Who represents the Beast and Ten kings of Revelation 17??

   Who represents the Beast and Ten kings of Revelation 17??

While many believe that the Beast represents a revived Roman Empire and the Ten Kings the European Union, the Bible provides a very different answer.

The first clue is found in Psalm 83:3-8: “They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.”

According to biblical scholars, this confederacy has not occurred, meaning it’s prophetic. Notice the reason for this alliance – to cut off the nation of Israel. What nations are most concerned with removing Israel as a nation today? The answer is today’s Islamic Middle-Eastern nations. Ironically, all ten nations in Psalm 83 correspond to modern Islamic nations. “The following are the modern locations for these ten nations: (1) Edom – Southern Jordan, (2) Ishmaelites – Arabs, (3) Hagarenes – Egypt, (4) Gebal – Lebanon, (5) Ammon – Northern Jordan, (6) Amalek – Sinai Peninsula, (7) Philistines – Gaza Strip, (8) Tyre – Lebanon, (9) Assur – Syria and Iraq, and (10) Children of Lot – Jordan,” Restoration Study Bible, Ps. 83:4.

In addition to the Ten Kings representing Islamic nations, there is also evidence that the Beast system is Islamic. According to Revelation, the Man of Sin’s empire will be established upon seven mountains, representing seven kings or kingdoms. “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition” (Rev. 17:9-11).

Notice that these kingdoms are chronological. Five existed before John’s prophecy, one during, one that would come soon after, followed by an eighth, which would be based on the seventh. Since prophecy is always Israel centric, the first five nations likely refer to Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece. Except for Egypt, each of these nations succeeded the other. Since Rome was the superpower and governed Judea during John’s prophecy, Rome would be the sixth.

Who then would be the seventh kingdom? While many point to the barbarians and the fall of Western Rome, many ignore the fact that Rome was not defeated by the barbarians, but continued through its eastern half, which was later known as the Byzantine Empire. Interestingly, the Byzantine Empire was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in the 15^th century. Based on these historical facts, the Byzantine Empire likely represents the seventh kingdom, making the eighth kingdom a revived Islamic empire or caliphate. The threat of a revived Islamic empire is certainly more probable today than it was decades ago. This is especially true with the recent upsurge of radical Islam.

Also, Revelation 20:4 speaks about the saints being beheaded as a testimony to their faith: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Yahshua, and for the word of Yahweh, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Messiah a thousand years.” The only religion that employs dismemberment today is radical Islam, further establishing them as not only the Ten Kings, but the entire Beast system.