END OF TIME PROPHECIES 194

"And here is the mind that 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 eigth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.   Revelation 17v9-11

Here we have the angel of the Revelation declaring the wisdom of God.   We have come across in the book  "the angel in the waters" and the "angel of the seven thunders" and "the angels of the seven trumpets" and the angels of the seven vials,"   The book opens with the angel of the revelation and a reference to Daniel 10v20-21 says that angels are involved in the revelation of scripture.   According to Hebrews chapter 2 they were also involved in the giving of the law.   The task of this particular angel is to ensure a clear understanding of future events.   Here then is the interpretation of the vision.

• "The seven heads are seven mountains."    Some have taken this to be Rome, on the basis that the city sits on seven hills.   We have already established from verse 8 that the beast cannot be Rome and the hills around the city of Rome cannot be described as mountains.   It is clear, from what follows, that the mountains represent empires, which were ruled over by dynasties of kings.   Thus the picture here is of the woman sitting upon a system which has developed through many empires, the principles of which have never gone away.   This will become clearer as we proceed.
• "And there are seven kings."     So the mountains are referring to kingdoms.   In the book of Daniel chapter 2 referring to the "stone cut out without hands" which will bring to an end this last great world kingdom, it is recorded that  "the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth."   This is interpreted in Daniel 2v44 as the kingdom of Jesus Christ which will bring to an end all kingdoms.   What the bible is presenting in prophecy is of two kingdoms vying with each other with the outcome known before it happens.
• "Five are fallen."     We have already outlined the five great world empires which are recorded in scripture, namely; Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Greece and Medo-Persia.   These are the five empires which have fallen, yet their principles continue to this day.  
• "One is."     At the time of John's writing this can only refer to the Roman empire which existed for over five hundred years and survived John by almost four hundred of those years (BC 63 - AD476).  
• "The other is not yet come."     According to this passage, and that of Daniel chapter 7, this kingdom which is to come will be a revived form of the Roman empire but it will consist of a confederacy of ten separate kingdoms, in a unified world empire.   This future kingdom is described as follows: Daniel 7v7, called "ten horns,"  autocratic and tyrannical; in the language of the prophecy  "dreadful and terrible and exceedingly strong." This kingdom will be a vicious monster ruling over people with fear (refer also to Daniel 7v19&20, Daniel 7v23&24, as well as Revelation 17v3, v7, v12, v16).   This dictatorial power to come will be a union of ten great powers.   This kingdom must continue for a short space of time and it is out of this that the beast will arise.
• "And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven."   During these end times another "little horn" will arise, a small insignificant power, which will make war with three of the kingdoms and will overcome them, and will eventually rise to world dominion making the eighth world empire as recorded in scripture.   He will be "of the seven," that is he will be in rebellion against God.   He will represent the ways of all the seven empires before him and will create a new world empire on a scale never seen before.  This final world empire will rise to power with the help of the woman who controls huge numbers of the people.   The prospect of this seems fearful but the spirit of God reminds us  "he goeth into perdition."  

We are blessed to have this revelation in detail of what the future holds;

Amazon bookshelf   George Neilly