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THE 10 KINGS OF DANIEL & REVELATION...Their Identity
Kings, Zones & Kingdoms?
— The RISE of the 10 KINGS —
The fact that the world is divided into international political zones has fueled speculation that these zones are emerging into the 10 kings of end-time Bible prophecy.
"After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast...and it had ten horns…As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise…” (Dan.7:7, 24)
Both Daniel and Revelation foresee the rise of ten kings just prior to the return of Christ. Since these kings are involved with the Antichrist in the establishment of a one-world government, and since today’s world has rapidly evolved into a global system of geo-political alliances on a regional and continental scale, then there is some speculation that perhaps these emerging international zones will become the 10 kings of prophecy.
The appeal of this scenario is that we are undeniably a generation living in a shrinking world. Many nations, including the United States, are gradually shedding their sovereignty in favor of the one-world scenario. NAFTA, EU, UN, WTO, G-8, etc.,… these are all familiar acronyms for various world and regional alignments of nations whose historical trajectory is irreversibly on the path to globalization— a one-world federation. Bible prophecy demands a similar stage-setting scenario, and it is here.
However, the 10 kings— the key to the emergent stages of the Antichrist’s global empire— are not foreshadowed by the rise of 10 regional political zones. Scripture always trumps the headlines. Trends in the headlines only take on prophetic significance when they line up with the Scriptures. Let’s take a closer look at the 10 kings through the lens of Scripture.
...continued below with " 1. Could the 10 kings be symbolic of 10 global political zones?"
Will the 10 Kings arise from within
the territory of ancient Rome?
If Scripture is our guide, yes! Here is the factual statement.
'As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise … (Dan.7:24)
We can read that statement this way,
'As for the ten horns, out of this Roman Empire ten kings will arise … (Dan.7:24)
That prophecy is still future, yet to be fulfilled. But there is a very similar prediction in Daniel which has already been fulfilled. And history tells us exactly how it was fulfilled. Here is that prophecy,
“…and the four horns …represent four kingdoms which will arise from his nation …. (Dan. 8:22)
We can read that statement this way,
“…and the four horns …represent four kingdoms which will arise from the Greek Empire …. (Dan. 8:22)
Now, let’s paraphrase the two statements— one after the other— to compare them.
'As for the ten horns, out of this Roman Empire ten kings will arise … (Dan.7:24)
“As for the four horns, from the Greek Empire four kings will arise …. (Dan. 8:22)
Here is the point. History testifies that the four kings (kingdoms) which arose from the breakup of Alexander’s Greek Empire arose from within the boundaries of that empire. I call this the “Greek template,” for it is our Scriptural model for the fact that the same will happen with the 10 kings who come out of the Roman Empire— they too will arise from within the basic outlines of the Roman Empire territory. In other words, the 10 kings will arise from within a European-Mediterranean Union.
"A number of interpreters have attempted to find fulfillment of this prophecy of the fourth beast in ways other than as described in Scripture. A popular theory advanced by some prophecy teachers is that the ten nations are ten economic components throughout the world. This, however, does not satisfy the prophecy, because in Daniel’s vision the ten horns come out of the Roman Empire and the ten are kingdoms, not economic unions."
John F. Walvoord, End Times, Word Publishing, Nashville, 1998, p. 106.
1. Could the 10 kings be symbolic of 10 global political zones? (below, & more further below)
No. The 10 kings are not only contemporaries of the Antichrist (the Antichrist “came up among them,” Daniel 7:8; “receive authority as kings with the beast,” Revelation 17:12), but they are also “associates” of the Antichrist. (Daniel 7:20) Since the “beast” is a man (2 Thess. 2:3; Rev. 13:18), then the 10 kings are human kings—personal associates of the Antichrist—not global political zones.
2. Couldn’t the 10 kings arise from 10 administrative zones of the globe?
No. The Bible is very specific regarding the origin of the 10 kings. Daniel 7:24 says that they arise “out of” the fourth kingdom—the Roman Empire. They don’t arise “out of” 10 global zones.
“As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom [Rome, the fourth beast] ten kings will arise…” (Dan. 7:24)
To arise “out of” the Arab League, the African Union, the Asian Alliance plus seven other global zones would rob Daniel’s fourth kingdom of its identity. It would have as much meaning as saying that the 10 kings “arise out of” the human race. But the Bible is specific. Since the 10 kings arise out of the Roman Empire at the end time, and since they control a single unified kingdom (# 3 below), then the Roman Empire is revived at the end time under the joint reign of 10 kings. The 10 kings, then, cannot arise from the domains of the “kings from the east.” Eastern Asia is not the Roman Empire. Nor could they arise from other political zones such as deep Africa. Sub-equatorial Africa has absolutely no relation to Daniel’s fourth empire, Rome. The Bible says “out of [Rome] ten kings will arise.” (Dan. 7:24)
Also, it should be noted that the end-time Revived Roman Empire—the “toes” stage of the statue of Daniel 2— is not a “fifth” kingdom dividing the world into 10 zones. There are only FOUR (4) stages to Daniel’s depiction of Gentile history (Dan. 2:40-41; 7:17, i.e., “four in number”), with the 4th kingdom dividing at the end of its existence. Note especially that it is not the world that divides into 10 parts, but rather it is the 4th kingdom that divides, for “it will be a divided kingdom.” (Dan. 2:41; 7:24)
The fifth and final kingdom is the Kingdom of Christ. Therefore, the 4th kingdom, Rome,—STILL the 4th kingdom at the end time— gives rise to the 10 kings . Thus the 10 kings will arise from a latter-day configuration of a European-Mediterranean Union (the Revived Roman Empire).
3. Could the 10 kings be the heads over 10 global political zones?
No. It is interesting how specific the Scripture is that the 10 kings have joint power — not over 10 zones, or 10 kingdoms— but over a single kingdom. Note in the two verses below that the 10 kings control a single kingdom (“kingdom” is singular).
"And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. (Rev. 17:12)
"For God has put it in their [the 10 kings] hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast…” (Rev. 17:17)
The 10 kings, then, are over a single kingdom. It undoubtedly will have 10 parts, but these won’t be global in scope. This is clear from number 4 below.
4. But couldn’t the 10 kings be over a single worldwide kingdom that is divided into 10 zones?
This is not found in Scripture. It is the Antichrist who gains control over the whole world. But the single kingdom of the 10 kings does not encompass the whole world. There are other kings and kingdoms outside of the 10 kings. This is made especially clear in Revelation 16. (more below)
The “kings from the east” come from the far east, not from the fourth beast-kingdom of Daniel 7:24 as do the 10 kings (“out of this kingdom ten kings will arise”). The Euphrates River is providentially dried up so that “the way might be prepared for the kings from the east.” (Rev. 16:12) Furthermore, in the same passage, the kings of the east are specifically contrasted with the “kings of whole world.”
And I saw coming out of the ... mouth of the beast… spirits of demons... which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together... (Rev. 16:13-14; see also Zec. 12:3; 14:2; Joel 3:2)
Both the “kings of the east” and the “kings of the whole world” are clearly distinct from the 10 kings.
It should also be observed in Revelation 19:19 that when Christ returns, he battles not just the Antichrist and the 10 kings, but rather the Antichrist and “the kings of the earth.” Also He confronts not just the single army of the single kingdom of the 10 kings, but the many “armies” of the many nations.
And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies [plural], assembled to make war against Him ... and against His army. (Rev.19:19)
The unified, singular kingdom of the 10 kings clearly has other kingdoms outside of it—kingdoms that are not “zoned” within the kingdom of the 10 kings. Note the plural “kingdoms” which are mustered for the final “day of the Lord” when Isaiah 13:4 refers to “A sound of the uproar of kingdoms,” and when Zephaniah 3:8 says that the Lord will “assemble kingdoms.”
Also, we read that it is not just a kingdom (singular), but rather kingdoms (plural) that are delivered to Christ and the saints at His return. (Dan. 7:27)
It is clear then, that in addition to the singular “kingdom” of the 10 kings, there are other kingdoms across the globe which will be under the authority of the Antichrist. If they are administered under 10 regional zones, it is purely a coincidence, and outside of the 10 kings, because Scripture only tells of a 10-part division of Rome, not a 10-part division of the world.
Conclusion: Scripture doesn’t tell us to watch for 10 kings to “arise over” 10 divisions of the earth. Scripture does tell us to watch for 10 kings who “arise out of” 10 divisions of the Roman Empire.
Ten kings will arise from within the territorial domain of the ancient Roman Empire to create a single-kingdom union amounting to a revival of the Roman empire. The 10 kings arrive on the world scene first. They are followed by the arrival of an 11th king, the Antichrist. At first he is “little,” (Dan. 7:8) or politically insignificant. But he circulates “among” the 10 kings and is associated with them as a contemporary. (Dan. 7:8, 20; Rev. 17:12). There are not 10 global districts divided around the 10 kings. But there are 10 kings who unite their 10 kingdoms into a single kingdom identified by Daniel as
What Scripture DOES & DOES NOT Say
Scripture does not mention a world unified under 10 regional districts.
Scripture does mention a kingdom unified under 10 reigning kings. Revelation 17:12, 17
Scripture does not identify the 10-part unified kingdom as the whole world.
Scripture does identify the 10-part unified kingdom as Daniel’s 4th kingdom. Daniel 7:23-24
Scripture does not depict Daniel’s 4th kingdom as filling the whole earth beyond the degree that Greece ruled "the whole earth"
(same Aramaic words; Dan 2:39; 7:23; also, all 3 parallel passages in Dan 7 agree on this sequence—First, the 4th Kingdom, Rome, & its conquests; Second, 10 Kings will arise "out of" Rome; Third, the Antichrist will arise "after", but "among", the 10 Kings; 7:7-8; 7:19-20; 7:23-24).
Scripture does depict the stone that strikes Daniel’s 4th kingdom as becoming the eternal kingdom that fills the whole earth. Daniel 2:35, 44
Daniel’s Beast-Kingdoms:
Strictly Future?
Most pre-millennial Bible expositors agree that the 4 beasts of Daniel chapter 7, which are said in the passage to represent 4 kingdoms, represent the successive kingdoms of Babylon, then Persia, then Greece, and finally Rome (the same kingdoms represented by the 4-part statue in Daniel 2).
The Biblical evidence supports that these four kingdoms of Daniel 7 were in fact the historical kingdoms of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome—and that they will arise again at the End Time.
However, there are five major objections to this view raised by some who believe that these kingdoms did not exist in the past, but instead are prophecies depicting four kingdoms which have arisen only relatively recently. We answer those objections HERE...
Read that article. It has great bearing on the subject of the 10 Kings, since much of what we know about them is found in Daniel chapter 7.
the fourth beast empire, revived Rome. There are other kings and kingdoms outside of revived Rome. After the Antichrist grows “larger” in political stature than the 10 kings (Dan. 7:20), he overthrows 3 of them. He replaces them with his 3 proxies (Dan. 7:24)—still a total of 10 kings. Then the 10 kings give the Antichrist their unified-kingdom (Rev. 17:17) comprising Europe and the Mideast (revived Rome). It is only after this that the Antichrist gains universal control over all of the other kings of the whole world.
“...and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.” (Rev. 13:7)
Scripture records “extraordinary” destruction of nations and “mighty men” (Dan. 8:24; Rev. 6:8) and of the “earth” itself (Rev. 11:18) by the Antichrist. The Antichrist is going to trample every “so-called god” under his feet and elevate himself above them all! (2 Thes. 2:4) He will do the same with the “mighty men” and their perennial efforts at “united nations.” That is why he is cryptically identified as “different” from all of the previous globalists-visionaries. (Dan. 7:24) Will he simply slip into a neatly pre-systematized world of administrative zones. It is possible. But I think to the contrary, for that neatly organized world will be smoldering in nuclear smoke. With full satanic empowerment he is going to rise out of the ashes of a world he has roasted in the fires of utter destruction— destruction of an “extraordinary” degree the Bible tells us. (Dan. 8:24) The kings of the world will cower to his every demand— "Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?" (Rev. 13:4)
What we expect to see today, then, is the rise of 10 kings over a European-Mediterranean Union. It will then resolve itself into the base-kingdom of the Antichrist, who by satanic power and through “extraordinary” destruction of “mighty men” will cause all of the other kingdoms and kings and nations to line up under his authority within an iron-fisted system of his own making. (Dan. 8:23-25; Rev. 13:4-7)