The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.
The Beast of Revelation represents seven empires that ruled in succession in the area around the Great Sea, the Mediterranean. These seven empires are a historical fact that fits perfectly with the Beast of Revelation and what it means. From our view in history, we can see that the seven empires were:
Egypt – 3100 to 677 BC (Genesis 12:10)
Assyria – 677 to 626 BC (Genesis 2:14)
Babylon – 626 – 539 BC (Daniel 1:1)
Medo-Persia – 539 – 449 BC (Daniel 5:28)
Greecia – 449 – 146 BC (Daniel 10:20)
Rome – 146 BC-476 AD eastern leg / 1453 AD western leg or Byzantium (Daniel 9:26 & Romans 1-7)
Ottoman – 1453 – 1924 AD (Future empire when Revelation was written, but historical empire today)
Notice that this Beast is no more today in 2021. The reign of empires ended at the conclusion of WWI when the Ottoman army fought alongside Germany and Austria-Hungary. They were defeated in October 1918. If the Ottoman Empire was the last empire or the seventh head of the beast, then it partially fits with the following verse.
“And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.”
For it to fully fit though, an eighth king or kingdom which comes from the seventh would need to arise in the future. That could be another Islamic Caliphate especially considering the seventh in this view was an Islamic caliphate. Further, given the spread of Islam which dominates this part of the world (around the Great Sea) and which has recently infiltrated Western Europe, it seems that an Islamic Caliphate would be the most likely empire to rise from this region. Forget America, China, India, Australia, etc. These are not located around the Great Sea. These empires and countries are not part of the Beast with seven heads and 10 horns.
Revelation 17:8
The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction.,
Revelation 17:11:
The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.
Daniel 7:1-3
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying in bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream. Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.
Revelation 13:1
“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.”
It is also possible that the eighth king / kingdom to come could be from the seven heads (not seventh head). This would mean it is comprised of all empires that came out of the Great Sea previously. Now look at the next verse.
You saw the iron mixed with clay–the peoples will mix with one another but will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with fired clay.
Regarding the iron mixed with clay, it is worth noting that the word for ‘clay’ in Aramaic is ‘arab’. After the two legs of iron in the statue (Rome) , we see the toes are mixed with iron and clay. In other words it appears that two peoples will live side by side but their seed will not mingle. And indeed we see this with the break up of the Roman Empire and the Ottoman invasions. The invaders (Arabs) mixed with the iron (Romans) but never became one people.
Of the seven empires in the Book of Revelation, Daniel addressed four and perhaps a fifth with the mixture of iron and clay. His revelation was focussed around his time however and not as wide in scope as the Book of Revelation.
