“And the ten horns (ten kings who have given their kingdoms to the anti-christ) which thou sawest upon the beast, THESE SHALL HATE THE WHORE (capitals mine), and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city (Rome), which reigneth over the kings of the earth.”

Revelation 17:16-18

Can you imagine hearing about the most powerful duo in the history of the world breaking up and the ten kings who report to the global leader hate his partner so much they will “…make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire?” Wow!

These words of Scripture raise so many questions regarding the events of the Last Days. Candidly, they also point clearly to something I have missed in my decades long study of Bible prophecy. Who are the ten horns on the beast? Why did they hate the whore? Who is the whore? What did the ten “horns” do to her? What is the “…great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth?” I believe what has caused me to miss this Scripture is the later statement John made when Jesus Christ Returns at Armageddon.

“And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse (Jesus), and his army. AND THE BEAST (the anti-christ) WAS TAKEN, AND WITH HIM THE FALSE PROPHET (capitals mine) that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.” 

Revelation 19:19-20

I always assumed Jesus will cast both the anti-christ and the false prophet alive into hell. So, here is my dilemma. If the “ten horns” or kingdoms of the one world government ruled by the beast or anti-christ “hate” the whore and kill her, how can Jesus, upon His Return then cast the anti-christ AND the false prophet, who are both alive, into the “lake of fire burning with brimstone?” To answer the beginning questions and hopefully bring more clarity to this one, let me go back to what we know is coming during the 7 year Tribulation period, aka Daniel’s 70th week, which ultimately ends with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ at Armageddon.

What we know is Satan will attempt in the Last Days to imitate the Holy Trinity of God with his own infamous group of three, i.e., himself, the anti-christ and the false prophet. We will know and be able to identify the anti-christ for sure when he “confirms” a peace agreement between Israel and her Arab neighbors. The day that “covenant” is signed will begin the seven years or Tribulation and ends when Jesus Christ Returns at Armageddon.

“And he (the anti-christ) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (the 7 years of the Tribulation): and in the midst of the week (after 3 1/2 years at the Abomination of Desolation) he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease (in the then rebuilt Holy Jewish Temple), and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consumption, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”

Daniel 9:27

In Revelation 6:2 we are told after Christ opens the Seven seals, John is shown four horsemen. The first rides a white horse and power was given to him to rule the earth: “And I (John) saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow (interestingly though, no arrows meaning by peace, not war); and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering and to conquer.” This is the anti-christ, not Jesus, who will conquer the world

We are also given a very clear picture of what the false prophet will look like in order to clearly identify him as a surrogate of Satan:

“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast (anti-christ) before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast: saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”

Revelation 13:11-15

Furthermore:

And he (the false prophet) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast (anti-christ), or the number of his name.”

Revelation 13:16-17

Hopefully, you can see that through these Scriptures two of Satan’s minions will be easily identifiable, only if you are a Christian Believer alive during this time period. Of course we also know Jesus will “snatch” us away from God’s Wrath which will shortly come upon the earth PRIOR to the Tribulation. There will still be many who will come to know Jesus AFTER the Rapture of the True Believers and they will witness first hand these prophecies being fulfilled. So, we know the anti-christ will arise out of the sea (countries of the Mediterranean) and will be the one world, global leader in the end times. We can also see where there will arise out of the earth, not the sea, a false prophet who will do a number of things for the anti-christ to ensure his power over the earth is complete. He will control a one world religion that worships the anti-christ; he will perform miracles to deceive man and make them believe that he must be divinely inspired; he actively promotes the sole worship of the anti-christ and kills all who refuse to worship him; and finally, he controls the global economy through the mandated Mark of the Beast.

So, here we are shown a global leader who will be enshrined by another individual, the false prophet, performing miracles, controlling society and the economy and overseeing a religion that only worships the anti-christ, the global leader. This sounds like a pretty complete (I won’t say good) relationship. But, if you go back to the opening Scripture above, you will notice the ten kings who have given their power to the anti-christ “…shall hate the whore.” This does not say they will hate the false prophet, but they will hate the whore. Who is the whore?

“So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast (anti-christ), full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads AND TEN HORNS (capitals mine). And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”

Revelation 17:3-5

If you go on and read versus 6-18 what is clear is the “whore” is THE false religion that also controls the social and economic systems of the world. When the whore is called “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” it is referring to the first false religion of the world, the one that sprang up at the Tower of Babel, in the land later called Babylon. From it ALL false religions have risen throughout the history of the world. The false prophet is simply the one who runs the “whore”. When the anti-christ has assembled his kings he surely does not want a false religion competing with him to be worshipped therefore, I believe, the ten kings of the anti-christ quite simply destroy the false church run by the false prophet, allowing him to remain alive and perhaps continue to oversee the killing of all who then fail to worship the beast or take his Mark. This would then allow Jesus Christ to throw them both ALIVE into the “…lake of fire burning with brimstone” when He Returns at Armageddon.

Hopefully, this examination eradicates any questions you may have had regarding what happened to the false prophet. What I actually hope is this message clearly tells us we have an out to God’s Coming Wrath! By believing in Jesus, that He died for our sins and by accepting His gift of eternal salvation, we today can miss out on what the Bible says will be the worst time period in recorded history. Only by doing these things can we be assured we will not have to endure God’s Coming Wrath. To me, that is so comforting and to ensure all are aware of what we have been told, we are asked by God Himself is to “…therefore comfort one another with these words.” He does not want us to be fearful! He wants us to understand He loves us and wishes no one misses out on His Promise of eternal salvation. I simply ask you to share His message with others, as He has asked us to do.

May God Bless you as we await His Soon Coming!