Here is the mind that has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman is sitting, and they are seven kings. Five have fallen, one exists now, and one is yet to come, and when he comes it is necessary that he remains for a short time. And the beast, who was and is not, he is an eighth, but he is one of the seven, and he will go to destruction. Rev. 17:9-11.
In Greek the word for hills and mountains is the same. So the author may have had Rome, the city of seven hills, in mind as a model for this beast. On the other hand, since the hills appear one after the other rather than together, this may not be the intention of the text. Whatever their meaning, the hills in our text represents secular and political power in support of Babylon. With these "kings" behind her, the Babylon woman will have great power at the end.
The pedigree of this end-time beast is in the seven kings. Commentators have made many attempts to identify them. But the basic principle to follow in Bible Study is that God meets people where they are. When a prophet gets an explanation of a prophecy, the Lord always presents it in terms of the person's time and place (Dan. 2:37-40; 7:19-25). Thus the one who "exists now" would be the Rome of John's day.
The five who "have fallen" would presumably be the great empires of the Old Testament: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece. Each of them functioned as an enemy of God's people for a time. The "king" that is "yet to come," from John's perspective, would be a future power that would become an enemy of God's people after the fall of Rome. But the seventh "king" is not the last. Beyond the seventh is an eight, who is also one of the seven! Can you see why this text has puzzled many through the centuries? And when you look more closely at the Greek, the imagery becomes even more confusing!
The best explanation seems to be that the seventh head is the sea beast of Revelation 13. It too came up after the time of John and the Roman Empire (Rev. 13:2) and is resurrected for the final conflict (verses 3, 12). The "eight head" then would be the final manifestation of political power in support of Babylon at the end (Rev. 17:3).
But it may not be necessary to understand all the details here. What we have in this passage is the pedigree of a worldwide end-time political power. It functions at the end the way the seven previous powers in earth's history did. Worldwide political union was a reality in John's day and previous to it. Such worldwide union is not a reality at the present time, but will be restored in preparation for the battle of Armageddon (Rev. 16:14-16). This will be the last challenge of earth's history for God's people.
Lord, help this picture of end-time events to energize my decisions and actions today. I want to be faithful even when everyone else is not.
In Greek the word for hills and mountains is the same. So the author may have had Rome, the city of seven hills, in mind as a model for this beast. On the other hand, since the hills appear one after the other rather than together, this may not be the intention of the text. Whatever their meaning, the hills in our text represents secular and political power in support of Babylon. With these "kings" behind her, the Babylon woman will have great power at the end.
The pedigree of this end-time beast is in the seven kings. Commentators have made many attempts to identify them. But the basic principle to follow in Bible Study is that God meets people where they are. When a prophet gets an explanation of a prophecy, the Lord always presents it in terms of the person's time and place (Dan. 2:37-40; 7:19-25). Thus the one who "exists now" would be the Rome of John's day.
The five who "have fallen" would presumably be the great empires of the Old Testament: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece. Each of them functioned as an enemy of God's people for a time. The "king" that is "yet to come," from John's perspective, would be a future power that would become an enemy of God's people after the fall of Rome. But the seventh "king" is not the last. Beyond the seventh is an eight, who is also one of the seven! Can you see why this text has puzzled many through the centuries? And when you look more closely at the Greek, the imagery becomes even more confusing!
The best explanation seems to be that the seventh head is the sea beast of Revelation 13. It too came up after the time of John and the Roman Empire (Rev. 13:2) and is resurrected for the final conflict (verses 3, 12). The "eight head" then would be the final manifestation of political power in support of Babylon at the end (Rev. 17:3).
But it may not be necessary to understand all the details here. What we have in this passage is the pedigree of a worldwide end-time political power. It functions at the end the way the seven previous powers in earth's history did. Worldwide political union was a reality in John's day and previous to it. Such worldwide union is not a reality at the present time, but will be restored in preparation for the battle of Armageddon (Rev. 16:14-16). This will be the last challenge of earth's history for God's people.
Lord, help this picture of end-time events to energize my decisions and actions today. I want to be faithful even when everyone else is not.
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