Each of the seven hostile Gentile kingdoms was ruled by one of the fallen angels, who ruled under the dragon—Satan. The beast (angel) who comes out of the abyss will be one of the angelic rulers over a past kingdom, which will be revived in the last days. That angel will be the wounded head that will be healed—Revelation 13:3, 12 and 14. That healing will be the revision of a past fallen Gentile kingdom and its angelic king. John did not teach that the Antichrist will be supernaturally healed, as some believe. (Daniel 10:12-13 and 20-21 inform us that angelic beings rule over different nations.) The Antichrist kingdom will actually be the revival of one of those previous kingdoms.
That last-days beast will be like a leopard—a picture of the Grecian kingdom; have feet like a bear—the Persian kingdom; and a mouth like a lion—the Babylonian kingdom of Daniel’s day. See Daniel 7:1-8. Thus, the Antichrist kingdom will have traits of each of at least three of those historical Gentile kingdoms—Babylon, Persia and Greece. Those Middle-Eastern peoples will have descended from those ancient nations and will carry some of their ancient concepts and practices right up to the last generation of this evil age. Revelation 17:10—The angel explained to John that the seven heads on the beast were seven kings (kingdoms) and that five had fallen—Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia and Greece, and one is (in John’s day—that would be Rome) and one has not yet come (in John’s day). When he comes (in the last days of the present age) he will become the seventh (the revised Roman kingdom), and then the eighth, and final, Gentile kingdom (Revelation 17:11); but will continue only a short time before Jesus Christ comes to set up His Millennium Kingdom—the thousand-year reign of Christ after this evil age; and then after that thousand years the New Heaven And New Earth Age. Daniel 7:9-14 and 26-27, and Revelation 19:11-21 inform us about the short-lived Antichrist reign. If you will remember, Nebuchadnezzar saw Gentile history down to the end as a large statue, with its legs and feet being the final form of all Gentile history. So that original Roman empire will be reshaped in the last days into that final Gentile, Antichrist kingdom.
The book of Revelation is understandable, but to come to such understanding, it is essential that the serious searcher embark upon a serious and prolonged Bible study. In these articles, we will cover the overall scriptural account of last-days events, which will be most informative and exciting. However, we will cover only the big picture of the Revelation account of the end of this age and not the fine details. The reader can refer to the book of Revelation itself for those fine details. Getting the overall picture is what is most important. Depending on how serious the searcher is, I recommend the Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible for that serious search. That Bible contains references from multitudes of Scripture passages that have to do with the last-days events; plus many notes which explain word-meaning changes, etc., that will impact one’s understanding of many of those last-days events. If you really want to know, Dake’s Bible is the place to go. But, these articles are a good start on that Daniel and Revelation journey. Now, back to the woman, man child and red dragon: That man child will be caught up to heaven, whereas Christ was crucified. Moreover, the woman will escape into the wilderness for three and one-half years. That did not happen 2,000 years ago! Thus…
(Ron Craig is pastor, teacher and author of Christian books; and these articles. You may view all the books by logging onto www.livingwayfellowshiponline.org. While logged on the website you can even listen to audio Bible-lesson podcasts. You may also send your questions or comments to ronwritercraig@gmail.com)