COMMENTARY ON REVELATION 17:12-14
REVELATION 17:12-14
(12) And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom: but shall receive power as kings, one hour after the beast. (13) These have one design: and their strength and power they shall deliver to the beast. (14) These shall fight with the Lamb. And the Lamb shall overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings: and they that are with him are called and elect and faithful. (Rev. 17:12-14, DRCB)
12 At ang sangpung sungay na iyong nakita ay sangpung hari, na hindi pa nagsisitanggap ng kaharian; datapuwa't magsisitanggap sila ng kapamahalaang paghahari na isang oras na kasama ng hayop.13 Ang mga ito ay may isang kaisipan, at ibinibigay nila ang kanilang kapangyarihan at kapamahalaan sa hayop. 14 Makikipagbaka ang mga ito laban sa Cordero, at sila'y dadaigin ng Cordero, sapagka't siya'y Panginoon ng mga panginoon at Hari ng mga Hari; at ng mga kasama niya, na mga tinawag at mga pili at mga tapat ay nananaig din. (Rev. 17:12-14, TCB) (
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. (Rev. 17:12-14, KJB)
Revelation 17:12 described these kings as having “no kingdom yet” at the time of Apostle John’s writing, and when they do receive a kingdom, they will have power for only “one hour with the beast”. – This is interesting because it reveals the fact that as being subjects to the rule of Antichrist that their royal power is only temporary, just as the power of Antichrist will be temporary.
THE TEN KINGS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
The European Union today is a political, social, and economic regional organization, having 27 member states. -- The “Ten Horns” (“Ten Kings”) are most likely to come out of a 10-nation confederacy that will be formed in the European Union [the revived Roman Empire]. -- These ten kings will hand over their kingdoms to Antichrist, resulting in his trying to assume control over the entire earth. This takeover of the world by Antichrist will happen sometime after the Rapture of the Church when the Bride of Christ is removed from off planet earth and taken into Heaven to be with Jesus Christ before the Seven Year Tribulation begins.
We know that Antichrist is a Roman because it was the Roman who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD as prophesied by Daniel in Daniel 9:26. -- We know that the ten kings will hand over their kingdoms so him. And we know that the ten kings will come out of the revived Roman Empire as made clear in the following quotes:
[BEGIN QUOTE] - In Daniel 2:41-44, the dream of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue, teaches that the statue has ten toes. The ten toes are said to be ten kings that are overthrown at Christ’s second coming. The ten kings make a return in Daniel 7:7, 20-24. In this chapter, the ten kings, called ten horns, are said to come from the fourth kingdom [representing the revived Roman Empire], just as the ten toes of Daniel 2 extend out of the fourth section of the statue. Out from among the ten kings comes an eleventh, identified as the Antichrist. The ten horns return in Revelation 13:1 and 17:12-14. In the latter, they are said to give their authority and power to the beast.These passages all seem to indicate that the backbone of the Antichrist’s power will come from these ten nations. This, of course, does not mean that only ten nations will fight for the Antichrist. These ten nations will be the most powerful of his allies and will form the foundation for his conquests. [END QUOTE] [1]
[BEGIN QUOTE] - Scripture also indicates that the Antichrist will partake in some military conquests around the world. Daniel 11:39 tells us that he will attack the mightiest fortresses. It is possible that the mightiest fortresses are the strongest nations that exist during the time of the Antichrist (will America be one of them?). A couple verses later (11:41) Daniel says that the Antichrist will invade Israel. Verses 40-43 tell us that Edom, Moab, and Amman (modern-day Jordan) are delivered from his hand and submit to him. However, he does invade and conquer Egypt, Nubia (Sudan), and Libya. It also says that he will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood (indicating that these invasions are sudden and swift). [END QUOTE] [2]
When Jesus opened the FIRST SEAL in Revelation 6:2, we see that Antichrist was given power to go forth “conquering, and to conquer”. Please note that Antichrist did not have complete control over the earth at the beginning of the Seven Year Tribulation. Antichrist and the ten-nation confederacy that became subjected to him, helped him to begin conquering nations of the world. Supposedly Antichrist will reward these nations with some of the wealth that he confiscates from different nations.
“These [ten kings] shall make war with the Lamb” … The following is a quote from Gill’s Commentary which I believe best describes the meaning of this verse of Scripture…
[BEGIN QUOTE] “These shall make war with the Lamb, [Jesus Christ] “. . . .this war is not to be understood of a war with him [Jesus] personally, or of that last and decisive, battle at Armageddon, in which will be the kings of the earth; but of a war with his members [war with those who become believers during the Tribulation], of their persecuting of the saints, and faithful witnesses of Christ in all ages, within their jurisdictions, being instigated to it by the beast, under whose influence they are: “and the Lamb shall overcome them”: partly through the constancy [faithfulness] of his people, who will not love their lives to the death, but freely lay them down for him [be willing to be martyred for their faith]; nor can anything separate them from the love of Christ, or prevail upon them to desert him, his truths and ordinances, cause and interest, but are more than conquerors through him, and so he [Jesus] overcomes in them; [END QUOTE] [3]
[BEGIN QUOTE] - When the Antichrist first comes on the scene in the aftermath of the Battle of Ezekiel 38-39 [after the Rapture], he’ll look to the world like a great peacemaker. He’ll deceive people by distributing gifts of power and influence and will even confirm a treaty allowing Israel to build the third Temple and reinstate their worship of God there (Daniel 9:27). As he gains public support he’ll start attacking countries who don’t fall into line. He’ll make his close followers into rulers, giving them conquered lands as a reward for their faithfulness (Daniel 11:39).
But when he moves to consolidate his control of Planet Earth by going to Jerusalem to assert his divinity, the King of the North and the King of the South will both try to stop him (Daniel 11:40). This tells us that even among Islamic countries there will be resistance to his rule, as others will also have their sights set on becoming the head of the world wide caliphate. It’s important to remember that there’s disagreement among the various branches of Islam over how and by whom world dominance will be achieved There’s also no love lost between Arab and non-Arab Muslims. But he’ll bring them all into submission, and after invading many other countries, he’ll arrive in Jerusalem and set up his headquarters there (Daniel 11:42-45), where he’ll walk into the New Temple and claim to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:4).
In Matthew 24:15 Jesus said this declaration will be the primary cause of the Great Tribulation. This is because it will be the event that pits Satan and his man directly against God and His Anointed, as Psalm 2:2-3 prophesied so long ago. His defeat of the Kings of the North and the South could be the reason for all the world to unite behind him and declare, “Who is like the Beast? Who can make war against him?” (Revelation 13:4) And as Daniel said, the anti-Christ will be successful until the time of wrath is completed because this is the way God has determined it will happen (Daniel 11:36). No one on Earth will be able to stand against him. [End Quote] [4]
END NOTES
[1 ]THE CHRISTIAN THINKER, “Will the Antichrist Rule the Entire World?”, Accessed September 13, 2024, Web: https://thechristianthinker.com/will-the-antichrist-rule-the-entire-world/
[3] BIBLE HUB, Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, Revelation 17:14, Accessed August 15, 2024, Web: https://biblehub.com/commentaries/revelation/17-14.html
[4] RAPTURE READY, “The Three Kings of Daniel 11 :: by Jack Kelly”, Accessed September 26, 2024, Web: https://www.raptureready.com/2013/12/26/the-three-kings-of-daniel-11-by-jack-kelley/