12 “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.

A. Remember the number “ten” represents human completeness. There are ten kings, but they do not have a kingdom. They seem to have power delegated from the beast.

B. These ten kings represent all governmental power, which came out of the world situation when there was not one major power in control. Many nations developed.

C. The term “one hour” indicates that all of these kings are in power at the same time. This is not a succession of kings. There will be simultaneous kingdoms over the earth.

D. These many nations, (governments) will co-exist with the beast (false religions). It is implied that these governments will not persecute. They will seek to cooperate with others who do persecute Christians.

E. Today this situation remains. Do we cooperate with China while they imprison anyone who has a Bible? Do we send economic aid to Laos while Christians are sent to prison for having a home Bible study? Many Islamic nations outlaw any preaching of the gospel or any attempt to convert people to Christianity; but we buy their oil! In some nations, failure to convert to Islam is ground for punishment.

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Old Testament