Ten Kings of Antichrist
- Michael E.B. Maher
- Apr 2
- 5 min read
Daniel 7:7-24 “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. (8) I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words. … (19) "Then I wished to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, which devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled the residue with its feet; (20) and the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, before which three fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows. … (23) "Thus he said: 'The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces. (24) The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings.”
The next prophetic event we want to discuss is the revealing of the ten kings; the reason being this event has already begun to unfold. In the above quoted passage of scripture we have already identified the fourth kingdom as being the kingdom of Islam. In this section however, we want to concentrate on the ten horns that Daniel describes in this passage. In giving us the interpretation of the dream the angel tells us that the ten horns represent ten kings. It is important to note that the ten kings will emerge from within the fourth kingdom. It is therefore self-evident that the ten kings will be leaders that will emerge from within the world’s Islamic states.
Regarding the ten kings, this passage gives us a clear sequence of events that must unfold. The first in the sequence is not actually stated, nevertheless it is implied and it is this event we want to discuss. We have said that the ten kings will be ten leaders that will emerge from within the world’s Islamic states. In order for the ten leaders to eventually emerge however, it is imperative that the applicable Islamic States are put in place first. And so in this section we want to discuss the Islamic States from which the ten leaders will ultimately emerge.
The remaining sequences mentioned in this passage are all future related and will therefore not be discussed in any detail in this section; nevertheless I will briefly highlight them now. The next event in sequence is the emergence of the ten leaders from each of the identified Islamic States. It is only after these ten leaders are manifested, that the Antichrist will then appear on the world stage. Once the Antichrist appears, the ten leaders will submit to him, placing their nations under his authority (Revelation 17:12-13). Initially however, three of the ten leaders will reject the Antichrist’s claimed authority and oppose him. The Antichrist will then orchestrate the violent overthrow of the three leaders opposing him, replacing them with compliant leaders willing to submit themselves to his leadership.
And so this brings us to the discussion about which Islamic States will give birth to the ten leaders. Before we discuss this however, it is important to look at some background to explain why this particular event is unfolding at this moment in time. We have already established that the kingdom of Islam has been in the earth since the year 650 AD. However, from 650 AD until fairly recently the kingdom of Islam fell under the rule of a succession of either one or two Islamic Caliphates or dynasties[1]. And so during all that time the ten nations that will comprise the core of the Antichrist’s kingdom were not yet manifested. It was only in the twentieth century that things began to change; i.e. the ten nations slowly began to emerge as each one in turn gained independence as sovereign nation states.
It is interesting to note that Israel also gained its independence during the same period, i.e. in 1948. And so we see that for the first time since the manifestation of the Islamic kingdom in the earth, there are finally ten Islamic nations that have begun to emerge, just as the angel described. All of these nations gaining independence in the last one hundred years is not a coincidence; the ten Islamic nations are being prepared for the coming of the Antichrist, and the state of Israel is being prepared for the coming of Christ.
Psalms 83:1-8 “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.”
We have already seen that the Antichrist will emerge from Iran, and so we can confidently state that Iran is one of the ten Islamic nations forming the core of the Antichrist’s kingdom. And so the question is asked, which are the remaining nine Islamic States forming that core? The above quoted passage of scripture reveals exactly which states they are. The context of this passage is that this is an account of the confederacy of Islamic states led by the Antichrist that will invade Israel to finally destroy it at the end of the age. In other words these are the nations that will form the core of the Antichrist’s kingdom.
This passage however, lists the nations that existed during biblical times and none of those nations exist today. And so we have to look at the geographic boundaries of the nations listed in this passage to determine which modern nation states fall within those same geographic boundaries today. In so doing, we are then able to determine which nations today will form the core of the Antichrist’s kingdom. Below is a map showing the historical geographic boundaries of the ten nations mentioned in the above quoted passage of scripture.
Map of the ten confederate state boundaries
Michael E.B. Maher
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