Rise of the Beast Kingdom Revelation 13

And I stood upon the sands of the sea, and I saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 

and four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. 

And he (the angel) said,  the fourth beast will be the fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them.... 

  The antichrist kingdom that rises from the sea in the Revelation prophecy is described as a beast who has seven heads and ten horns. The beast has the genetic makeup of the lion, the bear and the leopard and has the ten horns of the fourth beast kingdom. 

  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion....

   The lion, the bear and the leopard represent three beast kingdoms that ruled over the middle east: Babylon the lion, Medo-Persia the bear and the Grecian empire representing the leopard. This tells us the location of the rising beast kingdom.

   The seven heads represent the four individual beast kingdoms from Daniel's prophecy, the lion, bear and leopard, and the beast with ten horns. There are three additional kingdoms which were not beast kingdoms: Egypt, Assyria and Rome, which make a total of seven heads or seven world empires. These world kingdoms are attached to the beast as 'heads' similar to the beast kingdom 'like a leopard' that had four heads- Daniel 7:6. The beast from the sea in Revelation 13 is 'like the leopard' which had four kingdoms represented as four heads. Instead of four heads or four kingdoms, this beast has a total of seven heads or, seven kingdoms. 

Cities Defined As Women in the Bible

   The old testament is full of history. It documents the rise and fall of kings and kingdoms, empires and cities, Judges and prophets. There were good kings such as Josiah who did what was right in the sight of God, while others like Ahab, did evil. There were also good queens such as Esther who saved her people from the likes of Haman; and evil queens like Jezebel who filled the northern kingdom of Israel with witchcraft, idol worship, Phoenician gods and goddesses and pagan sacrifices. 

    We also have mention of numerous cities that are often given feminine pronouns that maximize specific characteristics focused on behavior and their relationship to God. Some cities had good qualities while others did not; and that set them up for judgement. 

   Sodom and Gomorrah were marked for judgement "Because the cry of of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous..." Genesis 18:20-22

   As we know, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because the inhabitants  were consumed with iniquity and haughty pride. When compared with the iniquity of Jerusalem, Sodom was called the sister with daughters in the book of Ezekiel. Chapter 16 is full of feminine verbiage describing cities. 

That Great City: Revelation 17:18

And the woman that you saw is that great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.

Greek: καὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἣν εἶδες ἔστιν ἡ πόλις ἡ μεγάλη ἡ ἔχουσα βασιλείαν ἐπὶ τῶν βασιλέων τῆς γῆς.

 English translation with Greek markers: And the woman (γυνη) that thou saw is that great (μεγάλη, mega, large) city (πολις, polis); which reigns (βασιλείαν has kingship) over the kings of the earth. 

   Some of the most compelling, fascinating and challenging prophecies in the Bible are the ones in Revelation; especially those depicting the woman, Babylon the Great. There is an air of mystery surrounding her identity that has intrigued multitudes of Bible students for nearly two-thousand years.  

   Interpretive speculation abounds as to the mystery of the woman and what or who this woman represents. Many claim the woman represents the Catholic Church, or Vatican City, located in Rome, Italy. Some have thought the woman represents the United States or one of its cities such as New York or America's harlot city, New Orleans where demon worship abounds. 

   Others claim the woman represents a 'mystery mother-child religion' that came out of Babel, or the final religious world system directed at the worship of the little horn, the antichrist. Then there are those who are more meticulous regarding scripture who suggest that the woman will be a middle eastern city located in a desert: Jerusalem, Mecca, Tyre, Abu Dhabi, Istanbul or, a new Babylonian city that is yet future. 

   There are many people anxiously watching the preparation of the desert city of NEOM in Saudi Arabia. NOEM is derived from a combination of words, noe; Νέος, a word from the ancient Greek which means NEW, and the letter M; an abbreviation from an Arabic word: Mostaqbal which means Future - NEOM = New Future.

   As of now, the woman is still wrapped in a cloak of mystery as the tribulation has not yet begun and the Holy Spirit is still present.  

   Let's review some things that John documents in Chapter 17 by looking through the lens of verse 18.

And the woman that you saw is that great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth. 

Daniel's Fourth Beast -The Little Horn and the Woman

   The fourth kingdom represents the final kingdom of man; an anti-God kingdom full of wicked rulers with evil intentions. This kingdom is the kingdom of the ten horns aka: kings that will form an alliance in the end of days just before the rise of the Antichrist. The ten horns from this kingdom are ten kings in immense positions of power. From these ten kings another shall rise after them, subduing the power of three. This little horn is the eleventh king or as most call him; the antichrist. 

   Daniel 7, 8 and 11 gives us the first glimpse of the man who will rise in the last days once the order of the old world is destroyed. He will speak arrogant blasphemy against the most high, and the saints will be given over to him for a time and times and dividing of time. He will think to change times and laws breaking the feasts, traditions and holidays of the Jews. 

   Antioch Epiphanies, the Greek King, was the little horn of the old testament; the little horn of the new testament will be a typology of Antiochus but with much more globalized power. He will head the transformation of old world kingdoms under the authority of the ten horns, converting them into a new future for mankind. A new future that signifies death for many. And by peace he will destroy many.... 

   This kingdom is described in Daniel 7 as Daniel's fourth beast that rises from the sea. It is also described in Daniel 2 as the feet and toes of iron merging with the clay. The iron represents the strength of two kingdoms (legs) that converge into feet. One kingdom, older, growing frail and weak, the other a turbulent force focused on achieving world dominance. This division of iron (kingdoms) and clay (man / earth) form a weak base causing much instability as iron and clay do not mix. This weak base forms the final kingdom.  

English Back to Greek Revelation 17:3

English Back to Greek Revelation 17:3

So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness; and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 

   The most interesting area of study of Revelation 17 and 18 are translating the English  interpretations back into the original Greek and breaking down the meaning behind those words. Some of the English translations were poorly chosen. 

   John chose his words very carefully when drafting his account, detailing specifics that are not found in the English translations. Studying the Greek which John used gives us a clearer picture of what John was witnessing while in the spirit. 

   In verse 7 the angel tells John that he will tell him the mystery of the woman and the beast (kingdom) that carries her. The angel begins to give John a succession of events surrounding the beast that carries the woman upon his seven heads. It seems as though the angel completely skips telling John about the woman until we reach chapter 18. The angel begins with the beast in verse 8 but does not give John much more information concerning the city itself until the very last verse, Revelation 17:18. This final verse transitions chapter 17 into chapter 18. (chapter breaks were not added until the Geneva Bible was printed in 1557) Here, the angel tells John that the woman which he saw was that great (μεγας) city (πολις) which reigns over the kings of the earth. 

   In the Greek the words that he uses are μεγας, mega meaning great. When defined in the Greek μεγας means huge, enormous by volume, overtly large by physical size. 

πολις or, polis for city is defined in the Greek as a walled city, mother city, magistrate city of many that dominates well defined territory. 

   So now we know that the woman is a metaphor for a extremely large city. 

Babylon Through The Ages

     Babylon the Great, a city of mystery and intrigue, antiquities and abandonment. An ancient city named after a great kingdom that ruled the Mesopotamia from the heart of the Iraqi desert, fifty miles south of Bagdad. The city of the desert now lies deserted, desolate, lost and slumbering. Oh, the mysteries she hides in the decay of her ruins as she listens for the footsteps of her betrothed to awaken her and embrace her one last time.

   Both history and science back up the Biblical claim that the Fertile Crescent, the Mesopotamia was the birth place of man, the birth of civilization. The 'rebirth' was directly after the great flood. 

   The Mesopotamia is the area that extends from the base of the Nile River up the entire eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea then east through Israel. The Mesopotamian crescent continues through modern day Syria into Nineveh taking a sharp downward turn into Iraq by way of the Euphrates and Tigris River to what is now the Persian Gulf.

   This area, believed by many is the location of two of the four rivers that flowed from the Garden of Eden and the birthplace of man. Some have debated that the Garden of Eden was created in Israel, but, the great flood had changed the geophysical landscape in such a way that neither place can be substantiated.

   Southern Iraq is also the area of the Plains of Shinar or more commonly known as the Land of Shinar, the area between two rivers, the Tigris, and the Euphrates. The Bible mentions Shinar 8 times; each reference pointing to Shinar as the location of Babel, the land of Nimrod, the Babylonian empire or more specifically to the city of Babylon.

   The Book of Daniel gives us a tiny glimpse into the ancient city of Babylon as a land of military might, merchants, sorcerers, necromancers, enchanters and idol worshippers.

The Genetic Makeup of the Beast Kingdom: Mr. Frankenstein

    The Genetic Makeup of the Beast Kingdom:  Mr. Frankenstein 

  How would you describe the 'beast' that rises from the sea in Revelation 13? Is it a kingdom, a man, an animal, a government, a political system? 

   Let's break down the genetic makeup of the Beast (Greek - θηριον) using the scripture in Rev 13, 17 and Daniel 7 and see what can be discovered about the beast that rises mid-tribulation; once the little horn rises to world dominance.  

   Most find the book of Revelation complicated or, confusing as it is full of old testament symbolic references: seals, plagues, judgements, dragons, angels, a harlot city and a beast kingdom detailed in prophetic imagery. 

   But, it doesn't have to be. The books of the Bible interconnect and many answers can be found simply by searching scripture. The histories of specific kingdoms and their respective cities are defined by their relationship to Yahweh, Christ, Judah, Jerusalem and Israel. These are intertwined throughout the books of the bible; in fact, the entirety of the old testament is full of geographical references to kingdoms within the middle east that surround Israel. 

   The majority of the Book of Revelation details the unveiling of a time period at the end of human history called the 70th week of Daniel (Daniel 9), the time of Jacob's trouble (Jeremiah 30:7) or the tribulation period (Matthew 24:21). This is the 7-year time period when the wrath of God descends upon an unbelieving and unrepentant world before the second coming of Christ Jesus. It is broken into 2 segments; the first half is when antichrist signs a peace agreement or, confirms the covenant with Israel so, while the rest of the world descends into chaos, Israel lives safely under a banner of false peace. The second half or Great Tribulation is the time period when antichrist rises to full authoritative power, breaking the covenant and declaring war on the remnant of the woman (Israel) who have the testimony of Christ Jesus.