Lesson 37: Explanations, part 2

Revelation 17:8-18
8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.
9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated;
10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while.
11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction.
12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast.
13 These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast.
14 They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with Him are called and chosen and faithful.”
15 And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.
16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire,
17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.
18 And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”


Verse 8, the beast that was, and is not now, and is about to rise, is the one-world government leader or dictator. We see this in Daniel 2:31-45. The past rulers of this one-world system were Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Cyrus of Persia, Alexander of Greece, and the Emperors of Rome. By the time John wrote this book of Revelation, the power of Rome had already diminished to the extent that it was no longer truly a world-wide government. The future kingdom of ten parts (ten toes of the statue in Daniel) is the coming one. We see this alignment already happening as the “old Roman empire” begins to reshape. But, just as Daniel prophesied, it is not a unified system; it is mixed of both iron and clay, and the two cannot, and will not, remain unified except by the power of the Antichrist.

God will specifically judge and destroy this one-world government system.

*How do you see people begging for a one-world government leader today?