The famous harlot, the apostate church-become-governmental-power known as “Babylon the Great” is sitting on a beast in chapter 17. Yes, it is the same creature that we saw in chapter 13. It has seven heads and ten horns, and other characteristics that mark it as the Satan-man, not just as Satan. I have given much time in a previous work (The Scarlet Threads series) to describing the harlot system centered in Rome. I want to skip here to the concise descriptions given by an unnamed angel to a marveling bewildered apostle (note this other similarity to Daniel!). It is in verse 8:

“The beast that you saw [the Satan-man] was [he once existed on the planet], and is not [in John’s day, he is not alive] and will ascend out of the bottomless pit [he will come back to earth from the grave or a special holding place where he has been preserved all these centuries] and go to perdition [ placed by Jesus in the Lake of Fire.]” That is not so easy to believe, but it is not hard to understand. Let us learn to ignore our brain if it conflicts with our faith. Someone who lived before the apostle John is going to return to earth. Once more note that Satan is trying to do what Jesus did in as many ways as possible. Jesus died and rose again. Satan’s man died but will rise again. [And if the people don’t believe that he can demonstrate it again.]

Where will Antiochus come from, if he has a new body? We know his ancient nationality, but when antichrist comes back will he start over as a baby again? I think not, unless the pagan doctrine of reincarnation is allowed to supersede the Biblical concept of resurrection in the end time culture, and there is an accompanying miracle to confirm it.

It seems to me that he will come in his new body, filled with his new master. They have had much time to work out the details of his appearing, as he waits in the Pit. Yes, Antiochus died and went to the place all dead ones go, or so we presume. His spirit only awaits uniting to his renewed body. In that, he is like every human. Then like all of us he rises to be judged. The only difference is that he will be permitted several years to wreak havoc on earth before his public judgment.

The world will be mesmerized by this man, from his mysterious origins, to his invincible body to his Hitler-like captivating ways as an orator.

The Spirit gives us yet another way to look at this mystery in verse 9. We are told that we may look at the seven heads as seven mountains on which the woman sits. This could be the seven actual hills of Rome or the seven world powers that the beast stands for. Or, says the angel we can look back in history for seven kings.

Now of all the kings that have ever sat on a throne, how do we narrow the search to seven? I’m not sure I have the answer fully, but I believe that to qualify for this office, a king would have to have had severely negative relationships with Israel, be defiant to the God of Israel, and perhaps even be mentioned or alluded to in Scripture. Probably the kings would have to match the seven world powers we have identified above as heads. That would bring us to the Pharaoh (Raamses?) of Egypt, Sennacherib of Assyria, Nebuchadnezzar of Baylonia, Xerxes (Ahasuerus, who signed a bill to eliminate the Jews!) of Persia, Antiochus Epiphanes of the Greek Empire, Domitian of Rome, and the future ruler of Revived Rome. These are seven men/heads for whom Israel was a problem to be solved. Seven antichrist figures of history.

The angel explaining all this to John says next that five of the above kings have fallen, are dead. One of them exists, is alive in John's day. One of them is yet to come, but will only reign a short time. This fact led many to speculate that it is a future ruler who will be slain and rise from the dead. That is, number seven comes, dies, rises, and is immediately number eight! But that will not fit with what we just learned, that the beast was alive already but is not now. Whoever he is, he pre-dated John who lived in the first century.

Now, all seven of these rulers either have failed or will fail in their goal of world dominion and annihilation of Israel. Even the seventh will not succeed in sufficiently hurting the Jews. His reign will be short, to make way soon for the eighth. But are there not seven? Yes there are seven. But there are eight. This is the heart of the mystery. One of those seven men listed above is returning to be number eight. He was one of the seven. He is number eight. Let it sink in, and your choices for “who is the antichrist?” are significantly narrowed.

Next we learn that the final Roman kingdom is energized at the very end of all things as a power-base for antichrist. He seems to take three nations very quickly (Daniel 7:8). After they have had their short day, forever ruining “Babylon,” the worldwide politico-religious system, they themselves will be destroyed, along with their master, by Christ at His return.