ENDNOTES for The Kingdom of Rome and the Antichrist, the Fourth Kingdom

ENDNOTES for The Kingdom of Rome and the Antichrist, the Fourth Kingdom

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This short article will look at the nature of the Antichrist and that he is not a human being, but he looks human. We will also look at how Apollyon will possess the Antichrist's body. We will see how the time of great tribulation, including the time in which many will be killed for not receiving the mark of the beast, is approximately three and a half years. We will also expound Revelation 17:8-13 and the seven mountains.

Three and a half years pass (Revelation 13:5) from the time that the 7 year tribulation (Daniel 9:27) begins until the time that the Antichrist gets killed (who then rises from the dead). This is a false resurrection because he is not a human being. He is called a beast and is called the angel (or beast) of (from) the bottomless pit (Rev. 11:7). When he dies, the demonic spirits lose their control of his body for a short time, before he is restored to life again.

Revelation 13 tells how the first beast, the Antichrist, rises to power over the earth. He then is killed after receiving a head wound (Rev. 13:3). After the Antichrist (first beast) rises up from the dead, the world will be amazed at this false sign. They will worship him. Anyone who refuses to worship this Antichrist will be sentenced to death (Rev. 13:15). But, God will preserve His people who follow His leading.

Abba Father God will prepare places of refuge for His people, including the Jewish and Gentile Christians (who are truly following God and trusting only in Jesus Christ, the Messiah, to save them from their sins). Rev. 12:13-17 speaks of how many believing Jews will be taken to places of safety in the wilderness, where God will provide for them and protect them. If this happens for the Jews who believe on Jesus, it will certainly happen for the believing Gentiles. The time when the Antichrist seeks to slay many Christians will be for three and a half years (Rev.12:6,14, Rev. 13:5). (The two witnesses will prophesy for 1,260 days, approx. 3 and ½ years, before the beast who ascends out of the bottomless pit kills them. See Rev. 11:3,7.)

The Antichrist has the power to continue for 42 months (Rev. 13:5), and the two witnesses continue 1,260 days (Rev. 11:3). The Antichrist will come to the scene before the 2 witnesses arrive. The Antichrist perishes at the end of his 42 months, and then he is revived to life (Rev. 13:3).

The spirit controlling the Antichrist’s body all along is the angel (or beast) of the bottomless pit (Rev. 11:7). This creature is given a name in Rev. 9:11. He is Apollyon, a principality under Satan. Apollyon, in the Antichrist's body, is the beast in Rev. 17:8. Apollyon “was” because he did exist in the past. He “is not” because he is not yet come into the Antichrist, and the Antichrist has not yet come. In the future, Apollyon will exist in the Antichrist. It will be said of him, he “yet is” (See Rev. 17:8).

Apollyon, being "the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit" (Rev. 11:7) shall go into perdition (Rev. 17:8). That means damnation. In other words, he will be locked up in Hell forever. Revelation 19:20 tells how both the beast (Apollyon and the body of the Antichrist) and the false prophet will be cast alive into the lake of fire.

(Note: 1,260 days is about 3.452 years. 42 months is 3.5 years.)

Expounding Revelation 17

Let's look at Revelation 17:8-13. We will expound what it is talking about.

Revelation 17:8-13

"[8] The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. [9] And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. [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."

We already looked at verse 8. The seven mountains (heads) are seven empires. The seven kings are seven power structures. They represent the political power of the empire in the form of the succession of leaders. An example is the succession of western Roman emperors from Augustus to Romulus Augustus or the Persian (Achaemenid) emperors from Cyrus the Great to Darius III.

We are still in the time of the Roman empire. The Vatican and its officials are now the power structure of Rome. Five major, Middle-Eastern empires existed prior to the Roman Empire. They were (1) the Akkadian Empire, (2) the Assyrian Empire, (3) the Babylonian Empire, (4) the Persian (Achaemenid) Empire, and (5) the Greek empire of Alexander the Great, which split into four divisions.

The Roman Empire exists today in the form of the Vatican-dominated, geopolitical world. It is the sixth empire (or mountain). The seventh empire will arise out of the Roman Empire that still exists today. The beast that is the eighth (Rev. 17:11) is of the seven empires because he did control them, and is controlling the current one.

The Bible says that Satan is the god (or powerful leader) of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). So, Satan has the power to manipulate or control people who reject Jesus Christ. By controlling powerful leaders, Satan controls or influences the world. But, we Christians can pray and overcome what the devil is doing, according to God's will and purpose. These ten horns in Rev. 17:12-13 are centers of power that dedicate their power to the Antichrist. They are regions of land and other areas that the Antichrist will control. They are also men who serve the Antichrist.