See the bottom of this post for notes and appendixes.

Rev 17:12  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.

Let’s first back and read up to this point so we can refresh our memories, and get the context for our current passage.

The angel in the section we studied last time had been giving the interpretation john’s vision of the beast that the the woman is riding, We know from Revelation 13 as well as other verses in this chapter that the beast she is riding is the antichrist.

This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction.  – Rev 17:9-11

We talked about the description of the antichrist here which has seven heads; John says that the seven heads are seven kings. In the last study we talked about why it’s more likely that John means what he says here, that is that these heads are different kings and not kingdoms as some suppose.

So we talked about how 5 times this spirit of antichrist had manifested itself in the form of a king in John’s past, one king currently was living at the time, and one future manifestation of the antichrist was yet to come, this is the one that we believe will have the mortal wound and yet live.

Speaking of that idea of a resurrection of the antichrist, many people asked me about that last time, Does Satan have the power to raise people from the dead?, I do not believe that he does, but I do think the antichrist is really raised from the deas. For more on this question I will put together an appendix audio on this question very question and you can find it in the notes, there is also a scholarly article on this point called:

Can Satan Raise The Dead? Toward A Biblical View Of The Beast’s Wound by Gregory H. Harris, a Professor of Bible Exposition that I recommend if you are interested, I agree with its overall premise but would probably disagree on some of the finer points.

So in our verse we see the beast has seven heads, but also 10 horns, we are not told exactly how theses horns are distributed on the seven heads or if they are even on the seven heads at all. We don’t know if 6 of the heads have 1 horn and the seventh has 4 horns or if they have some other arrangement.

I think when we consider the following passages we will find that these 10 horns have a job working with the final head, so if I were to make a guess these horns are either all on one head, the seventh one, or not on the heads at all but some other part of the body.

I also say that because the fourth beast of Daniel 7 7-8 also has ten horns, that beast is widely considered to be associated with the antichrist.

So let’s consider this symbolism so we can get our bearings in this difficult passage.  The seven heads of the beast are seven kings. And now we are told that the horns of this beast are also kings. So what is this talking about.  Lets read ahead so we can get the context and find the relationship of these kings to the antichrist according to the angel, this will help us make an informed decision about this.

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. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall[...]