Seven Empires

The Seven-Headed Dragon

REVELATION 12

The sign of the great red dragon of Revelation 12 confirms the verdict that Islam is the final human empire in the divine plan. The seven-headed dragon is explicitly named as Satan, portrayed in other biblical passages as a ruling prince. The book of Job describes Satan as a prosecuting attorney who doggedly pleads against faithful servants of God. Righteous Job was vulnerable to the ambition of this sinister official of the heavenly Court. In Revelation 12 seven crowned heads are a sign of ruling might.

Satan, Ruler of Seven Kingdoms

Satan is a behind-the-scenes mover and shaker of empires, but he remains a second-rate authority under God, comparably far less than wicked Haman under the Persian king, the husband of Queen Esther of the Bible (map 10). Still, the dragon retains authority for a certain amount of time, symbolized by the seven crowns. A staggering picture unfolds as we review all the historical maps of this site. Seven corresponding civilizations have dominated the Promised Land and the biblical world since the days of Abraham, the "Father of the Faithful." Not one of the seven cultures ruled with divine perfection, even in its finest hour. Each exalted the pomp of this created world, though they alleged the favor of the gods (maps 2-19) or God (maps 20-34). The difference in the glory of these seven and the coming Kingdom of God is far beyond the difference in glory between a candle and the sun. In the day of God's Kingdom the brilliant radiance of His grandeur will make Man's little flame imperceptible. The seven empires have fallen far short of God's magnificence in the same manner as their shadowy prince, Satan.

The Remnant of Israel

Revelation 12 also portrays a symbolic Woman clothed with the sun, standing on the moon and crowned with twelve stars, who is persecuted by the seven-headed dragon. The sun, moon and stars are found in Joseph's dream in Genesis 37:9-11 and represent the family of Israel, while signifying ideal faithfulness to God. In Revelation 12 the Woman symbolizes the faithful remnant of Jews throughout Israel's history who anticipate, look for, and follow a Messiah like Joseph, a Messiah who was rejected before the promises of his dream were fulfilled, namely Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah. Scripture reveals that the size of the remnant of Jewish disciples of Yeshua the Messiah in Israel will grow dramatically as the end of the age approaches. Revelation 7:1-8 tells of 144,000 of the sons of Israel who are faithful disciples, who represent all twelve tribes of Israel. This list of Revelation compares with any of the twenty lists in the Hebrew Old Testament of the twelve patriarchs or tribes and represent literal Israel, not symbolic imagination.

The Woman is persecuted by Satan because of obedience to God. Certainly all seven empires have persecuted Israel, starting with Pharaoh who ordered all Israelite baby boys to be cast into the Nile river, up to modern Islamic persecution. The Woman gave birth to a "Male Child" speaking of Messiah in His first appearance in the world, who will one day return to rule all nations with a rod of iron. This Woman, according to Revelation 12:17, has other offspring as well, those from all nations who believe the message of the original Jewish Apostles, who keep God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Yeshua.

The Beast of Revelation 17

Another beast in Revelation 17 adds more color to this picture. This animal with seven heads betrays an identical nature as the dragon. We are also told the heads represent seven mountains and seven kings, five kings had fallen, one was, and one was yet to come. We have already seen that heads can represent empires in biblical prophecy, the head of gold of the image was Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian Kingdom. In that same passage a mountain also represented an empire, the Stone that smashed the feet and toes became a great mountain, the Kingdom of God. Then Daniel 7:17,23 tell us kings are interchangeable with kingdoms, the four beasts that arise from the sea are four kings, but the fourth beast is a fourth kingdom. So the seven heads, mountains and kings might easily symbolize seven empires. Biederwolf's study of biblical prophecy, The Second Coming Bible, lists several scholars on page 671 who believe this imagery does indeed speak of seven biblical empires. At the time Revelation was recorded at the end of the first century five kingdoms had fallen, one was, and one was yet to come. The Roman Empire governed in the days  Revelation was given (sometime between maps 17 and 18). But that empire fell and Islam arose.

God appointed the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek, Roman and Islamic Empires to expose Man's competence to rule. In all their forms they prove human inability to meet divine standards. These seven empires also stand in for all civilizations which have ever appeared on the face of the earth. None are better, some are worse. They also verify God's patience before He subjects all creation to His righteousness through His chosen King, His Messiah. A cataclysmic battle of cosmic proportions will dethrone the dragon. His seventh dark empire will be consumed by God's Kingdom and forgotten.
 

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