Now we come to Revelation 17:7-18, what I consider to be one of the most difficult passages in our study. So, bear with me, I’ll try to get this right. This is verse 7: “Then the angel said to me, Why are you astonished? I will explain the symbolic meaning of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has seven heads and ten horns.”
The difficulty here is that the “beast” actually symbolizes three different things: the first is a supernatural angel out of the abyss (Revelation 11:7, 17:8); the second is a mortal man, the Antichrist that comes up out of the sea (multitudes of people), etc (Revelation 13:1-8, 17:12-17); and the third is the consolidated kingdom of Antichrist (Revelation 17:8-11). Some of the verses in this passage actually refer to all three, some to only one. Hopefully, I can make this understandable as we go through this. So, for now let’s concentrate on the explanation of the “beast”, and then we’ll deal more specifically with the “woman” later on.
“The beast that you saw once was, but now is not, and will come up out of the abyss and go to his destruction. And the inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life since the foundation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, that once was, but now is not, and is yet to come.” (Verse 8)
The first part of this verse has to be understood in the context of time. Notice the description of this beast; that he “once was” (that is, he existed before John’s day), “now is not” (was not on the earth during John’s day), “and will come” (will be on the earth again after John’s day). This is the beast that comes up out of the abyss in Revelation 11:7 to make war against the two witnesses. Keep in mind that this whole parenthetical passage (1-18) covers the entire second half of the tribulation, as does the ministry of the two witnesses and the worldwide spiritual awakening previously mentioned.
The phrase “inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life since the foundation of the world” is an unfortunate translation. “Foundation of the world” is katabole used with kosmos (compare Matthew 13:35). I don’t remember if I mentioned this verse at the beginning of these lessons with reference to the overthrow of the original earth and the pre-Adamic race. Katabole is never used to describe the founding or beginning of anything. It means, “casting down” or “overthrow”. It describes an annihilation or utter destruction of something. Kosmos is “social order”. This is a reference to the destruction of the original earth and the race of men who got caught up in Lucifer’s rebellion.
The point the angel is making to John in this verse is that all those (past and present) whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life since the destruction of Lucifer’s original kingdom (that is, all those lost and destined for hell, and in context to the tribulation, those who are a part of this continued rebellion against God) will be amazed when they see what this beast is able to accomplish. Of course, what you have to keep in mind is the fact that everything the beast does is necessary to fulfill what God has already determined and even though it might appear to men, at times, that he is more powerful than God, it will become apparent in the end that God is (and always has been) in total control.
In verse 7 the beast is said to have seven heads and ten horns. The next three verses will help us understand the seven heads. “This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills upon which the woman is sitting. And they are seven kingdoms, five of them have fallen, one exists now, and the other is not yet come. And when he does come, he must stay for only a short time. And this beast that once was, but now is not; he will become the eighth (kingdom). He is like the other seven and will go to his destruction.” (Verses 9-11)
OK. Now look closely. The seven heads are seven hills and the seven hills are seven kingdoms, five have fallen, one is in power now and another is still yet to come. Then, this beast once was, is not now, but will become the eighth (kingdom). Let’s take a stab at this. There will be eight kingdoms that either have in the past, or will in the future, oppress Israel in God’s plan for the ages. Again, in the context of John’s time, five were in the past and had fallen. They were the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Medo-Persian and Grecian Empires. The sixth that existed in his time was, of course, the Roman Empire. The seventh empire yet to come is the Revised Roman Empire of the Antichrist formed during the first half of the tribulation, as we have already discussed. And the end of verse 10 above tells us that when this seventh kingdom comes, it will last only a short time.
So, what is the eighth kingdom? This, again, must be put in the context of John’s day. Verse 11 tells us that it had already existed before John’s day (“once was”), did not exist in John’s day (“but is not now”), but will come back (“will become the eighth”). I don’t want to take the time to explain all of this, but I believe this to be a revival of the Grecian Empire. A close, but tedious, look at the Book of Daniel shows the Antichrist (the little horn) coming out of the Grecian Empire (the he-goat) in Daniel 8:21-25. Daniel’s last vision given in Daniel 11:35-12:13 chronicles future events from the rise of Antichrist to the Second Coming of Christ, all in the context of the Grecian Empire given in 11:1-34 (a passage that predicts the destruction of the Persian Empire by the Grecian Empire under Alexander the Great).
There are two more things about this revised Grecian Empire. The first is that verses 8 and 11 both talk about the beast that “was, and now is not”. Verse 8 tells us he comes up out of the abyss and verse 11 tells us he becomes the eighth kingdom. This tells me that the beast that comes up out of the abyss in 17:8 and 11:7 are one in the same and is the satanic ruler of the old Grecian Empire mentioned in Daniel 10:20 that had been imprisoned in the abyss since the fall of that kingdom at the hands of the Romans, reserved for this time. It is evident that this satanic ruler joins forces with Satan, fallen angels and the false prophet to support the Antichrist in this eighth kingdom focused on the final destruction of Israel.
The second thing has to do with Revelation 13:1-3. Here, one of the seven heads of the beast is “wounded to death”, the wound was healed (13:3), and then the false prophet forces people to worship the beast whose deadly wound had been healed (13:12). In Lesson 39, point 8, I failed to make the connection. The seven heads of the beast are identified in 17:9-10 as seven kingdoms. The kingdom that was wounded to death (destroyed) and healed (revived in the last days) is the Grecian Empire, the eighth and last kingdom.
Now, hopefully we understand the meaning of the seven heads. The next three verses talk about the ten horns. “Also the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but together they will receive power as kings for one hour, along with the beast. These all have one common purpose, and will give their power and authority to the beast. And they will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings – and those with Him will be His called, chosen and loyal followers.” (Verses 12-14)
These ten kings are the future leaders of the ten countries that will make up the Revised Roman Empire discussed before (the seventh empire). Again, an examination of the Book of Daniel (mainly chapter 7) predicts this. These ten “kings” will join with Antichrist during the first half of the tribulation. Daniel tells us the Antichrist is able to conquer three of them; then the other seven agree to align with him. This agreement lasts only a short time, as the evil combination of Satan, fallen angels, the angel out of the abyss and the false prophet force them to give up their power to the Antichrist. This then becomes the eighth kingdom described earlier that dominates the last half of the tribulation.
We’ll deal with the “great whore” in the next lesson.