Revelation 17:7 - Mystery of the Woman and the Beast that Carries Her

 Revelation 17:7

   And the angel said unto me, wherefore did thou marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns. 

   This verse can be broken down into 4 characters: John, the angel, the woman and the beast. The verse reflects a mystery which surrounds the woman, followed by another mystery which surrounds the beast of ten horns. The mystery of the woman is fairly simple, the woman is a commercially corrupt trader, a great city which rules over the kings of the earth in the latter days. The mystery of the beast with the seven heads and ten horns is a bit more complex. 

   The angel: the angel is one of the seven angels with one of the seven vials. His mission was to carry John into the wilderness and show him the judgement of the great (English: prostitute / harlot: - Greek: πόρνης ..... commercially corrupt one) who sits on many waters, fornicating with the kings of the earth: 17:1. 

Daniel 7: Order of Events - The Final King

Daniel 7: Order of events Part 1: Four Beast Kingdoms: 

   Daniel had a dream, a night vision in the first year of Belshazzar. Belshazzar was regent king who ruled in place of his Father, King Nabonidus who ruled the Babylon kingdom  from: 556-539 B.C.. King Nabonidus spent most of his time traveling to Arabia to worship the crescent moon god, whose origins can be traced to the ancient city of UR. He spent more time in Arabia, then he did in Babylon worshiping Marduk, the god of Babylon. 

   As Daniel's night vision unfolds, he sees the four winds of heaven stir the great sea with such force, that four beast rose from the churning depths. Beast is translated from the Aramaic חֵיוְתָא which means - animal. An animal can be a beast of the field such as oxen: Daniel 4.32 or, a beast that prowls the wilderness in search of prey, a lion, bear, leopard or, beast of ten horns: Daniel 7. Daniel tells us that each beast represents a kingdom. 

   The four beast are four kingdoms which parallel four metals in Nebuchadnezzars dream image; gold, silver, brass and iron mixed with shard clay. Three kingdoms ruled the middle east with kings who lived in Babylon. The Chaldeans ruled the middle east from Babylon, King Darius took the kingdom on the night of the writing on the wall: Daniel 5; 5:31; 6:28, and, the prophesized fall of Babylon began. Alexander the Great ruled the middle east from his home-base in Babylon, where he later died. Alexander was the last ruling king connected to the dream image, which reflects the historical timeline of the Babylon kingdom and, the future role of Babylon in the latter days. 

  Three kings have come and gone... the fourth kingdom provides the final king.