Revelation-Part 37
| By: Dr. Robert Thomas; ©2002 |
| The author of Revelation, John, “marveled with great amazement” at the vision of the beast. In this passage he tries to describe what he has seen. Dr. Thomas helps us to understand what we read about the beast’s heads and horns. |
Contents
The Seventh Bowl: Part Two of Intercalation #1, The Beast with Heads and Horns
Regular readers of this column will remember that we are working our way through Intercalation #1 of the Seventh Bowl Judgment (Rev. 17:1–19:10) as outlined in our April column in this series. Last month’s lesson introduced us to Part One of Intercalation #1 which dealt primarily with the harlot, with a few words about the beast, in Revelation 17:1- 6a. This month, as we move to Part Two of that Intercalation in 17:6b-14, we find the author John in a state of complete astonishment at what he has seen and the angel explaining to him the meaning of the vision of the beast, with only brief mentions of the harlot. The section divides into three parts: the beast himself (17:6b-8), the beast’s seven heads (17:9- 11), and the beast’s ten horns (17:12-14).
The Beast Himself (17:6b-8)
“I marveled with great amazement” (17:6b) acknowledges John’s complete astonishment over the splendidly attired woman and the beast described in 17:1-6a, but he needed an explanation to help him understand the meaning of it all. The angel responds to his amazement with an extensive explanation of the beast in 17:8-17 and a less extensive one of the harlot in 17:18. Together the two constitute a single mystery. The mystery of the beast himself comes in 17:8, that of his heads in 17:9-11, his horns in 17:12-14, the waters in 17:15, and further explanation of the horns in 17:16-17. We will discuss only the beast himself, his heads, and his horns in this month’s lesson.
In each of his appearances in Revelation, the beast himself is either an empire or the ruler of that empire. Each head of the beast is a partial incarnation of satanic power that rules for a given period, so the beast can exist on earth without interruption in the form of seven consecutive kingdoms, but he can also be nonexistent at a given moment in the form of one of the empire’s kings. That explains how verse 8 can speak of him as one who “was and is not.” The nonexistent beast who “is not” must be a temporarily absent king over the future empire that will exist on earth.
The fact that the beast “is about to ascend out of the abyss” identifies him with the beast with the death-wound who was healed in Revelation 13:3, 12, 14. Both there and here, the earth-dwellers express amazement. In other words, the words “is not” refer to the beast who has died, and his ascent from the abyss means he will come to life again as in 13:14. This is the same as his reappearance as an eighth king in 17:11. His departure into perdition (17:8) refers to his future assignment to the lake of fire (see Rev. 19:20).
This past-present-future description of the beast raises a question about a point of reference. When is “now,” the point of the beast’s nonexistence? The best of several possible answers to that question is to locate the point of reference in the future at a time that coincides with the death-wound of the beast in 13:3, 12, 14. This is the midpoint of his career, the time when he comes up from the sea in 13:1. Earlier discussion of Revelation 13 fixed that point at the middle of the seventieth week in fulfillment of Daniel’s seventy-week prophecy, a point between the beast’s human and superhuman careers. Thus, the perspective of the description of 17:8 is entirely future, at a point just before the beast from the sea begins his three and a half year reign. After his death, he will come to life again in a demonic rather than a purely human form to establish his world domination. After all, the abyss from which he ascends is the abode of demons (see Luke 8:31; Rev. 9:1, 2, 11).
The earth-bound, God-rejecting earth-dwellers will be struck with amazement at his reappearance. These are the ones “whose names are not written upon the book of life from the foundation of the world” (17:8). They will see “the one who is and who was and who is coming” (17:8), but will be totally unaware of his origin—the abyss—and his destination— perdition.
The Beast’s Seven Heads (17:9-11)
With a call to listen carefully and think clearly, the angel proceeds to clarify the meaning of the beast’s seven heads. They are “the seven mountains on which the woman sits” (17:9), which mountains are later identified as “seven kings” (17:10). Since Rome has historically been known as a city of seven hills, a popular interpretation of the mountains or hills on which the woman sits has tied the woman to Roman Catholicism with its headquarters in the Vatican City in Rome. Though seven hills were the nucleus of the city on the left bank of the river Tiber, the geographical features of the city have nothing to do with the theological and symbolic insight invited earlier in 17:9. Besides, what connection could there be between the seven hills and seven emperors of 17:10? This gives the heads a double meaning, one geographical and the other political. The most obvious flaw of this interpretation is that it connects the seven heads with the woman, when actually they belong to the beast. The former is an anti-Christian religious figure and the latter is an anti-Christian secular power.
A better view sees the seven heads as representative of seven successive world empires, with the kings of 17:10 as heads and personifications of those empires. This double identification coincides with Daniel 7:17, 23 where the four beast-kingdoms are also four kings. The king stands for the kingdom over which he rules and vice versa. Verse 9 locates the woman on the seven heads of the beast, indicating that she rides on seven empires.
A popular view has identified the kings of 17:10 with Roman emperors of the past, but no matter how one counts, it is impossible to come up with seven by the time John wrote Revelation. The best identification has the seven kings as representative of seven Gentile kingdoms of history: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and the future kingdom of the beast. This matches the sequence of 17:10: “five have fallen,” i.e., Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece; “one is,” i.e., Rome still existed at the time John wrote Revelation; and “the other has not yet comes,” i.e., the future kingdom of the beast. The future leader and his empire will have a short life: “when it comes it is necessary for it to remain for a little [time]” (17:10).
In some mysterious way, the beast is one of the seven heads, but at the same time is an eighth head (17:11). The probable solution to this mystery is that the symbolism of the head reverts to a reference to the king rather than a kingdom with the king sustaining a death-wound and being healed. He is king of the seventh kingdom, but as an eighth, he is king over the eighth kingdom because his reign following his ascent from the abyss will be far more dynamic and dominant than before. Echoing 17:8, 17:11 says, “he departs into perdition.” He will fall into the hands of the Lord Himself at His second advent and will be cast into the lake of fire (see 19:20).
The Beast’s Ten Horns (17:12-14)
Next, the angel explains to John that the ten horns are ten kings who, at the time John wrote, had no kingdoms, but who will receive their kingdoms in the last days under the auspices of the beast. Some time after he begins his three and a half year superhuman reign, he will impart to these kings their power to rule. They will reign until their war with the Lamb at His return, according to 17:14.
The ten kings will be unanimous in their support of the beast (17:13). We will learn in 17:17 below that their willingness to give their power and authority to the beast is a part of God’s sovereign plan. Their support of the beast, however, puts them at odds with the Lamb and His people. They will make war with the Lamb, but the Lamb with His people will gain victory of the kings (17:14). The kings’ crushing defeat will come as they do battle with the Lamb at His return in “the battle of the great day of God Almighty” (16:14). This is the same battle described in Revelation 19:19-21.
The future of the world looks dismal as one anticipates a society dominated by the harlot Babylon and the beast on which she sits. Yet a believer in Christ finds comfort in recalling that this all is within the plan of God who permits the forces of evil to gain supremacy. In His wisdom and sovereignty, this all will have a purpose, a purpose that includes His own eventual victory and bringing in of the new creation that is free of all evil. That brightens the picture for Christians and furnishes incentive to press on with the task we have of getting the good news of Christ’s salvation to as many people as possible so that they even now may become new creations in Christ.
Note: For more details about the beast and his heads under the seventh-bowl judgment, see my discussion in Revelation 8–22 (Moody Press, 1995), pages 291- 300. To order this volume, you may contact Grace Books International at (800) GRACE15 or www.gbibooks.com.
