The Seven Kings

Since a beast is a symbol for a king or kingdom (Daniel 7:17, 23), we can deduce that the seven-headed beast ridden by the harlot represents the “seven kings” in today’s verse.

Through Scripture, we’ve learned that one of the primary characteristics of this beast is the persecution of God’s people. This makes sense as the dragon—that is, Satan—is the one behind the beast (Revelation 13:2). Satan’s goal is to cause pain to God, whom he hates. So what do earthly kingdoms do when influenced by the dragon? They cause pain to God’s representatives on earth, His people.

Throughout time, there have been seven main perpetrators on the global stage that have done the devil’s work. Let’s look at the first five, which today’s verse tells us have already “fallen,” or been destroyed: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. Ancient Egypt, headed by its pharaoh, enslaved God’s chosen people, the Jews (Exodus 1:8–16), and even hunted them to the Red Sea (14:5–9).

Assyria destroyed the Jews’ northern kingdom, called Israel, taking captive the ten tribes (2 Kings 17:5, 6). Ancient Babylon invaded the southern kingdom of Judah, carting off the rest of the Jewish nation—including a young Daniel (24:10–16). Babylon was conquered by Medo-Persia, which was then conquered by Greece, just as prophesied in Daniel 7 and 8.

Now the sixth kingdom is the “one” that “is” in power during John’s day. History, in corroboration with Bible prophecy, tells us that this was pagan Rome, whose emperors implemented mass executions of Christians, including 10 of Jesus’ 12 apostles.

The seventh king is “the other [which] has not yet come.” At the time Revelation was written, he had not yet risen to prominence. But he soon did. In the sixth century AD, the papacy, Rome’s next iteration, emerged. We have already studied the 1,260-year period of papal supremacy, in which the Roman Catholic Church killed, some sources say, hundreds of millions of Christians. This persecution, however, was mercifully cut “short” in 1798, when Napoleon captured the pope, appearing to mortally wound the papal power.

Lord, thank You for showing us the cosmic conflict between You and the devil and revealing his true motives as our archenemy.

For Further Study: Daniel 7:19–22; Revelation 12:12; 13:5–7

Key Bible Texts

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. (Revelation 17:10 KJV)