“But the angel said to me, ‘Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.’” Revelation 17:7-8.
The above has been included to maintain context with this post which begins with Revelation 17:9 shown below.
“Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.” Revelation 17:9.
The last verse in this chapter further identifies the location of these mountains.
“And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.” Revelation 17:18.
Verse 9 above gives us the geography of the woman’s location which is clearly Rome when both verses are taken into account. Rome is not only central to the Roman Empire, it is known as the city which sits on seven hills.
The names of these hills are, Palatine, Rome was founded on this hill and emperors resided there, Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Caelian, Aventine, and Capitoline.
Folks like to argue that there are many cities seated on seven hills, can you name one?
Seattle claims to be built on seven hills. San Francisco also claims seven hills, Telegraph Hill, Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Rincon Hill, Mount Sutro, Twin Peaks, and Mount Davidson as their own.
Constantinople, now Istanbul, claims to be built on seven hills; however they became the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire in 330 A.D. long after Revelation was written.
The point here is that Rome is noted for its seven hills and the others are not commonly known for this geographical characteristic. And some cities may make this claim to cash in on the Roman name recognition.
“There [They] are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.” Revelation 17:10-11.
There are three different explanations for the above verse, all of which have a great deal of merit.
I have put the word, they, in brackets above because it is used in some manuscripts instead of “there”, and I feel that it ties verses 9 and 10 together much more clearly.
The seven kings too are often translated as meaning kingdoms or dynasties; so much of what follows you will have to decide for yourself which is correct, just as I hope that you will consider all of this critically.
The first thought takes these kings as being literally kings of the Roman Empire. They are, Julius Caesar, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, and Domitian (this last emperor was in power when John wrote this), six kings, the seventh would be the beast.
The problem with this is that there were more than six emperors within this time period, so the list becomes somewhat speculative, though it could still be six of any one of them.
The second idea considers the word kings to mean dynasties or world powers. These would be a little less a matter of guesswork; they are, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, six in all, the revived Roman Empire will make a seventh.
This does have one serious flaw. Four of these empires are represented as beasts in Daniel’s vision in Daniel 7:1-8, Babylon was a lion with eagle’s wings, the Medes and the Persians were likened to a bear, Greece was a leopard with four wings, and finally Rome was a dreadful and terrifying beast with ten horns.
This Roman beast is the same one as the seven headed one on which the woman sits. It is unlikely that these dynasties can be represented as the final beast, since they are shown as different animals altogether, and in Daniel’s vision, two of them are not mentioned at all. Still, this is a reasonable hypothesis.
The last theory is that the kingdoms or dynasties represent six different forms of the Roman government. These are king, consul, dictator, decemviri, military tribunal, and emperor, some future form of a ten part world government would be the seventh.
It says of these kings that, “Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come.” So the obvious is that five kings or dynasties are over and the one that is, was in place in John’s day, which would be either, the emperor Domitian, the Roman Empire, or the last form of Roman government, emperor.
With six out of the way, we now come to the seventh, “the other has not yet come”, and this will be some sort of revived Roman Empire.
People call this the revived Roman Empire because it refers back to the nightmarish Roman beast with ten horns in Daniel 7. It also corresponds with the feet of iron and clay (with 10 toes) in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream statue in Daniel chapter 2
specifically verses 40-45.
The different metals in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream statue are given in the same order and have the same meaning as the beasts in Daniel’s vision in chapter 7.
“And when he comes, he must continue a short time.” Revelation 17:10b.
These words, ‘when he comes” and “he must continue” speak of a person rather than an institution of some sort. The beast/Antichrist will appear at the beginning of the tribulation as part of this revived Roman Empire.
However he will be killed 3 ½ years into it, thus continuing a short time, and then he will rise from the dead with more power than any man could possibly have.
“And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.” Revelation 17:11.
Here is why Revelation 17:8 says, the beast, “was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition”, it is because all of these events occurred at the end of the first 3 ½ years of the tribulation and are past tense.
With the exception of the last phrase, “and go to perdition”, the beast will rise from the dead in the middle of the tribulation (3 ½ years), rule for another 3 ½ years and then be cast into the lake of fire, “go to perdition”.
In fact verse 11 also begins in past tense because, “the beast that was, and is not”, does not become the eighth kingdom or dynasty, until he ascends from the abyss.
He is of the seven kings or dynasties, because he was the seventh one until his death. After his resurrection and he becomes the Superman the world goes from being the Worldwide Roman Empire (the seventh) to the Beast’s Worldwide Empire (the eighth).
“And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.” Revelation 17:12-13.
These ten kings do something quite interesting, they forego the “me first” attitude we all have, especially those in authority, and give their power and authority over to the beast.
This is partly due to the fact that this despicable person is a brute with an unstoppable army, and having risen from the dead he has power beyond human comprehension – a god!
In one of his end times visions the prophet Daniel is given the following information about the reign of the beast over the whole earth.
“Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast [Antichrist] shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces.’” Daniel 7:23.
“He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time [3 ½ years].” Daniel 7:25.
Please, give careful consideration to the last sentence above, “the saints shall be given into his [the beast] hand for a time and times and half a time” 3 ½ years.
Many folks today think that the gospel of Jesus Christ is, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will have a good life and then you will go to heaven.
Nooo, while that is partially true, it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ is:
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved…” Acts 16:31b.
Saved? Saved from what? We are saved from something, not to a happy life and a place in heaven. We are saved from eternal separation from God.
An unending existence in a dark place, floating alone with only the screams of the damned and your own thoughts continually tormenting you with condemnation for all the evil things you did in this lifetime.
The worm of one’s conscience does not die and the fire is not quenched, there is only the loop of embarrassing thoughts, humiliating incidents and the evil that we have so carelessly done in our lifetimes.
We writhe in agony and plead into the emptiness for an opportunity to beg to plead with someone for their forgiveness to ease our conscience, but there is only darkness and the constant screams. There is no God in the lake of fire!
One might say, “Peachy, no God, I hate Him, finally rid of Him!”
However, God is the Author and Creator of everything. Gravity, gravity is good, light, colors, green grass, blue skies, cool water, food cakes, steaks and even wine if you will.
And the absolute essentials love, human companionship, music, hope and a purpose.
Where there is no God, there is no beauty none. God has given us all things to richly enjoy; it is man who works ceaselessly to destroy these things.
So, to sum up it is the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son which cleanses us from all unrighteousness. When we accept His sacrifice for our sins we are saved from eternal separation from God in the lake of fire.
At the same time we are sanctified, set apart, to live our lives in Christ Jesus. To do the works prepared for us before time began. We are also sanctified, set apart, to spend eternity in heaven where there is light, beauty, love, and every tear is wiped away.
Having said all this, let us return to the statement, “Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.”
It is plainly stated here that God is going to allow the beast to torment His saints for 3 ½ years. Why?
The answer to this is also found in the book of Daniel:
“Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.” Daniel 12:10.
Just as gold or silver is refined in a crucible so character is refined in trials, whether small or agonizing; the Christian is also tested in this life by trials to help us be more Christlike and prepare us for our heavenly citizenship.
Let us all determine not to blaspheme God when these things come into our lives.
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28.
“Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you…” 1 Peter 4:12.
When you enter one of these trials, seek the peace which passes understanding in the presence of God.
If you seek answers to a problem or want a reason perhaps for a trial, try fasting for a day or two, or more if you are in good health. You might also consider Daniel’s method described in Daniel 10:2-3 though not necessarily as long.
“These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.” Revelation 17:13.
It says that these 10 kings have authority for one hour with the beast, the words one hour mean, one purpose.
You would think with such consolidated power there would finally be peace on earth, but no there is only persecution, famine, poverty as never experienced on earth before, murders, perversion, dissension, division and hatred. While the rich and the powerful increase in wealth and power the people suffer.
Revelation 17:9-13 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 2-23-17, updated on 10-12-22.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.