The Antichrist Kingdom
The Bible teaches that the Antichrist will have a kingdom that he controls. Even the kingdom could be called the Antichrist but the Bible calls it the Beast (The Bible speaks of the Antichrist as a spirit, a kingdom, and a man):
Rev 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns .
Rev 17:8 ESV The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.
The Beast here is the satanic kingdom that rules the world system and has been in power in different forms since the days of Egypt ‘s ancient world empire. Notice that the Beast was, is not, and yet is to come. I will explain this in a moment.
Rev 17:9-10 ESV This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; (10) they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while.
Mountains here represent spiritual kingdoms manifested also as earthly kingdoms. So there is described seven kingdoms. The seven kingdoms appear to be the very biblical kingdoms that have ruled Israel since the days of Noah’s flood. In order they are Egypt , Assyria, Babylon , Medo-Persia , Greece , Rome , and the seventh kingdom that is blossoming on the world scene at this very moment. This explains clearly why the Scripture says five are fallen: ancient Egypt , ancient Assyria, ancient Babylon ancient Persia , and ancient Greece were all fallen by the time of the writing of Revelation. The “one [that] is” would be the one in power at the time of the writing which would be Rome. The seventh is not yet come at the time of the writing.
The key to understanding these verses is that it is a vision into the unseen spiritual heavens. Notice is says “seven kings” ruled these seven mountains. It could not be talking about earthly kings since many kings ruled during the duration of each earthly kingdom. Rome alone had several caesars or kings to rule during its time of power over 1,400 years. It is talking about seven spiritual demon kings in the heavens that rule(d) over these earthly kingdoms. Remember the spiritual Princes of Persia and Greece mentioned in Daniel (Daniel 10:13, 20)? These were demon kings in the second heaven which is the invisible realm right above the earth. The third heaven is where God dwells. Keeping that in mind, notice that when this seventh king appears he will only be in power a short time – namely 3 1/2 years which is the time of the Great Tribulation.
Now to go back to verse 8, the beast that “was” had fallen. The beast “is not” because the final kingdom from which the Antichrist man will arise had not yet manifested. The Beast “yet is” because the Roman Empire was in power at the time of John’s writing.
The Spiritual King Comes to Earth to Become the Antichrist
I believe that the seventh spiritual king that rules will come to earth to possess a man. That man will become the Antichrist.
Rev 17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
So in the previous verses we were told the Beast has seven heads. Now all the sudden there is an eighth mentioned. But then it says it is “of the seven”. No wonder people have a hard time with biblical prophecy sometimes! This seems really confusing until you understand, first, that it requires revelation by the Holy Spirit, second, that it is a look into the heavens, and third, that it requires some serious study.
The eighth is the Antichrist man who is possessed by the spiritual king. That spiritual king comes out of the seventh kingdom which is in the heavens. That way he is both an eighth and seventh simultaneously!
The Kingdoms on Earth
Let’s take a closer look at these major world-power empires as described in Daniel and I think we can see some things that will help us understand the final kingdom of the Beast. I would encourage you to read all of Daniel chapters 2 on your own now to understand the next part.
The following is a breakdown of the vision of Daniel explaining the four world-dominating kingdoms that were and were yet to come:
|
The Kingdoms Represented |
The Great Image in Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream |
| The Babylonian Kingdom: | The head of gold (Dan 2:32, 37, 38) |
| The Medo-Persian Kingdom: | The chest and arms of silver (Dan 2:32, 39) |
| The Greek Kingdom: | The belly and thighs of bronze [brass] (Dan 2:32, 39) |
| The Roman Kingdom: | The legs of iron and feet of part iron part clay (Dan 2:33, 40 – 43) |
We know that the fourth kingdom represented in these two dreams was the Roman Kingdom . History is very clear about each of these kingdoms coming in the exact order and manner as predicted by Daniel: The Babylonians were defeated by the Medo-Persians, who were defeated by the Greeks, who were defeated by the Romans. There were no other kingdoms mentioned after the Romans and no one defeated them. The Empirical Roman Empire was disbanded from within by divisions among its people.
Dan 9:26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary ; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
This Scripture was fulfilled by a Roman named Titus, son of Caesar Vespasian, who sacked Jerusalem , destroyed the temple, and killed and dispersed the Jews. It will also again be fulfilled in the future by the Antichrist. The people of the prince are the Romans. Therefore, we see again that the Antichrist would appear to be originating from the Roman Kingdom.
The following is a picture of the Roman Kingdom at its fullest extent 117A.D:
From http://www.villa-rustica.de/intro/intro01e.html
Notice that the Antichrist could come from a variety of different countries if he comes from the ancient Roman Kingdom . Many believe that the Antichrist will come from western Europe, citing the above Scriptures. But we may also consider the nations that were created from this Roman Kingdom which are also potential candidates. For example, the United States was originally a British colony which broke off. Britannia was a Roman province. We cannot be certain as to which nation he will come from. But it seems likely be a nation of power that the other nations of the world will turn to in their time of crisis. He will have command of a great military that will invade the Holy Land and destroy its people.
The Great Whore that Sitteth Upon Many Waters
Rev 17:1 – 6 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters : With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
I believe this whore to be every false religious system of the world, or one continuous system branching out into different forms, since the days of the Tower of Babel up until today. Some say the whore is the Roman Catholic Church. I agree. The RCC is the false religious system that counterfeits the true worship of the true God. But I also believe it is more than that because the RCC had its roots in paganism which had been around for thousands of years before the RCC’s conception. I believe the whore covers the false religions spanning approximately four thousand years because we see her sitting upon the Beast which is the political world empires that ruled that world since shortly after the Tower of Babel . Also notice that she sits upon MANY waters; the waters represent peoples of humanity.
Rev 17:15 ESV And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.
The kings, plural, of the earth were involved with her. The inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with her fornication which means they were brought to a place of ecstasy because they were able to worship the god of their own creation and not have to submit to the judgment and justice of the true God.
Her name is Babylon . This is not referring to the physical city called Babylon because this vision is from a spiritual viewpoint. This is referring to spiritual Babylon. The spiritual city is called Babylon because earthly Babylon is where the Tower of Babel was erected in which all false religions started. The Tower represents a way in which men believed they could create their own path to Heaven and God. They could make their own rebellious path to worship themselves and their own creations instead of God’s way and worshiping God. ALL false religions of the world, even today, find their roots in the practices of the Tower of Babel . The gods that they worshiped then have been brought down through all the generations to us but in different forms. The very gods of Babel moved to Egypt but their names were changed and multiplied into different forms. They moved to Assyria but with Assyrian names. Babylon , Persia , Greece , Rome , and now throughout the whole world today these gods and false religious systems have spread into different forms. Their names have changed and the gods have multiplied to an almost infinite complexity but they are all rooted in spiritual Babylon – the great whore.
Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus : and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
The false religions of the world have always slaughtered the true believers in God. This has been fulfilled both in the past and present.
Rev 17:9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
The mountains always symbolize kingdoms in the Bible. These are not literal mountains. If they were, then they would be the only thing that is literal in this passage while the rest would be symbolic. However, if we keep everything in context, we see clearly that the mountains would also be symbolic. Again, we must discern that Revelation 17 is from a spiritual perspective, not an earthly physical one.
thank you for your insightful study on end time prophecy, it will be used to teach my congregation, we also teach the jews non believers maybe you can share some information God has revealed that will help.. be blessed love