The Mystery Explained
6I could see that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and of the witnesses for Jesus. And I was greatly astonished at the sight of her.
7“Why are you astonished?” said the angel. “I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns.
8The beast that you saw was, and now is no more, but is about to come up out of the abyss and go to its destruction. And those who dwell on the earth whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet will be.
9This calls for a mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. 10There are also seven kings. Five are fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while.
11The beast that was, and now is not, is himself an eighth king. He belongs to the other seven and is going into destruction. 12The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but will receive one hour of authority as kings, along with the beast. 13These kings have one purpose: to yield their power and authority to the beast.
These passages in Revelation has the most speculation as to its meaning.
The correct explanation would be, we just don’t know!
“10There are also seven kings. Five are fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come;”
I tend to agree with David Guzik’s explanation of this verse.
Five are fallen; was before John’s time. Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Medo-Persia, and Greece.
One is; during John’s time was Rome.
the other has not yet come; a revival of a one world government like Rome.
“11The beast that was, and now is not, is himself an eighth king. He belongs to the other seven and is going into destruction”.
In other versions “destruction” is translated as perdition.
Perdition; a state of eternal punishment and damnation into which a sinful and unpenitent person passes after death.
The beast will be destroyed, God wins!
The tens horns are ten kingdoms that form a federation, a union to join the antichrist and wage war on Christ.
I like Alford’s explanation;
“They are ten kingdoms which shall arise out of the fourth great kingdom there: ten European powers, which in the last time, in concert with and subjugation to the antichristian power, shall make war against Christ. In the precise number and form here indicated, they have not yet arisen . . . What changes in Europe may bring them into the required tale and form, it is not for us to say.” (Alford, 1866)
Could it be the EU (European Union)?
Blessings, David
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