Revelation Now :
Daily Devotional Bible Studies in Revelation
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The Saints and Martyrs are Chosen : Day 62 
This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while. The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction. "The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers." (Revelation 17:9-14)
What does "Babylon" represent?
The angel said, "This calls for 'a mind with wisdom'" which may be translated "Here is a clue." What is the identity of the city called Babylon? Some believe it to be a hidden name for Rome, which is graphically described elsewhere as the great harlot.
The Cruelty of the Roman Empire
In the early centuries of Christianity, the Roman Empire was particularly cruel to Christians. Many thousands died at the hands of emperors such as Domitian and Nero. Believers were burned at the stake, crucified, thrown to wild animals and killed for sport by gladiators. John believed God would answer such cruelty with equal ferocity. The punishment of Babylon is now told as if it were a past event.
Ten Horns stand for Ten Kings
"The ten kings" are represented by. the ten horns These are possibly the kings of the East and of Parthia whom the resurrected Nero, the Antichrist, is to lead against Rome. Or they may simply stand for all the world powers which in the end will turn against Rome and destroy her.
The heads are also "seven kings". Five have fallen; one at present exists; another has not yet come, and, when he shall come, he must remain for a short time. The beast, which was and is not, is itself the eight. It proceeds from the series of seven, and is on its way to destruction.
"Five have fallen". The Roman Empire began with Augustus; and the first five emperors were Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. These, then, are the five who have fallen. We have already seen that after the death of Nero there were two years of chaos in which Galba, Otho and Vitellius followed each other in quick succession. They were not in any real sense emperors and cannot be included in any list.
"The other has not yet come." This must be Vespasian, the first emperor to bring back stability to the empire, after the chaos following the death of Nero. He reigned from A. D. 69-79. "He must remain for a little while." Vespasian was succeeded by Titus, whose reign lasted for only two years from A.D. 79-81.
"The beast which was, and is not, is itself the eighth." The eighth proceeds from the series of the seven, and is on its way to destruction. This can only mean that the emperor who followed Titus is being identified with "Nero Redivivus" (1) and Antichrist. The emperor who followed Titus was Domitian.
Can Domitian reasonably be identified with the evil force which "Nero redivivus" personified? Domitian, as Suetonius who was not a Christian tells, was an object of terror and hatred to all. We get grim picture of him at the beginning of his reign. "He used to spend hours in seclusion every day, doing nothing but catch flies and stab them with a keenly-sharpened stylus." (2) Any psychologist would find that a curiously revealing picture. He was insanely jealous and insanely suspicious.
When Hermogenes, the historian, wrote things which Domitian did not like; he was executed, and the scribe who had copied the manuscript was crucified. Senators were slaughtered right and left. The governor of Britain, (3) was executed because he allowed a new type of lance to be called Lucullan after himself instead of dedicated to Domitian. Domitian revived the old punishment of having his victims stripped naked, fixed by the neck in a fork of wood and beaten to death with rods.
Early in his reign, Domitian appeared wearing a golden crown with the figures of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva in it, while the priest of Jupiter sat at his side. When he received back his divorced wife, he announced that she had returned to the divine couch. When he entered the amphitheatre, he loved to be greeted with the cry: "Good fortune attend our lord and his lady." He began his official edicts, "Our lord and god bids this to be done." Soon that was the only way in which he might be addressed.
He was so suspicious that he never gave prisoners a hearing in private, and, even when he heard them with his guards present, they were chained. He so feared for his own life that he had the passages and colonnades through which he moved tiled with "phlengite" stone, which is like a mirror, so that he could see anyone who was moving behind him. Finally, on 18 September, A.D. 96, he was murdered in the bloodiest circumstances. It was Domitian who first made Caesar worship compulsory and for unloosing the flood-tides of persecution on the Christian Church.
It might well be that John saw in Domitian the reincarnation of Nero. Others did precisely the same. Juvenal spoke of Rome being "enslaved to a bald-headed Nero" (4) and was exiled and finally murdered for his boldness. Tertullian called Domitian "a man of Nero's type of cruelty," and "a sub-Nero," a verdict which Eusebius repeated.
John in fact wrote under Domitian. John may have written it all in the reign of Domitian, and, projected himself back into the time of Vespasian to trace in retrospect the terrible lines that history had taken. However we explain it, the picture is satisfied if we hold that John saw in Domitian the reincarnation of Nero, the supreme embodiment of Roman wickedness and defiance of God. We need not go on to say that he identified Domitian with Antichrist. The ten horns are ten kings who have not yet received their power. They will receive it, and when they do, they will unanimously agree to hand over their own power to the beast; and with him they will rise against the harlot and make war with the Lamb and finally be defeated.
War with the Lamb
In verse 14 we read that these world powers war with "the Lamb" but the Lamb destroys them; and the called, the chosen and the loyal share in the victory of the Lamb. One of the great conceptions of Jewish thought was that the saints and the martyrs would share in God's final triumph. In the Wisdom of Solomon there is the promise to those who have lived and suffered and died for God. "Having borne a little chastening, they shall receive great good, because God made trial of them and found them worthy of himself. As gold in the furnace he proved them, and as a whole burnt-offering he accepted them. And in the time of their visitation they shall shine forth, and as sparks among the stubble they shall run to and fro. They shall judge nations and have dominion over people" (5). It is no doubt this belief that was in the minds of James and John when they came and asked Jesus for the places on his right and his left when he entered into his kingdom (6).
Words to meditate on
Everything that tries to block God's purposes will come to a violent end. Think about this.
Words to pray
"Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise him all creatures here below." (7)
Notes
(1) Nero Resurrected (2) "The Life of Domitian" Suetonius, the Roman biographer. (3) Sallustius Lucullus (4) Domitian was bald (5) Wisdom 3:5-8 (6) Matthew 20:21 and Mark 10:37 (7) Unknown
"The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place."
