Kingdom Building Part 5   Identity of the Multinational Kingdoms

Rev. 17:7 "And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition."

In this passage of scripture we are given a description of the seven head and ten horn beast which provided the means by which the woman, mystery Babylon, carried her fornications throughout the world. This beast exists in the past, the present, and the future: "the beast that was, and is not, and yet is."

The beast ascends out of the bottomless pit where in Revelations Chapter 20 the dragon was bound for a thousand years so as not to be able to gather the nations together during that time. The angel over the bottomless pit is Satan and the bottomless pit is God's eternal judgment against sin. Previously we saw the beast under the power and authority of the dragon rise up out of the sea of humanity. Now we see it ascending out of the bottomless pit and carrying the harlot woman.

As we have previously shown, this beast is a multinational political power that reigns over the kingdoms of this world. It is said to have seven heads, five of which are fallen, one is, and one that is not yet come. The scriptures describe the first six multinational political kingdoms. These are Syria, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. At the time of the writing of the book of Revelation the first five were fallen. Rome existed at that time as the one that is. The seventh head is said to be not yet come, but when he comes he must continue a short space. Since Rome, there has been no multinational kingdom reigning over the majority of the nations of the earth. There have been several attempts to form such a beast, but none has succeeded to date.

Revelation Chapter 20 informs us that after the thousand years end that Satan will be loosed out of the bottomless pit for a little season to gather the nations together to encompass the camp of the saints. We will have more to say about this when we get to Chapter 20.

The wording, "the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eight and is of the seventh," is interesting. For something to be is not and yet is indicates that it exists in a different form. The seven heads: Syria, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and the future head are all tangible and visible. For something to be "of the seven" and yet to be "the eight" and to "be not" and "yet be" indicates that it is largely invisible as a beast and covert instead of overt. In addition, the fact that it is of the seven indicates that it has been around all along throughout the reign of the overt seven head, ten-horn beast. This indicates a secret organization that has beastly (multinational) dominion.

Nimrod was a kingdom builder and sought to build a one-world kingdom when he built Babel and the tower. God, of course, thwarted his attempts with the confusion of tongues. Such a covert organization would have as it main goal to build a one-world government. There are several references in the scriptures to kingdom builders:

1. Ps. 22:22 "The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner."
2. Ezek. 27:4 "Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty."
3. Matt. 21:42 "Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? 43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof."
4. Mk. 12:10 "And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: 11 This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?"
5. Acts 4:11 "This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner."
6. 1 Peter 2:7 "Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, 8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed."

There are several secret organizations in the world today, working in secret to direct the course of human events toward a one-world government. One only has to look on the back of the one-dollar bill to see the term "novus ordo seclorum" which means new world order along with the unfinished pyramid topped off by the all-seeing eye. This indicates that the builders are planning a new world order in which the all-seeing eye will be worshipped (Satan).

"And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is." This simply states that all the non-elect will wonder at the beast and the woman carried by the beast. I was recently asked if the woman and the beast could deceive the elect. My answer was "what did John do in verse 6?: Rev. 17:6 "And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration." If even the apostle can be deceived at the natural beauty and organization of the woman and the beast, then she could deceive any of God's unsuspecting people. We do know, however, that all the non-elect wonder at her and the beast.

Kingdom Builders Part 6  Binding of Satan

Rev. 20:1 "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season."

The word, angel, means messenger. The messenger is the messenger of the covenant as set forth in Mal. 3:1: "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts." He came down from heaven to do the Father's will. In Rev. chapter 9 Satan is called the angel of the bottomless pit: 9:11 "And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon." Thus the messenger of the covenant (Christ) has locked up the messenger of the bottomless pit (Satan) for a thousand years.

Someone may ask, "If Satan is locked up, then why does he cause me such trouble?" Satan is not locked up so as not to be able to cause us trouble or to make shipwreck people's lives. He is not locked up so as not to be able to entice us to sin. Indeed he causes much havoc in people's lives and in the world. "How then," we may ask, "is Satan locked up?" Specifically he is locked up so as to deceive the nations no more until the thousand years should be fulfilled. If you will recall in chapter 17 we read about the seven heads of the seven headed beast: :10"And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space." The seventh multinational kingdom has not yet arisen to reign over the earth. Satan has been bound so as not to be able to form this seventh head until the thousand years is fulfilled. Verse 4 speaks to us about the significance of the thousand years and we will save our comments about the thousand years until we get to verse 4.

The use of the word, chain, is indicative of the bondage that Satan is under. He is not able to form the seventh kingdom until that chain is removed by the Lord. Once the chain is removed and God sets that date, then Satan shall go forth to once again deceive the nations into yielding to a multinational one world government. Perhaps the United Nations is that seventh head, time will tell.

That the Lord has the key to lock and unlock tells us that He has sovereign control over what Satan is allowed to do. Satan can do no more than what he is allowed to do. This doesn't mean that God causes Satan to do what he does. It just means that Satan is limited by God's sovereign control. Job is a good example of this control that God has over Satan. Satan could not touch Job so long as God had him hedged in. Once God removed the hedge then Satan did his damage, but only to the extent that God would allow him. He couldn't touch Job's life because God restricted him. Thus Satan cannot form this seventh head until God's allows him to.

Let us not forget that once the thousand years is fulfilled, Satan will be loosed a little season so as to go forth and deceive the nations once again.