The Return of the King of Kings Part 10

                “Then I stood on the sand of the sea.  And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.
                “Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion.  The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.
                “And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed.  And all the world marveled and followed the beast.”
                Revelation 13:1-3
 
The beast John describes represents both a summary of former world empires and the final empire that will arise in the Last Days.  He goes on to describe it in more detail in the following verses:
 
                “So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness.  And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.  The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.  And on her forehead a name was written: Mystery, Babylon the Great, The Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth.
                “I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.  And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.  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.
                “Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.  There 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.
                “The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.  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.  These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen and faithful.
                “Then he said to me, The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.  And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire.  For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.  And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
                Revelation 17:3-18
 
There is a lot going on in all the verses I have quoted.  Let’s begin by addressing the composite nature of the beast John described.  To do that, I will refer back to the prophet Daniel:
 
                “And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other.  The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings.  I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.
                “And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear.  It was raised up on one side, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth.  And they said thus to it: Arise, devour much flesh!
                “After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird.  The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it.  After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong.  It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet.  It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.”
                Daniel 7:3-7
 
The four beasts that Daniel saw represent four world empires.  Bible scholars have determined that based on the symbology, the lion represents Babylon and the bear represents the Medo-Persian Empire which conquered Babylon.  The leopard represents Alexander the Great’s Greek Empire.  The four wings symbolize the speed at which he conquered the known world and the four heads represent the four kingdoms that arose after his untimely death: the kingdoms of his generals Seleucus, Cassander, Lysimachus, and Ptolemy.  The fourth beast represents both ancient Rome and the final world empire.
 
Rome is different from the other empires in that it was never officially defeated and replaced by another empire.  It is also different in the respect that it switched from a pagan system of religion to Christianity.  One might say that the beast went into hibernation and will awaken again in the Last Days.
 
This is another aspect of the Church Age.  Just as God paused the timeline of Israel, he also paused the timeline of the final pagan world empire.  We have already seen how Israel has been revived and is on the brink of seeing its prophetic timeline restarted.  In a moment I will reveal signs that the Roman Empire is undergoing a similar resurrection.
 
But first let’s continue the examining the beast in John’s vision in Revelation.  You will note that it has characteristics of a lion, bear, and a leopard.  It also has ten hours.  So what we see is all of the world empires rolled into one vision.
 
Next we have the seven heads, which we are told have a dual meaning.  In one respect they represent seven kingdoms.  Five are fallen.  All prophecy must be viewed through the prism of God’s relationship with Israel.  There are five fallen ancient empires that crossed paths with Israel – Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece.  John is told the sixth head “is”, meaning that it is the empire of his current time, which would be the Roman Empire.  The seventh is not yet come and will continue only a short time when it does.  This seventh empire will be the ten-nation revived Roman Empire.  It is the wounded head that is healed.
 
The other thing the seven heads represent are the seven mountains upon which the Harlot sits.  The Harlot represents all the pagan religions that were the belief systems of the ancient world empires.  These religions rose to power on the back of these conquering empires, hence the imagery of the woman riding the beast.  The final pagan world empire – Rome – is a city that was built on seven prominent hills.
 
So what you have is an illustration of all the ancient world empires and their pagan religious systems.  The cycle of pagan world empires was paused close to the same time God paused his prophetic timeline for Israel and started the Church Age.  This explains the mystery of the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.  When God enacts the Rapture and ends the Church Age, this will pave the way for the return of the final pagan world empire, described as the beast rising out of the bottomless pit.
 
This empire will be a confederation of ten nations, as illustrated by the ten horns.  It will also be a revival of the Roman Empire because it is a maturation of the fourth beast in Daniel’s vision.  So is there evidence of a revival of the Roman Empire in our modern age?  I will discuss that in my next post.
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