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.
The third king who was of Satan’s
mindset was the Pharaoh of Moses’ time. The Pharaoh of Egypt, who was a king,
was not only the supreme judge and ruler of Egypt but he was the supreme
religious leader of the kingdom and the mediator between man and the gods. Indeed,
he was considered a god himself. The Pharaoh who contested Moses’ demands for
freedom for the Hebrews defied God as judgments poured down on his kingdom as
any casual reading of the book of Exodus will reveal, as does the beast of
Revelation. Pharaoh and his army is destroyed quickly by God’s supernatural
hand and the song of Moses which he sang after the Red Sea crossing is
mentioned in Revelation 15:3 as we have seen. He is proud and defiant to God’s
will and does not bend to terrible judgment on his people and kingdom.
The fourth king who followed in
the path of Satan as an example of the beast to come was Sennacherib, the
Assyrian. From 2Kings 18:13 through 2Kings 19:37 we see that through the
Assyrian general, Rabshakeh, he mocked God and God’s people while at the same
time claiming that it was God’s very will that was being done. It is helpful to
read this brief passage in 2Kings. His army was destroyed in a moment of time,
overnight, 185,000 Assyrians dead. Christ will destroy His enemies quickly, as
well.
2Thessalonians 2:8 And then
shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of
his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
Revelation 19:19 And I saw the
beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make
war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. 20 And the beast was taken, and with him the
false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them
that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These
both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of
him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all
the fowls were filled with their flesh.
The fifth type of the beast from
whom the beast of Revelation comes following in Satan’s path is Nebuchadnezzar,
aka Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon. Much is written in the Bible about him
coming up against Jerusalem, destroying the temple of God, and of his
eventually going mad and being restored to health. You can read about him from
2Kings through Daniel and see that he demanded worship through an image in
Daniel. This is noteworthy and shows his place as a type of the beast of
Revelation.
The sixth king, the one that is,
the one who ruled when John was writing, is thought to be Domitian, persecutor
of Christians according to later accounts, follower of the Imperial Cult of
emperor worship. He was said to be called by sycophants, Lord and God. Under
Domitian, John was exiled to Patmos, tradition says, after a failed attempt to
boil him to death in oil. Domitian was the youngest son of Emperor Vespasian
who fought the Jews, whose older son and future emperor Titus also was
responsible for the destruction of the temple of Jesus’ day and the deaths of thousands
upon thousands of Jews.
Now, we have a mystery for us.
There is a seventh king who rules only a short time who is like the beast, who
is of the line of proud boasting pagans that followed Satan’s way, but we don’t
have his name. Who he is, is a matter of speculation. Perhaps he is yet to come
or perhaps he is one of our more modern examples of types of the beast, like
Hitler or Stalin, although their reigns were not comparatively brief.
But, the eighth king is the beast
of Revelation. He is of the seven and
shall have ten subordinate kings under him who will rule for a short time,
giving all authority and power to the beast. They are all in agreement with
him. Ten is traditionally considered to be the number representing the Gentiles
and is an interesting discussion topic.
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