom is one of the seven kingdoms.
Antiochus Epiphanes was on his way to challenge Rome when his world and his very life came crashing down. Will he come back to finish what he started?
I quote now from my book Daniel’s last message, the part that predicts how a rising Rome interrupts the rise of Antiochus himself [Daniel 11:29-30]:
11:29 a.m. “At the appointed time he will return and go south”
in 168 [B.C.] it is the third invasion of the Sixth War. some say the [Antiochus Epiphanes] he had actually placed the crown on the head of Euergetes [Egyptian monarch] in the last campaign and this time he ostensibly comes to correct that matter by crowning the legitimate heir. Now, the rulers of Egypt have already devised a plan for the joint regency of the two brothers plus the mother. But Antiochus needs a reason. He returns to fix things and works at it until winter stops him.
In the spring, he raises a siege of Alexandria and marches on Memphis. [in Egypt]. philometer [brother of Euergetes] he is properly installed as king. But when Antioco leaves, the brothers talk again and decide, with Mom, that they don’t need Antioco to tell them who will rule. Joint regency is restored.
Antiochus, used to his way, like his father, is not at all happy. He attacks Memphis, then Alexandria, and has decided to crush this little satrapy in one fell swoop, when he is interrupted, proving what God said, that
11:29b “it will not be like the first or the second.”
Not like the ancient conquests of Egypt, not even like the last time he was here. Rome is back on the scene. The nemesis that had twisted her father’s ambitions is ready to crush hers as well.
11:30 a.m.a “For ships from Cyprus will come against him;”
Between these two trips, Egypt has cemented its ties with Rome. When the Egyptian triumvirate hears that Antiochus is on his way, he receives a message for Big Brother from him. [Rome]. Ships leaving Cyprus carry a Roman embassy less than a mile from Alexandria, where they await the approaching Epiphanes. light [Roman historian, 64 B.C. to A.D. 12] says that Antiochus greets them as they approach and extends his right hand to Popilius [consul of the Roman Republic], but in that hand Popilius delivers to Antiochus the decree of the Senate: Back! Go home! But!
Popilius draws a circle where Antiochus is and says: “Now choose, before leaving this circle, whether you will evacuate Egypt or attack it.”
It was an easy decision. Even a madman will not dare to face the growing might of Rome.
Antiochus immediately unleashes his wrath on Israel, an easier target. But his passion against Rome remained. Will he again breathe out his wrath on both entities?
Let’s go back to Revelation 17 verse 11. What about the ten horns? The beast has seven heads but ten horns. All seven deal with the past. All ten deal with the future. There will be ten kings and kingdoms that will unite with the antichrist to take over the world.
The ten toes of the statue and the ten horns in the vision of Daniel and John are all the same. A confederation of ten nations will arise, coming out of the “legs” part of the statue of Daniel 2. That is, coming out of Rome.
Therefore, in the prophecy of the seventy weeks of Daniel 9, it is said that the “people of the prince who is to come” will destroy the sanctuary and the city, etc.
It was the Romans who did that destruction in AD 70. The coming prince will be the ruler over a revived Roman Empire.
So it will be in the last days. Europe will rise. Not Chinese. Not Russia. Europe. Not Islam. Not even America.
But keep reading.
A seventh kingdom will arise from the former territory of Rome, but it will last only a short time before the antichrist comes by a miraculous entrance, says Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2, and takes over the kingdom.
Ten European/North African nations will unite and give their power to the beast/antichrist (v. 12-13). They will also turn against the woman, Babylon. All religion will be banned as the beast claims the right to be worshipped. Here then the prophecy of the destruction of Babylon is finally fulfilled (v. 16).
Soon Christ returns, and all the kingdoms of men become His kingdoms (v. 14).
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