Thank you. Could you give me your best estimation on who this "Once was" earthly ruler was who was supported by the beast? Perhaps it was during the Maccabee days when they put up an idol and a pig in the Temple?
There is really no way to know the human ruler that this angel/beast was empowering prior to his being thrown into the Abyss or at what time in history he was restricted there. All we can know, is that at the time that John was receiving that information from the angel, that he was already in the Abyss, which can be concluded by the words "now is not," meaning that when John received that information he was already in the Abyss. Below is an example of what I am talking about in regards to the armies of fallen angels being the power behind human armies:
"Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 13But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. 14Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”
The angel above who is speaking with Daniel is Gabriel, as he mentioned previously. And as the scripture states, as soon as Daniel began to pray Gabriel was sent to give Daniel the information. But he also says that he (Gabriel) was detained by the prince of Persia. Now we know that no human prince and his army could keep Gabriel, who is a mighty angel, a supernatural being, from getting to Daniel. But what he is referring to was a fallen angel and his army who were empowering the human prince of Persia and his army. To be clear, Gabriel was speaking about spiritual warfare. We see this in other places in scripture as well, where fallen angels are referred to by the title of human rulers, such as the following:
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(Ezekiel 29:12-17)
Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“ ‘You were the seal of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13You were in Eden,
the garden of God;
every precious stone adorned you:
carnelian, chrysolite and emerald,
topaz, onyx and jasper,
lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl.
Your settings and mountings were made of gold;
on the day you were created they were prepared.
14You were anointed as a guardian cherub,
for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of God;
you walked among the fiery stones.
15You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created
till wickedness was found in you.
16Through your widespread trade
you were filled with violence,
and you sinned.
So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God,
and I expelled you, guardian cherub,
from among the fiery stones.
17Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor.
So I threw you to the earth;
I made a spectacle of you before king
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As you can see in the first verse, the lament is said to be to the king of Tyre. However, as you continue reading, you realize that the 'king of Tyre' is a moniker representing Lucifer/Satan. We know this, because in verse 13, the king of Tyre is said to have been in 'Eden, the garden of God.' Then in verse 14, this king of Tyre is revealed to be a guardian cherub (Ker-oob), i.e. a guardian angel and which is also mentioned in verse 16. From the context it also appears that Lucifer's body was adorned with precious stones of every type.
Now, going back to Daniel where Gabriel refers to being kept from reaching Daniel by the 'Prince of Persia,' in the same way, it is referring to a powerful fallen angel and his demonic army as the one who is restraining Gabriel from reaching Daniel. In further support of this, Michael the archangel had to come and help Gabriel to fight against that prince of Persia in order to finally reach Daniel.
Also, what is your opinion regarding the 7 Kings, of which one was in John's day, five had fallen.
According to the scripture, the seven heads of the dragon, symbolically represent seven hills upon which the woman sits. They also symbolically represent a succession of seven kings, five of which had already come and gone as John was receiving the information from the angel. Then the angel says, "one is," i.e. king number six was currently ruling when the angel was giving John this information. King number seven had not yet come as John was was receiving this information. Then an eighth king is mentioned who belongs to the seven. That fact that it states that he comes up out of the Abyss tells us that this eighth king is not a man, but is that angel of the Abyss who will come up out of the Abyss and will be the power behind the coming antichrist.
As far as who those pervious seven kings were, my guess would be that they were Roman emperors. My reasoning for this is that, the clues given in Revelation 17, identifies the woman who rides the beast as being the Roman Catholic Church (RCC). For the angel tells John "the woman that you saw is that great city that rules over the kings of the earth." At the time that John was on Patmos and receiving that information from the angel, Rome was that city that ruled over the kings of the earth. John wouldn't know what the angel was talking about, but we who are in the future can look back and see how the RCC came about and her pagan beliefs and practices which stem from the religious systems of Babylon, such as Queen of Heaven worship and mother and son worship, just to name a few. Therefore, because of the references to the RCC, my bet is that those seven kings were seven emperors. Another question would be, 'are those kings mentioned referring to human kings or the demonic powers that are behind those kings. Maybe both. If it is speaking about Roman Emperors, the king number six "one is" would have been Emperor Domitian, for it was during his reign of (81-96 ad) that John was banished to Patmos.
The angel also says that the seven heads represent seven hills/mountains upon which the woman sits. Rome was literally built on and is famous for her seven hills. This information is pointing us to the headquarters of the pagan religious system that would later become Roman Catholicism.
The angel also tells John that "The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls." Purple and scarlet are the exact colors warn by the Bishops and Cardinals within the RCC.
And Glittering with gold and precious stones
Constantine and not Peter, was the first pope and emperor. The RCC today still considers the office of the pope as also being emperor and that all people are to be come under the authority of the pope and belong to the RCC. Anyone who does not is considered a Heretic. Unfortunately for them, they do not currently have the power to enforce the popes authority over the rulers of the earth. However, when that antichrist comes, the woman (Roman Catholicism) will ride the beast, meaning that she will use the antichrist/beast to enforce her religious authority upon all people. I personally believe that, one of the future popes is going to play the part of the second beast, the false prophet, who of course is the leader of the RCC. It is he who will be performing those miracles, signs and wonders on behalf of the first beast/antichrist in order to support his claim of being God or anything that is called god.
Hope this answered your question.
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