Question: Who are the seven kings mentioned in Revelation 17:10 and the eighth king in verse 11?
V.9 (a)Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
(a) "Seven heads are seven mountains”; (see V.10, 11 & 12).
V.10 (a)And they are seven kings: five are fallen, one is, (b)and the other is not yet come; and when he comes, he must continue a short space.
(a) Remembering that the criterion in Biblical prophecy in our opinion is when Israel is affected, and not "Lo-Ammi" (not My people), Daniel 7 gives the likely understanding of the 7 kings listed;
— 1) Babylon, (Lion) (one king).
— 2) Medes &Persians, (Bear) (two kings).
— 3) Greece, (Leopard ) (two kings), 330B.C.-167B.C. Ptolemies & Seleucids, 167B.C. - 63B.C. Hasmoneans & Maccabees.
— 4) Rev. 17:10, "one is", Rome, (one king). This at the time of John's writing.
(b) "The other is not yet come"; this seventh king cannot exist in power until Israel is again "central", in the sense of Divine Prophecy, i.e. at the "Covenant" stage of Dan. 9:27.
Note: Charles Welch, in his book ‘This Prophecy’ page 206; points to Dan. 7, and the above Empires. There, Greece is shown to have ‘four heads’, (Dan. 7:6), and Medo – Persia one.
That therefore shows the Ptolemies and Seleucids as two; and the Hasmoreans and Maccabees as two, which corresponds with the split of Alexander’s Empire into four, after his death, (see 13:8 and notes).
V.11 (a)And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
V.12 (a)And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings which have received no Kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
V.13 (a)These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
V.14 (a)These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called and chosen, and faithful”.
(a) See Chapter 13 and notes. Also Daniel and other O.T. prophecies.
V.15 (a)And he said to me, "The waters which you saw, where the whore sits, are peoples, and multitudes and Nations and tongues.
(a) Self-explanatory; all the peoples, religions, and Nations are controlled by the whore (see V.1 & notes), i.e. peoples etc., are holding sacred and sacrosanct, false values, worship, learning, knowledge and standards all of which stem from Satan/Nimrod; which leads them to many alternatives of worship other than the One True Jehovah Zebaoth, and His Christ! (Acts. 4:12).
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