The Meaning of the Woman and e Beast

Then the angel said to me, "Why are you astonished? I will tell you the secret meaning of the woman and the beast, with the seven heads and the 10 horns that carries her.

The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come from the abyss and go to destruction. Those who live on the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast that was, and is not, and will be present again.

Here is the mind with wisdom. The seven heads are the seven mountains on which the woman is seated. There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes, he must remain for a little while. The beast that was and is not, is himself an eighth king, yet he belongs to the seven and is going to destruction. The 10 horns you saw are 10 kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they will receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour.

They have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings. Those with Him are called, chosen, and faithful."

He also said to me, " the waters you saw, where the prostitute was seated, are people's, multitudes, nations, and languages. The 10 horns you saw, and the beast, will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, devour her flesh, and burn her up with fire. For God has put into their hearts to carry out His plan by having one purpose and to give their kingdom to the beast until God's words are accomplished. And the woman you saw is the great city that has an empire over the kings of the earth, revelation 17:7-18

I can imagine John being astonished at this vision. Just as Daniel and Ezekiel would have been astonished at the great and terrible images they saw.

The angel tells John about the beast who was, is not and about to come from the abyss. He is speaking about the fact that the beast is actually about to be sent to the abyss for the reign of Christ and then will be loosed again.

The beast has seven heads, as we saw earlier in chapter 13:1,2.  As the angel says the seven heads represent seven kings. Five have been, one was current and one was to come. The time between the one current, Domitian and the one who was to come appears to be centuries. As history shows there have been many Roman rulers but many believe this verse to indicate and end time ruler, who rules a revived Roman who will be succeeded by the Anti-Christ, the beast and eighth ruler. The seven mountains are thought to be the seven mountains around Rome.

The 10 kings who rule alongside the Anti-Christ are given power by him for a purpose, they are puppets. Some believe these represent the Economic Union reduced to 10 leaders. They will wage war on the woman, who represents false religion and destroy it for the sole purpose of making way for worship of the beast.

A though is running around in my head, it is just me. What if the beast represents money and that the world leaders make money the god of the hour? I am a financial planner and I am watching the world be ruled by money. Money and the mishandling of it is destroying nations. We see the Economic Union constantly meeting to determine the fate of this nation and that. In my own world, in Australia, people worship money, they are godless and do not care for the one true God. Everything revolves around money. The  godless church is dying and at the same time the true church is rising. In many countries the true church is persecuted severely. Myself, I have been persecuted because I dared to confront a brother about his sin and he attends such a godless church.

We see in the above scripture that the beast will attack Christ and fail, because Christ is Lord. As a Christian I am called to live for Him, remain holy, focused and never give up. He has the power and the glory and He is able to keep me until He comes for me. What about you? Amen!