Seven Heads of the Beast Revelation 13

   1) "And I stood on the sand of the sea, and saw a beast (kingdom) 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. 2) And the beast that 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; and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat (throne) and great authority. 3) And I saw one of his heads as it were (slain) wounded to death,(Greek: εσφαγμενην), and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast." 

   John is instructed to record a series of events: the things which he had seen, the things that are, and the things which shall be hereafter: Revelation 1:19. After the seven letters to the seven churches, a door opens in heaven and John is taken up in the spirit. The large majority of the things recorded in Revelation consists of futuristic events, that extend far beyond John's world, to the end of the age. These events transpire during the last seven years of world history and move the reader forward, into the the time of the end and, the second coming of Yeshua HaMashiach. 

  We are told that Revelation is full of symbolic imagery and it's hard to understand so, we expect to be confounded and confused. We were told how scripture should be interpreted and now, we hold onto centuries-old interpretations for dear life and pass them on, conditioning future generations with several flawed interpretations. One of these flawed interpretations is the theory, that the seven heads of the beast, are the seven hills of Rome, relocating the fourth beast, the antichrist-tribulation kingdom to Europe. 

   The majority of Revelation consists of the witness statement written by John; the  documented account of the events he viewed 'which shall be hereafter,' These events were witnessed while John was in the spirit on the Lords day. Much of his witness statement is contested by bible students and scholars who don't quite agree with the timing or, the imagery that John saw and documented. Most of the symbology and imagery is found in the old testament and, much of Revelation can be viewed from a biblical perspective based upon these ancient writings. 

   Many religious sects add more to scripture then what was detailed by John, bypassing simple biblical constructs, making it complicated or confusing. It's important to read scripture as written, and avoid additional inflections that may add to or, take away from the words that John had written: Revelation 22:18-19. The biggest flaw in deciphering prophetic text over the past centuries was removing the intent of scripture to conform to specific world views. Instead of 'trying' to understand scripture as written, many added variations based upon what they 'believed' to be true, following an historical timeline of world events, instead of the basic prophetic patterns found in scripture. 

   And now, here were are, exchanging Babylon for Rome and seven mountains and seven kings, for seven Roman emperors that have been deceased for thousands of years or, seven hills - seven mounds of dirt that the red dragon wears as seven crowned heads: R 12:3. 

   If the seven heads are seven hills, then we must ask these questions: Do hills wear the name of blasphemy? Do hills have mortal wounds? If one of the heads was slain and mortally wounded, which hill of Rome was that? What is so fascinating about a mortally wounded hill that was, and was not, yet is: Rev 17:8,11 - wounded to death and healed? 

   And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads..... And the dragon was wroth with the woman (Israel) and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ: Rev 12:17 (Genesis 3:15) 

  As Satan's war on the woman's seed, and those who have the testimony of Jesus Christ escalates, a beast begins to rise. John stands on the sands of the shore, watching a great beast with seven heads and ten crowned horns rises up from the sea; the beast is made in the image of the red dragon who also has seven heads and ten horns. Several translations such as Darby place the dragon aka: Satan standing on the sands of the sea orchestrating the rise of his beast kingdom as John bears witness. 

   And I (John) stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast (kingdom) rise up out of the sea, having seven heads (four beast kingdoms and three non-beast kingdoms) and ten horns (ten kings), and upon his horns ten crowns (power, great authority), and upon his heads the name of blasphemy (the name of the beast or the number of the name) 

   The fourth beast rises as the seventh kingdom to seize world power before the time of tribulation and, prior to the return of Christ Jesus. The seventh kingdom, then rises from the abyss, as the eighth. This is a future event, not a past one. The fourth beast was not Rome - the one that is; the sixth head. The Roman monarchy began its rise 753 - 27 B.C., and collapsed  in 476 A.D. Rome's eastern division, the Byzantine, fell in 1453 A.D., conquered by the Ottoman empire, removing the last remnant of the Roman empire from the middle east - replacing a Christian stronghold with Islam. Rome's rise and fall is a past event, not a future one. John sees an event and future kingdom, which has not yet happened. 

   Johns documentation of events interconnects with the night vision of Daniel, who saw four beasts rise from the sea: the lion, bear, leopard and beast of ten horns. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another: Daniel 7:3. These four great beast are four kingdoms which shall arise out of the earth; Daniel 7:17. The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom on earth... Daniel 7:23a. So now we know that a beast represents a kingdom. 

   And the beast (kingdom) which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion; and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat (throne, territorial domain) and great authority. Rev 13:2. The beast of ten horns, is a combination of three middle eastern beast kingdoms from Daniel's night vision, which are currently mortally wounded and deceased: leopard, bear and lion: Daniel 7:7,19.

   The beast with the seven heads is 'like' or, similar to a leopard, The leopard: Daniel 7:6, represents the ancient four winged, four-headed Grecian kingdom, which was divided into four dynasties that grew into four kingdoms, after the death of Alexander the Great. Out of one of those four heads rose a little horn: Antiochus Epiphanes, a foreshadow of the little horn yet to come. While the leopard had four extra heads, four extra kingdoms, the beast from the sea has seven heads, seven world kingdoms, making the beast from the sea 'like' the leopard, who had additional heads representing additional kingdoms. 

   Seven world kingdoms belong to the red dragon Rev 12:3; showcasing the source of the dragons' power and authority. This power and authority is seen by the imagery of the seven crowns upon the dragons seven heads - one for each kingdom. 

   Did Satan offer Christ Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if he would bow before him in worship or, did Satan offer Jesus the seven hills of Rome? Satan offered kingdoms, because they were given to him and belonged to him. Luke 4:5-7; Matthew 4:8-10; John 12:31.

   The beast also has feet like those of a bear: Daniel 7:5, Mede-Persian, which has nails of brass: Grecian: Daniel 7:19. The mouth of the beast is like that of a lion, with iron teeth Daniel 7:4,7,19, which represents the kingdom of Babylon - the head of the beast. All three beast kingdoms were ruled by kings who were mighty warriors that conquered and devoured the middle east: the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar; the head of gold. The fourth beast, is a combination of all three beasts: the lion, the bear and the leopard, giving us the location of the fourth beast: the middle east. This is the head / kingdom from where the final king: the little horn or, antichrist, will rise.

   The beast of ten horns is given the seven heads of the red dragon: Rev 13:2, when the little horn bows before the red dragon in worship. The little horn accepts the offer which Christ Jesus refused, and the red dragon gives him his seven world kingdoms. The crowns that were upon the dragon's seven heads, are removed, and new crowns are given to the ten horns, transferring the dragon's power and great authority from the seven heads (kingdoms) to the ten crowned horns (kings): Rev 13:1b. The crowns that were on the seven heads are replaced with a blasphemous name; the name of the beast or the number of his name. 

   John sees that one of his heads has the appearance of death, a mortal wound, but by the time the beast rises from the sea, the deadly wound was healed. This single event causes those on earth who were not written in the book of life, to wonder in amazement: Rev 13:3b, 17:8b, and they worship the dragon who revives the mortally wounded head, restoring its life, raising it from the abyss - the bottomless pit: Rev 17:8. The seventh head will rise from the abyss as the eighth world kingdom, providing the final king: 17:11. Revelation 17:8,11 detail how Nebuchadnezzar's fourth Babylon kingdom is raised from death - in the last days, This is the beast, with the seven heads and ten horns which carries the woman: Revelation 17:3,7,9. 

   The totality of the fourth beast will be so large and hostile, that not one kingdom will be able to make war against it: R 13:4. There is also an additional beast that rises from the earth. The beast out of the earth (clay) - the religious system of the first beast (iron). The iron and clay, are the political and religious systems that rise to seize world power in the end of days. This alliance can be traced back to the fourth kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar's dream image: the feet and toes. The feet and (ten) toes of iron and shard clay parallel the fourth beast of ten horns, linking the two depictions of the fourth kingdoms found in Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 to the kingdom which rises from the sea in Revelation 13:1-4. The beast kingdom has a nefarious religious system firmly in place, ready to seize global power: Rev 13:11-17. 

   The earth beast is controlled by a medium, a sorcerer - a false prophet, he who speaks the words of the dragon and, prophesizes falsley:13:11-16. Ancient Mesopotamian kingdoms had a slew of magicians, wise men, sorcerers, seers, necromancer's, conjurers and star gazers that worked in the kings court. This is what the false prophet represents, a master magician that works in service to the king and his kingdom. The beast is a kingdom, the horns are his kings. The antichrist is the 'little horn' - a little king, not a little head - a little kingdom. 

  Daniel 7:17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kingdoms which shall arise out of the earth. 

  Four kingdoms: 1) Babylon, 2) Mede-Persian, 3) Greece, 4) beast with ten horns. 

  Four kings:  1) Nebuchadnezzar II, 2) Cyrus the Great who co-ruled with Darius the Mede, 3) Alexander the Great, 4) the little horn aka: Antichrist.

  Four metals: 1) Gold - Babylon, 2) Silver - Mede-Persia, 3) Brass - Grecian, 4a) Iron- the fulfillment of the prophetic fall of Babylon, 4b) Iron mixed with shard clay - fourth kingdom: Antichrist-Tribulation kingdom. 

   Daniel 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on earth.... 

   The seven heads are seven world kingdoms. Four of the heads are beast kingdoms from Daniel's prophecy: lion, bear, leopard and, the beast with ten horns. There are three additional kingdoms which were not beast kingdoms: Egypt, Assyria and Rome, for a total of seven heads, seven world kingdoms. These kingdoms are attached to the beast as seven heads, similar to the beast 'like a leopard' who had four additional heads: Daniel 7:6. Instead of four heads, this beast has a total of seven heads or, seven kingdoms, mirroring the red dragons' authority, ruling power and territorial domain: Revelation 12:3; 13:2. 

   The seven heads are seven kingdoms which is further explained in Revelation 17:9. The angel used an old testament symbolic reference to the seven heads as seven mountains. John records this in the Greek as ὄρος, óros: mountains. He is told to use wisdom and, carefully consider the meaning of the seven heads which are seven mountains and seven kings. (He was not told to use code words, an angel would never use 'code words' but, an angel would use old testament prophetic imagery) Hill in the Greek is βουνός 'bounos' and is not found in the original Greek in verse 9; John never implied that the woman sits on seven hills, as a hill does not carry the same prophetic significance as a mountain. Rome doesn't revive, Babylon does. 

   In prophetic text, a mountain is used as a symbolic reference for a kingdom: Satan was cast from the holy mountain (kingdom) of God due to his pride: Ezekiel 28:13-17. In Daniel 2:35 the mountain becomes a kingdom that fills the whole earth. We also see this in Isaiah 2:2;  Micah 4:1; Jeremiah 51:25 and Revelation 21:10. A kingdom is ruled by a king, and  kings rule kingdoms; kings do not rule hills. 

   The red dragon has authority over six historic kingdoms recorded in the Bible that have  negatively impacted Israel, causing great pain and suffering. He wears these kingdoms as heads, like trophies of achievement, the source of his power and authority, giving each head / kingdom a little crown. Five have fallen, one is, and the seventh has not yet come, the fourth beast of ten crowned horns. The fourth beast is the future world kingdom that will rise to dominate the earth in the last days. This kingdom will be the seventh, completing the number of heads upon the red dragon, and his beastly domain.

   There are seven heads: 1) Egypt-fallen, 2) Assyria-fallen, 3) Babylon-fallen beast, mortally wounded by God's hand of judgement, 4) Mede-Persian -fallen beast, mortally wounded 5) Grecian-fallen beast, mortally wounded 6) Rome -the one that is, and 7) the future kingdom that has not yet come: the beast of ten horns: Rev 17:10. These world powers correlate with the number of heads upon the red dragon: 12:3. The red dragon gives his power, his seat (throne, territorial domain) and great authority to the beast of ten horns who devours and conquers the earth, paving the way for the dragon's reign: Rev 13:1-2b; Daniel 7:7,19,23.

   One of the heads was slain, wounded to death: Greek, εσφαγμενην (Rev 13:3) suggesting a fallen beast or, beast kingdom that was mortally wounded and left to rot and decay, but the deadly head wound will heal, and the beasts' life will be restored. This series of events will cause those on earth who are not written in the book of life, to wonder in amazement (Rev 13:3b, 17:8b) and they will worship the red dragon who revives this wounded head, the mortally wounded beast kingdom: lion, bear, leopard, reinstating his life, raising him from the bottomless pit, healed and restored: Rev 17:8. 

   The Greek word John used: εσφαγμενην translates to English as: slain, wounded to death, having been butchered. The Greek 4969, further suggests this was done in a ritual sense as an act of God in a balance of power, to take power away. The slain beast will be restored or revived according to scripture: Rev 13:3,12,14; 17:8 and 11. The revived beast  kingdom will be healed from his deadly wound, rise up from the abyss and then, rise from the sea: Rev 13:1-4. The world will be amazed by the beast that was, and is not, yet is and, shall be. A beast is a kingdom and the horns are his kings. 

   The seventh head is a future beast kingdom that has a mortal wound which will soon be  healed and restored. The seventh head is Nebuchadnezzar's fourth Babylon kingdom - the feet and toes of iron and clay aka: Daniels fourth beast from the sea; the beast of ten horns. The seventh head or kingdom, is formed of three mortally wounded and deceased beast kingdoms: lion, bear and leopard - which has the appearance of death - a slain head, a mortal wound. This is the head aka: 'beast' kingdom the little horn will rise from - a representation of death. As he rises, he uproots three horns or kings, seizing the power of the beast as it revives from death. 

   As the political and religious systems of the middle east set out to conquer and devour the earth for global dominance, the beast is just now beginning to rise.  The powers that be, are creating a new Babylon kingdom complete with a merchant port. The territories which once belonged to Babylon, are being prepared for an economic boom to transform the middle east into a merchant hub: Revelation 17 & 18. The religious system of the middle east is not Christian or Catholic but one that rose from the ancient city of UR, and spread into Arabia. 

   This is the kingdom that has not yet come; the one that rises after Rome. Rome is the sixth head -  one that is: Revelation 17:10, which gives us the order and progression of the seven heads, the seven kingdoms. Nebuchadnezzar's dream image presents a prophetic plan, a prophetic timeline of Babylon. The time period between the third kingdom of brass and the fourth, the feet and toes of iron and clay indicate a gap in Babylon's history, a time period which must be fulfilled before the fourth kingdom can rise. This time gap, seen by the legs of iron signifies the fulfillment of the fall of Babylon - Babylon's decline and desolation: 2,349 years of history so far. 

   This long duration of time gave birth to the church-age and, the birth of Islam. This prophetic time period throws everyone off, replacing the fulfilment of God's divine judgement, the fall of Babylon with an additional western empire, which doesn't belong in Babylon's four-kingdom timeline. 

   Daniel 2:44; Revelation 13:1; 17:12 place the ten kings - ten horns - ten toes, that rise from Babylons fourth kingdom into the time period before Christ Jesus returns to earth. The antichrist or little horn rises to ultimate power during the tribulation period, specifically mid-tribulation, placing Nebuchadnezzar's fourth kingdom into the time of the end as the beast that rises from the abyss, healed from death. It is a beast - a kingdom that rises from death, not a horn - which is a king. Antichrist is the 'little horn' in Daniel's prophecy, not the little head. The little horn rises from the head of the beast: Daniel 7:8,20, 23-24, and is not the beast itself. 

   Daniels fourth beast with the ten horns is the military arm of the antichrist-tribulation kingdom that seizes world power just prior to the rise of the little horn, preparing the world for his reign. This is the kingdom that is forming now, right before our eyes, but the majority of the Christian world is blinded to the fact, intensely focused on the sixth head, missing the prophetic significance of Babylon's fourth kingdom altogether. 

   This is how close the world is to the start of tribulation and the end of the church age. In the order of events documented in Rev 17 concerning the mystery of the beast with seven heads and ten horns: Rev 17:7b, the fourth beast is preparing to rise from the abyss as Babylon undergoes a transformation. Once Babylon's transformation is complete,  Nebuchadnezzar's fourth kingdom will rise from death, as the eighth world power: 17:11. Daniel and John have laid every step out for us, we just need to step back, and let the authority of the Bible speak for itself. 

   The beast of the ten horns, represents a seventh head, the one that has not yet come in John's documentation of events. When it does, it will rise swiftly, and will exist a short time so the ten kings can lay the foundation, preparing everything the little horn or antichrist will need for his earthly reign: Rev 17:10b. 

    How long is a short time? Considering that Hammurabi ruled a Babylon kingdom for 42 years until it fell into the hands of the Assyrians, or that the Chaldean dynasty ruled for 66 years until it fell to the Mede-Persians, or, that Alexander the Great conquered for 13 years until his death - and the leopard was given dominion over all the earth, one would think that a decade would be considered a 'short time.' Compare this to the average life span of various non-beast kingdoms, which can last hundreds or, thousands of years: Egypt, Assyria, China, India, Rome... ect. 

   As antichrist rises, the beast kingdom of ten crowned horns, will rise from the abyss as the eighth world power. There is no eighth head; the eighth kingdom is the totality of the beast which rises from the sea: Revelation 13:1-4. This transformation from wounded head to the rise of the beast kingdom is documented in Revelation 13:3; 17:8,10,11 which places the beast of ten horns into the position as the red dragon's seventh head. This is the kingdom that is rising now, devouring the earth, conquering the ancient Roman empire - the sixth head - for global control. The antichrist is not mentioned in Revelation 17, as the focus is on the rise of the beast kingdom with the seven heads and ten horns, that carries the woman - the great city, unraveling their mystery. 

   The entire kingdom of antichrist is full of blasphemous men and women who are anti-God, anti-Israel, anti-Christian: Rev 17:3. Enmity is the cohesion that unites the kingdoms.

   To understand the rise of the beast we need to understand the genetic makeup of the beast kingdom: the four kingdoms in Daniels prophecies, the seven heads and the ten horns. This also helps to clarify the identity of the commercially corrupt woman through the lens of prophecy. The woman is intimately connected to the rise of the beast kingdom, sitting upon the beasts seven heads: seven world kingdoms, ruling over the kings of the earth... in the last days. 

   This is a fascinating study which eliminates mythology, fictional characters and mythical figures commonly taught within the church to explain the mystery of the woman in Revelation 17, exchanging Babylon for Rome.