Revelation 17:9-18

⁹ “Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. ¹⁰ There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. ¹¹ The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.

There is no common interpretation of these verses among the Christian scholars.  The most consistent thought is the seven mountains describe Rome as it was known as “the city on seven hills”.  However, there are not seven kings over Rome that can be identified to go along with that.  But we can link the seven kings to seven world empires.  In Israel’s history, five kingdoms have fallen and passed on: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece.  The one who “is” could have been Rome at that time and the one who” has not yet come” is simply that, not yet come.  This is a consistent method when tying this to Daniel 2 and 7.  This last one will, like the others, rule for a short time.  The beast, or the Antichrist, is the eighth king, but he belongs to the seventh which would be Satan.  Or he is the seventh king before his “death” and the eighth after his “resurrection”. 

All interpreters of Revelation do agree on the end of verse 11, the final kingdom and king be destroyed and fall and go down to the abyss, or perdition.

¹² “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. ¹³ These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴ These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”

Relating once again to Daniel, one can understand that there will be 10 kings, each with a kingdom of his own and each one will submit together to the Antichrist and give him their power and authority over these kingdoms.  With that power the Antichrist will make a very intentional and specific war against Jesus, His teachings, His Word, and those who follow Him, but they will be overcome by Jesus Himself. 

Daniel Akin says it well:

“This world system, Babylonianism, will come again and again to seduce, attack, and destroy the people of God.  It is influential and powerful.  It is intimidating and prosperous.  It is enticing and persuasive.  It gives every appearance of the promise of victory, of the winning team: Get on board or get crushed.  Join the team or be called a fool.  Worship the beast and whore with the prostitute, or live a wasted life.  However, the Bible makes clear that ‘eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow you die’ is a satanic lie!  Tomorrow, we will stand before the King of kings and the Lord of lords and give an account for the life He gave each one of us – the life many will waste.  That life is headed for a devastating defeat.”

¹⁵ Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. ¹⁶ And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. ¹⁷ For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. ¹⁸ And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”

When a person is finished with a prostitute, they do not marry the prostitute.  They do not go to them to love them but to use them.  Here we see that this influence which has been used to get the people of the earth to promote people will be removed once they can all be controlled.  The kings will remove that alluring influence.  Evil will attack evil.  This is by God’s allowance and design so that the Antichrist can have control over the world and then be defeated forever. 

C. J. Mahaney said, “Today, the greatest challenge facing American [Christians] is not persecution from the world, but seduction by the world.”

C. S. Lewis said, “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who goes on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea.  We are too easily pleased.”