Welcome back to our series on Revelation chapter 12, where we have begun identifying the symbols in the scenario of the sun-clothed woman. So far, we have identified the woman to be Jerusalem, the sun, moon, and stars to be the children of Israel, and the man child to be the 144,000 sealed members from the 12 tribes of Israel. In this post, we’re going to identify the dragon, the seven heads, and the ten horns. You won’t want to skip it, because we’re going to make the confusing easy to understand. So if you’re ready, let’s get into this! 

Revelation Chapter 12

Fourth in an Eleven-Part Series
By Karen Thompson

The Dragon’s Assault on the Sun-Clothed Woman

Rev. 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. 6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

The Dragon

The next thing John described in the scenario of the sun-clothed woman is the appearance of another wonder: “And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads” (v. 3).

The dragon’s identity is a no-brainer as he is revealed to us in verse nine which tells us the great dragon is “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.” Also, Revelation 20:2 again confirms this by saying “…the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan.” In addition, the first time we are introduced to Satan is in the Garden of Eden when he was in the form of the serpent (Gen. 3:1).

The Seven Heads on the Dragon

Now, let’s identify the seven heads on the dragon. John described the dragon as having seven heads: “…behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns…” (v. 3). We see this phrasing again in Revelation 13:1: “And I … saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns…” We see it yet again in Revelation chapter 17: “I saw … a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.” It is in chapter 17 that we see the explanation as to what the heads on the beast actually symbolize: “The seven heads are seven mountains… 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” (Rev. 17:9–10).

“The seven heads are seven mountains.” How interesting. The symbolism of the heads is identified with yet more symbolism. The heads are mountains. They are not literal mountains, as some have interpreted. We know the mountains are not literal mountains because each of these mountains has a king. Kings do not reign over mountains. They reign over nations.

So then, what does a mountain symbolize? The book of Jeremiah reveals to us that the word mountain is symbolic of an empire, not simply a nation. A nation becomes an empire when it conquers other nations, making the conquered nations its vassals. The king of the nation that conquers other nations is then called a king of kings. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, was called a king of kings (Eze. 26:7), because he ruled over an empire.

Our first clue as to the meaning of the word mountain is in Jeremiah chapter 51. The prophet Jeremiah is prophesying about the Lord sending judgment to Babylon. About Babylon, Jeremiah said, “O thou that dwellest upon many waters” (Jer. 51:13). Babylon dwelled on “many waters.” We see the symbolism of “many waters” used again in the book of Revelation. The interpretation of the symbolism of many waters is found in Revelation chapter 17. At the beginning of chapter 17, an angel said to John, “Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters” (Rev. 17:1). Then in verse 15, the angel gave John the interpretation of the symbolism for the term “many waters”: “The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” (Rev. 17:15). The term “many waters” is a symbol for peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. When Jeremiah said Babylon dwelled on many waters, he was saying that Babylon had a relationship with nations that had different cultures and spoke different languages than Babylon. The relationship he had with these nations is that he conquered them and made them his vassals. They were under his rule; therefore, he was a king of an empire, making him a king of kings.

Then right after that, Jeremiah called Babylon a mountain: “And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the Lord. Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain” (Jer. 51:24–25). Babylon was called a destroying mountain because its king, Nebuchadnezzar, successfully invaded and conquered many nations, destroying those nations in the process.

Let’s go to Daniel chapter two for another witness that confirms the mountain symbolizes an empire. This is the chapter that tells us about the time when King Nebuchadnezzar dreamed about a fierce-looking man. In his dream, he saw an image made up of different metals, a metal man. Each of the different metals represented an empire that would rule after him. The metal man’s head was gold, representing Babylon. Its breast and arms were silver, representing the Medo/Persian Empire. Its belly and thighs of brass represented the Grecian Empire. Its legs of iron represented the Roman Empire. Then we see its feet made of iron and clay, which represents the end time kingdom of Antichrist. The metal man symbolizes the length of time when Gentile nations would rule over Israel. It represents the “times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24).

Daniel said he saw a stone smash the metal man’s feet into pieces. When the feet were smashed, the entire image came crumbling down, bringing the times of the Gentiles to an end. Then in verse 35, Daniel tells us what happened to the stone that smashed the feet of the metal man: “the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” The stone, of course, is Jesus. The stone becoming a mountain is symbolic of Jesus becoming a king of an empire, making Him a King of Kings.

Daniel gave us more information about the stone that became a mountain saying, “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (v. 44). At His Second Coming, Jesus will destroy the end time kingdom of Antichrist. During His millennial reign, He will rule and reign over all the nations of the earth! That makes Jesus ruler of an empire.

This is reflected in Revelation chapter 17 when we see Jesus identified as “Lord of lords and King of kings.” Verse 14 says, “These [the 10 end time kings with Antichrist] shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings.” Jesus will go to war against the Antichrist and the ten kings with him in the battle of Armageddon and give them a sound thrashing, bringing their kingdoms to an end.

The Seven Kings

Now, let’s talk about next phrase the angel said to John, “And there are seven kings….” Each of these seven mountains had a king; ergo, the seven heads represent seven empires and their kings. The heads are on the dragon which symbolizes Satan: this tells us that these empires were used by Satan in an attempt to subjugate and even destroy Israel. Six of the seven heads on the dragon represent past Gentile empires that have invaded and/or ruled over Israel.

As to the identity of the kings/empires, John gave us a sort of riddle: “five have fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come” (v. 10). The key to interpreting this phrase is that you have to know the history of Israel, and you have to take into consideration the time in which it was written. The apostle John wrote the book of Revelation, so that tells us it was written during the time when the Roman Empire ruled over the nation of Israel. So when you interpret the riddle, you must keep that in mind.

Let’s break down the parts of the riddle. The words “five have fallen” refer to five kings in Israel’s past that oppressed Israel before Rome. All of those past five kings had fallen. They are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo/Persia, and Greece. The words “one is” refer to the Roman Empire, the sixth head on the dragon, as it was the empire that was ruling over Israel at the time of John’s writing. And the words “the other is not yet come” refer to the future person of Antichrist, who is the seventh head on the dragon. So speaking from our present time, there are six kings in Israel’s past that ruled over her: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo/Persia, Greece, and Rome. The king described as “the other is not yet come,” of course, is Antichrist. When we read in Revelation about the dragon’s activities in the scenario of the sun-clothed woman, these activities will be brought forth through the king of the seventh head (mountain) on the dragon, who is the little horn, a.k.a Antichrist.

The Ten Horns on the Dragon

Next, let’s look at the ten horns on the dragon. A study of end time prophecy will reveal these ten horns symbolize ten kings. We learn from Daniel and Revelation that these ten kings will one day unite together with Antichrist to form a united coalition. The first time we become aware of this end time kingdom is in King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the metal man. The dream was a revelation of “what shall be in the latter days.” The metal man symbolized a period of time known as the “times of the Gentiles,” when Gentile kingdoms would rule over Israel/Jerusalem. As previously discussed, the feet on the metal man symbolize the very last kingdom that would oppress Israel. It is the end time kingdom of Antichrist. When the metal man’s feet were smashed by the stone, it symbolized the times of the Gentiles coming to an end, when Israel would no longer be ruled by foreign powers. The times of the Gentiles ends when King Messiah comes to rule and reign over the kingdom of men.

The next time we hear about this end time kingdom is in Daniel 7:1–8. In Daniel’s vision of the four beasts, we learn this end time coalition of nations are ten in number. They are described as ten horns on a beast: “behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly … and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.” In verses 23–24, the angel talking with Daniel gave him the interpretation of the beast with ten horns saying, “The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise….” The ten horns symbolize ten kings. A king isn’t a king unless he has a nation in which to rule. Thusly, the ten horns on the beast symbolizes 10 latter-day nations.

In Revelation chapter 17, we learn more about the identity of the ten horns: “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast” (Rev. 17:12). Here, John writes that the ten horns, ten Middle Eastern kings, do not yet have a kingdom. That is simply referring to the fact that back when John was writing this, these kings did not yet exist. They would be kings in the way distant future.

Notice it says these ten horns will receive authority for “one hour” as kings with the beast. As previously discussed regarding the seventh seal, the expression “one hour” is used to denote the last hour of the times of the Gentiles, which more specifically refers to the last seven years of what is described as Daniel’s 70th week. When it says these ten nations receive authority as kings with the beast, this is referring to the covenant they all enter into with one another to form some sort of alliance. The covenant I’m referring to is the one Daniel 9:27 talks about: “And he [Antichrist] shall confirm the covenant with many for one week.” When it says Antichrist will enter a covenant “with many,” the “with many” are the ten Middle Eastern kings that receive authority with the beast for one hour—one hour being a symbol for a period of seven years.

Now that we have identified the symbols of the scenario of the sun-clothed woman and the great red dragon, it’s time to look at and identify the action in the scenario. That will be in our next post.

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