Austin Bible Church
Seven Heads
The Seven Heads refers to the seven empires listed below which have administered either the fourth or fifth cycles of divine discipline to Israel. Rev. 12:3.
“Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems.” (Revelation 12:3, NASB)
Egypt: Enslaved Israel prior to the cycles of discipline brought by God through Moses.
Assyria: Administered the fifth cycle of discipline to the Northern Kingdom beginning in 721 BC and the fourth cycle of discipline to the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
Chaldean Empire: Administered the fifth cycle of discipline to the Northern Kingdom in 586 BC and the fourth cycle of discipline to the Southern Kingdom.
Media Persia: Administered the fifth cycle of discipline to the Jews and later sponsored their return to the Land starting in 536 BC, which also terminated the fifth cycle of discipline in 516 BC.
Greco-Macedonian Empire: Hellenistic Empires, Greece administered fourth cycle of discipline.
Roman Empire: Went primarily to the Rhine, Danube, and Euphrates. Started the administration of the fifth cycle of discipline.
Revived Roman Empire: This will include most of the nations found within the borders of the old Roman Empire - primarily Western Europe and three other countries in the Western Hemisphere. These end the fifth cycle of discipline.
Ten Horns
The Ten Horns represents the 10 nation confederation that will form the Revived Roman Empire. Daniel 2:41-45; Daniel 7:20-22.
“"In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. "As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. "And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery. "In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. "Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy."” (Daniel 2:41-45, NASB)
“and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up, and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts and which was larger in appearance than its associates. "I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom.” (Daniel 7:20-22, NASB)
Rome will be the headquarters for the political and religious organization that controls the Revived Roman Empire. This is comparable to the ten toes of the image, which is said to be made up of iron and clay. Iron represents the nations formerly within the old Roman Empire and clay represents those nations that were not in the old Roman Empire. In the Revived Roman Empire, there will be a union of religion and state, which will destroy the freedom of the individuals living there.
The “seven diadems” in Revelation 12:3 refers to seven out of the ten nations. Three of the nations will be conquered by the Dictator of the Revived Roman Empire. Seven nations will keep their diadems or crowns.
“Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems.” (Revelation 12:3, NASB)
The “ten diadems” in Revelation 13:1 started out as independent nations and for one reason or another they were finally pulled into the confederation. Crowns or diadems indicate they had a form of self-government and were a national entity, but lost that when they were finally pulled into the confederation.
“And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names.” (Revelation 13:1, NASB)