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,(εσφαγμενην), and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast."
John is instructed to document and 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, John is shown a door in heaven and is taken in the spirit. The large majority of the things recorded in Revelation consists of futuristic events, that extended far beyond John's world, to the end of the age. These events transpire during the appointed time of tribulation and move the reader forward, into the Great tribulation.
I think people are shocked when they discover that much of Revelation is more literal than it's given credit for. We are told that Revelation is full of prophetic symbolic imagery and it's hard to understand so, we expect to be confounded and confused. We were told how it should be interpreted and now, we hold onto faulty interpretations for dear life. The use of symbology is a viewing of 'things which shall be hereafter,' witnessed and recorded by John while he is in the spirit on the Lords day. Once the symbology is broken down into a biblical perspective, we discover that not only can Revelation be understood, but it's fairly simple.
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 (See also Genesis 3:15)
As Satan's war on the Christians and the Jews escalates, John is shown the rise of a beast kingdom. John is standing on the sands of the shore 13:1, watching a great beast with seven heads and ten horns rise from the sea, in the end of days. Several translations such as Darby document 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 (authority, power), and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Daniel's fourth beast is a seventh world kingdom which rises to seize world power before the time of tribulation begins, prior to the return of Christ Jesus. This is a future event, not a past one. The fourth beast is not Rome. The western Roman monarchy or empire began its rise 753 - 27 B.C., and collapsed in 476 A.D. Rome's eastern division, the Byzantine, fell in 1453, conquered by the Ottoman empire, removing the last remnant of the Roman empire from the middle east. Rome's rise and fall is a past event, not a future one.
Johns documentation of events interconnects with the night vision of Daniel, who saw four beasts rise from the sea: the lion, bear, leopard and the beast of ten horns. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another: Daniel 7:3.
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) and great authority. Rev 13:2. The beast kingdom is a combination of all three beast from Daniel's night vision and, it has ten horns.
The beast with the seven heads is 'like' or, similar to a leopard, The leopard: Daniel 7:6, represents the ancient four-headed Grecian empire which was divided into four dynasties or kingdoms after the death of Alexander the Great. The beast kingdom also has feet like those of a bear: Daniel 7:5, Mede-Persian, and the mouth like the mouth of a lion: Daniel 7:4,19 which represents the kingdom of Babylon - the head of the beast. All three beast kingdoms had mighty kings who were mighty warriors. These kings ruled the middle east while living in Babylon.
The beast carries the seven heads of the red dragon: Rev 13:2, which are seven world kingdoms that symbolize the dragons power and great authority. The beast also has the ten horns of Daniel's fourth beast. The ten horns are adorned with ten crowns showing the dragons power and authority. The crowns that were upon the seven heads that belong to the red dragon, have been removed, transferring the dragon's power and authority to the ten horns seen by the ten crown given to the ten horns: Rev 13:1. The crowns that were on the dragon's seven heads are now replaced with blasphemous names.
John sees that one of his heads has the appearance of death, a mortal wound, but the deadly wound was healed. This caused 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 wounded head, restoring its life, raising it from the bottomless pit: Rev 17:8. The seventh head then rises from the abyss as the eighth world kingdom: 17:11. Rev 17:8,11 document how Daniel's fourth beast kingdom is raised from death in the latter days,
The totality of the fourth beast kingdom will be so large and hostile, that no one on earth will be able to make war against it. Revelation 13:5 transitions the focus from the rising beast kingdom 13:1-4, onto the eleventh king, the little horn, aka: antichrist 13:5 - 10. There is also an additional beast that rises from the earth, the religious system (clay) of the first beast (iron). The earth beast is controlled by the sorcerer - the false prophet, he who prophesizes falsley:13:11-16. The majority of ancient Mesopotamian kingdoms had a slew of magicians, wise men, sorcerers, 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'.
Daniel 7:17 defines the connection between king and kingdom; linking four kings to four kingdoms. Four beast kingdoms rise from the sea, while four kings rise from kingdoms.
Daniel 7:17 These great beasts (kingdoms), which are four, are four kings which shall arise out of the earth.
Four kingdoms: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, beast with ten horns.
Four kings: Nebuchadnezzar II, Darius the Mede, Alexander the Great, Antichrist.
Daniel 7:23 -Thus he (the angel) said, The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on earth....
The seven heads represent seven world kingdoms. Four of the heads are four 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 world empires. These are attached to the beast as 'heads' similar to the beast kingdom 'like a leopard' who had four heads- Daniel 7:6. The beast from the sea in Revelation 13 is 'like a leopard,' which had four kingdoms represented as four heads. Instead of four heads, this beast has a total of seven heads or, seven kingdoms, representing the red dragons' authority, ruling power and territorial domain: 12:3;13:2.
The seven heads are seven kingdoms which is further explained in Rev 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: mountain. He is told to carefully consider the meaning behind the use of 'mountain' and to use wisdom when deciphering the meaning. (He was not told to use code words, an angel wouldn't use 'code words' but, an angel would use old testament symbolism) Many verses in the O.T. used a metaphor of a mountain as a symbolic reference for a kingdom: Daniel 9:16; 2:35b, Isaiah 2:2; 66:20; 48:1, Jeremiah 51:25, Joel 3:17 and Revelation 21:10.
The red dragon has claimed authority over six historic kingdoms recorded in the Bible that had negatively impacted Israel, causing great pain and suffering. He wears these kingdoms as heads, like trophies of achievement. Six have ruled while one has not yet come, the prophetic fourth beast. The fourth beast is the future seventh world kingdom that will rise to dominate the earth in the latter days. This kingdom will complete the number of heads upon the red dragon.
There are seven kingdoms: 1) Egypt-fallen, 2) Assyria-fallen, 3) Babylon-fallen beast, mortally wounded, 4) Medo-Persia -fallen beast, mortally wounded 5) Grecian-fallen beast, mortally wounded 6) Rome -the one that is, and the future beast kingdom that has not yet come: 7) the beast with the ten horns: Rev 17:10. These kingdoms correlate with the number of heads upon the red dragon: 12:3, and the beast kingdom of antichrist who received the dragons power, his seat (throne, territorial domain) and great authority: Rev 13:2b.
One of the heads was slain, wounded to death: Greek, εσφαγμενην (Rev 13:3) suggesting a fallen beast or, kingdom that was mortally wounded and left to rot and decay, but the deadly head wound was healed, 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, and restores its life, raising it 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 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 the scripture in Rev 13:3, 17:8 and 11. The revived kingdom, healed from its deadly head wound will rise up from the abyss and the world will be amazed by the kingdom that was, and is not, yet is or, shall be.
The seventh head will be a future beast kingdom that has had a deadly head wound, healed and restored. The seventh head is Daniels fourth beast from the sea. The seventh head or kingdom, is a combination of three ancient middle eastern mortally wounded, beast kingdoms (lion, bear and leopard) that will rise to form the beast of ten horns: Dan 7:7b. This is the kingdom that has not yet come; the one that rises after Rome. Rome is the one that is: Revelation 17:10, which gives us the order of the seven heads, the seven kingdoms. The head with the mortal wound is the head the little horn or antichrist rises from - the representation of death. As he rises, he uproots three horns or kings, seizing the power of the beast kingdom, as it revives from death.
Revelation 13:1; 17:12 places the ten kings that arise from the kingdom of ten horns into the time period of tribulation. The antichrist or little horn rises to ultimate power during the tribulation period, (specifically mid-tribulation), and it is this kingdom that he rises from.
Daniels fourth beast with the ten horns is the kingdom that rises just prior to the rise of the little horn, preparing the world for his reign. It is the kingdom that is forming now, right before our eyes, but the world is blinded to the fact, intently focused on the sixth head.
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), Daniel's fourth beast is preparing to rise from the abyss as Babylon is currently undergoing a transformation. Once this transformation is complete Daniel's fourth beast will rise transforming into the eighth world power: 17:11. The number of heads upon the beast represent a succession of earthly kingdoms.
The beast kingdom 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 lasted 66 years until it fell to the Mede-Persians, one would think that less than a century would be considered a 'short time,' compared to the average life span of a non-beast kingdoms which can last thousands of years: Egypt, Assyria and Rome.
After the antichrist rises, the beast kingdom with the ten horns rises from the abyss as the eighth world power. There is no eighth head, the seventh is the totality of the beast. This is documented in Revelation 17:10,11 which places the beast with the ten horns into position as the seventh head. This is the kingdom that rises after the sixth head which was Rome. The antichrist is not mentioned in Revelation 17, as the focus is on the rise of the beast kingdom that carries the woman.
The antichrist's entire kingdom is full of blasphemous anti-God, anti-Israel, anti-Christian people who are as vile and destructive as he is: Rev 17:3. Hatred 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 beast, the heads and the horns. This also helps to clarify the identity of the commercially corrupt woman by biblical standards. The woman is intimately connected to the rise of the beast kingdom.
This was a fascinating study which eliminated mythology, fictional characters and mythical figures that is commonly taught within the church, using the fables of Alexander Hislop to explain the mystery of the woman in Revelation 17.
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