Bible Questions and Answers

Are the ten horns of the dragon the armies of the ten nation Arab confederacy in Psalm 83?

Revelation 12:3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. 7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

Revelation is a prophecy conveyed in symbols of that which is to happen on the earth from the end of the first century AD through to the millennial reign of Jesus Christ and onwards to the fulfilment of God’s purpose with the earth.

• The heaven represents the political heaven of the Roman Empire.
• The dragon represents the pagan government of the Roman Empire which was intent on suppressing Christianity.
• The war in the (political) heaven was between the government (the dragon and his angels) and those who preached the gospel (Michael and his angels).
• We can be sure of this because the war was won ‘by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death’. Literal angels cannot die, it was Christians who died rather than deny their faith.
• The dragon was ‘cast out of heaven’ – this began at the time of Constantine when he legalised Christianity. This process was and completed by Theodosius when he outlawed pagan worship.
• Pagan idolatry was thus removed from the Roman Government. Christianity became the ‘State Church’ of the Roman Empire.

The pagan Roman pagan dragon is said to give his power to the Roman Christian beast which also has seven heads and ten horns – showing that the power was the same but the ideology had changed.

Revelation 13:1 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. 2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.

This was a long time before Islam and the rise of the Arabs.

Psalm 83:1 A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.» Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, And do not be still, O God! 2 For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head. 3 They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, And consulted together against Your sheltered ones. 4 They have said, "Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more." 5 For they have consulted together with one consent; They form a confederacy against You: 6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; 7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; 8 Assyria also has joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot. Selah 9 Deal with them as with Midian, As with Sisera, As with Jabin at the Brook Kishon, 10 Who perished at En Dor, Who became as refuse on the earth. 11 Make their nobles like Oreb and like Zeeb, Yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, 12 Who said, "Let us take for ourselves The pastures of God for a possession." 13 O my God, make them like the whirling dust, Like the chaff before the wind! 14 As the fire burns the woods, And as the flame sets the mountains on fire, 15 So pursue them with Your tempest, And frighten them with Your storm. 16 Fill their faces with shame, That they may seek Your name, O LORD. 17 Let them be confounded and dismayed forever; Yes, let them be put to shame and perish, 18 That they may know that You, whose name alone is the LORD, Are the Most High over all the earth.

This is a more straightforward prophecy where the enemies of Israel are named. It is not concerned with the Romans. The Romans completely removed Israel from the land in AD 136. They were not to return until 1948. This means that unless Psalm 83 was fulfilled before the Roman conquest of Judea, then it must be awaiting fulfilment in the future following Israel’s return to the land, most likely at the time of Christ's return.

In conclusion, I don’t think that the ten horns of the dragon are the armies of the ten nation Arab confederacy in Psalm 83.

The dragon and the beast in Revelation represent the Romans and the ten horns exist in the last days as the kingdoms of western Europe which arose out of the decline of the Roman Empire to form the ‘Holy Roman Empire’. The EU is in process of creating a federation of western European nations under one government. This will oppose Christ when he returns. It will be nominally Christian and exclude any Islamic nations. We find this prophesied in Revelation 17.

Revelation 17:12 "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. 13 "These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. 14 "These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful."

These ten horn kingdoms are the equivalent of the ten toe kingdoms of the image prophecy in Daniel 2.

Daniel 2:41 "Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. 42 "And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. 43 "As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 "And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

I hope this helps.

God bless,
Glenn