FIVE ARE FALLEN
Some thoughts to consider... I am NOT posting prophetic doctrine; rather looking at the scriptures and adjusting my thinking to what they SAY, not what I think the MEAN!
NOTE:
Some bible students go back and try to bring in Egypt and the kingdom of Nimrod to get the 5th. That won't work, for the world kingdoms start with Babylon - Thou art this head of gold, Dan. 2.
Some try to bring Egypt and Assyria into this vison John saw, as being part of the fallen kings of kingdoms mentioned in Rev. 17. Again, John is NOT dealing with history! He is dealing with the nation of Israel in the tribulation. John is dealing with prophecy; not history.
To understand the bible, as well as prophecy, one MUST always leave the nation of Israel in proper context of where the Holy Spirit placed them.
Starting with Rev. 17:7
Rev. 17:7-14
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was*, and is not, and yet is.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth*.
10 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.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
14 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.
Revelation 17:8-12
8 'The beast that thou sawest was,' (The beast John saw in this vison, at some time in the past was on the earth. The beast is most likely Judas - but that is a guess. Judas - was alive, died, went to his own place, Acts 1:25 - Jesus said have I not chosen 12, and one of you is a devil, John 6:70.)
'and is not;' (at the time John saw the vison, Rev. 17, Judas was still in his own place, Acts 1.)
'and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.'
Most folks 'will wonder;' once they realize he rose from the dead.
9 'And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.'
Rome sits on 7 hills. Ever wonder why she's called the Roman Catholic church and not the Italian Catholic church? After all, the RCC is housed in the nation of Italy, but she's called a city in the bible. The bible calls her a city, that sits on seven hills, not a nation sitting on seven hills.
When John saw the vision of the woman, Rev.17, I believe he was in the future. Recall what God told him, Rev. 4:1.... Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be **hereafter.** Hereafter what? The rapture of the NT church body. John saw the tribulation poured out on the world after the rapture, but he saw it from heaven. Furthermore, as he watched the tribulation, he says nothing about the NT church enduring to the end. John saw Daniel's 70th wk from heaven, looking down on and thru the corridor of time.
10 'And there are seven kings: five are fallen,'
Now here is where the 'rubber meets the road,' here is 'the rub!'
Five kings are fallen. History and Daniel tell us who four of the five are:
(1) Babylon - Under King Nebuchadnezzzar - Thou art this head of gold, Dan. 2. Babylon (612–539 BC)
(2) Medo/Persia - Medo-Persia (539–331 BC)
(3) Greece - Greece (331–63 BC)
(4) Rome - Rome (63 BC–AD 476;
Larkin's book, "Dispensational Truths" has much to say on these kingdoms.
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In another vision, Daniel saw four great beast, Dan. 7
When Daniel saw the vision, Ch. 7:1, the last king of Babylon is on the throne: In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream... and then Babylon falls after Belshazzar saw the handwriting on the wall.
Daniel 7:17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which ****shall arise**** out of the earth.
Most bible scholars again relate Dan. 7:17 to the statue in Dan. 2, making the kingdoms in Dan. 2 and 7 the same. But that won't work, for the context of Dan.7:17 is future: SHALL ARISE...Future tense!! Shall arise after Belshazzar....
Thus the 1st beast Daniel saw, Dan. 7:4, can't be Babylon because Belshazzar is the last king of the then Babylon empire.
So who is the 5th king/kingdom?
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We can't jus assume that this 5th king comes to power immediately after the fall of the Roman Empire. Nothing is scripture implies that. If you want to find a world kingdom whose 'mascot' is a lion, look at Great Britain! The Griffin (Lion with wings) is the most used imaginary creature used in British heraldry. It is a combination between a lion, as well as an eagle. When only the head of the griffin is used on a coat of arms, the ears are what distinguish it from an eagle.
(5) Is Great Britain the 5th kingdom??
The 4th king of Dan. 7:4 would MOST LIKELY be the fifth king, Rev. 17. The Griffin is the emblem that represents Great Britain. The saying from English glory days past was: 'The sun never sets on the British empire.' but that kingdom is gone. England is no longer a world power. A study on the 'griffin' reveals it guarded the treasure, and the greatest treasure to come out of England was the King James Bible.
Thus, when John saw the vision in Rev. 17 Great Britain is no longer a world empire.
Five are fallen....Remember:
(1) John lived about 90 Ad.
(2) He is raptured into heaven, 90 AD, Rev. 4:1-2.
(3) He is shown things that happen AFTER the rapture of the church, Rev. 4:1 "Hereafter
(4) What John sees is not past history but the future from 90 AD to the end of time! (Therefore, to say that Egypt and Assyria are part of the five fallen kings is going backwards from 90 AD. 'show you things HEREAFTER" We must keep our minds in the tense of the conversation and the visions.)
(5) Hereafter, the last church, Laodicea, is the church of the 21 century. If you separate the word 'hereafter' it is here after. Here - refers to the world. After - the church is gone.
Remember what the angels told Lot, Gen. 19:22 ... 'for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither...'
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When England ceased to be a world kingdom, in the early 1900 Russia became a nation of communism.
(6) Would Russia be the 6th kingdom of Rev. 17?? The emblem for Russia is the bear, and in Dan. 7:5, one of the 2nd beast Daniel saw was a bear.
When John saw this vision Rev. 17, IF and I say IF, the 5th fallen kingdom was Great Britain, then either America or Russia was in power when John saw his vision, Rev. 17. I believe it was Russia that took over after England.
John saw the tribulation poured out on the world before the Second Advent, Rev. 19. So what he saw hereafter, are world kingdoms that we know exist today.
If the world kingdom in power at the time John saw the vision of Rev. 17 was Russia, then Russia fell under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, when the Communist wall came tumbling down: The Fall of the Wall on November 9, 1989. Russia came to power about 1917 and fell about 72 years later, depending on when she came to power as Russia. 70-72 years is like a generation in the bible. Missionaries poured into the Soviet bloc of countries and spread the gospel to a nation starved of the gospel.
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Which brings us to the 7th kingdom which will be in power for only a short time. This 7th kingdom would most likely be America. Either way the kingdom comes under the dominion of the Beast.
This 7th nation/kingdom is taken over by the beast (Judas) when he comes up out of his place, Act 1:25.
(7) Is America the 7th kingdom of Rev. 17, represented by the leopard, Dan. 7:6???
Kingdom - "and one is,
When John saw his vison in Rev. 17, IMHO, America would be the world kingdom.
Daniel foretold, Dan. 8:25, that a king with a fierce countenance would arise and he would make crafts to prosper, IOW he would create jobs.
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But again, just who the two kingdoms that John saw are, we are not told. Kingdoms 5, 6, & 7, listed above are best guesses.
(8) Eighth Kingdom - "and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space."
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
If the above seven kingdoms are correct, then the 8th kingdom is that of the beast (Anti-christ); which would be a false kingdom, imitating the millennial reign of Christ. And this 8th kingdom is part of the first seven kings.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
Those 10 horns that John saw match the 10 supernatural toes seen on the image of Dan. 2.
When John saw the vision of Rev. 17, and saw the 10 horns, did he also see who the 10 kings are? We're not told.
But we're told in Dan. 2:43 that it appears the kings represented by the 10 toes are not human. Their seed does not mix with the seed of men.
Will those 10 kings be aliens or artificial intelligent being with the DNA of man.
As it was in the days of Noah, the fallen angels were breeding with the daughters of men and messing up the human DNA created by The LORD.
IN SUMMARY:
Dan. 7:17 These great beasts , which are four, are four kings, which shall rise out of the earth.
'Shall rise' is future tense. Therefore, when Daniel saw this vision in Dan. 7, he was not looking at the same kings that were in the image of Dan. 2. How do we know this? Because those three of those four kingdoms were already fallen by the time Daniel sees the vision in Dan. 7, and Babylon falls next.
Progressive revelation. thus those four kingdoms Daniel saw are most likely: Britain, Russia, USA, and the kingdom of the Anti-Christ.
If one looks at how the US is falling in on itself with political correctness, we understand that the 4 kings in Dan. 7 do not fight and destroy each other. The kingdoms seem to erode from inside, fades away, an another kingdom arises in its place.
The kingdoms of Dan. 2 fight each other. The beast in Dan. 7 don't fight to take over the other.
Just something to think about...And if this meandering post is correct, the Anti-Christ is in the wings, waiting to make his entrance after the rapture of the NT Church.
Thanks to Peter Ruckman and his chalk talk sermon: "The End of the Rope" for much of the input in this lesson.
