WHO OR WHAT ARE THE 10 “TOES” OR “HORNS” OR “CROWNS” ASSOCIATED WITH THE ANTICHRIST?

by Shawn Brasseaux

Revelation 13:1-2: “[1] And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. [2] And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.”

The “beast,” of course, is the Antichrist. He is bestial, animal-like, or cruel in character. Satan empowers him. His “ten horns” having “ten crowns” are of great importance to us here. Horns in the Bible symbolize kings; crowns symbolize kingdoms or nations. “And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings” (Daniel 7:24—Antichrist will assume control over all 10 kings by first conquering the three most powerful kings). “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast” (Revelation 17:12).

It is commonly assumed the Antichrist’s 10 ally nations and 10 confederate kings are members of the European Union (EU, or European Common Market). At one time, this explanation seemed plausible—until the mid-1980s when the number of the EU members exceeded 10. Today, there are 28 countries in the EU (with the United Kingdom’s soon departure—“Brexit”—to bring the figure down to 27). In an attempt to salvage this position, some contend that the European Union membership will eventually return to 10. This is all dependent upon the hypothesis that “the Roman Empire and Western Europe” will form the Antichrist’s government. In fact, the introduction of the Euro currency in the late 1990s was heralded as the forerunner of the mark of the Beast, if not the mark itself. Again, this all stems from the misunderstanding that the Antichrist is tied to Western Europe.

A better way to look at these 10 toes (read about King Nebuchadnezzar’s image in Daniel chapter 2), these 10 horns, these 10 nations, these 10 crowns, and these 10 kings, is to reflect upon the Old Testament enemies of Israel. Upon studying those 39 Books (Genesis through Malachi), we realize that Europeans becoming those chief enemy nations is highly unlikely. We are convinced Psalm 83 identifies those 10 adversarial nations of Israel, and the list contains no surprises.

Let us start Psalm 83 at the beginning: “[1] Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. [2] For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. [3] They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. [4] They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. [5] For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:

Here are the 10 nations against Israel: “[6] The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; [7] Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; [8] Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.” It is a bit tricky to identify all of them with exact precision, but we can offer some insight in that they are not European but Middle Eastern. Moreover, to some extent, we can grasp their modern forms:

1. EDOM — descendants of Esau/Edom, Jacob’s twin brother, Jacob being father of the Jews (Genesis 25:19-26) (modern Palestinians and Southern Jordanians?) – see #7
2. ISHMAELITES — sons of Abraham through Isaac’s older brother Ishmael, Ishmael being father of the Arabs (Genesis 16:1-6; Genesis 25:12-18) – fighting Israel because they believe, as per the Quran, they are the “true” heirs of the Abrahamic Covenant (modern Saudis?)
3. MOAB — Moabites were sons of Lot via his incestuous relationship with his older daughter (Genesis 19:37) – antagonistic toward the Jews in Numbers 22–25, Judges chapter 3, during the reign of King Saul, 2 Chronicles 20:1, et cetera (modern Palestinians and Central Jordanians?) – see #6
4. HAGARENES — people who lived in the land east of Palestine, near the Persian Gulf (modern Egyptians, named after Hagar the Egyptian [Genesis 16:1]?)
5. GEBAL — land of Edomites, south of the Dead Sea and extending to Petra (modern Hezbollah and Northern Lebanese?)
6. AMMON — Ammonites were sons of Lot via his incestuous relationship with his younger daughter (Genesis 19:38) (modern Palestinians and Northern Jordanians?) – Lot was Abraham’s nephew, Abraham being father of the Jews (Genesis 12:5) antagonistic toward the Jews in Judges chapters 10-11, during the reigns of Kings Saul and David, et cetera – see #3
7. AMALEK — Amalek was an Edomite, a grandson of Esau (Genesis 36:12,16) – Amalekites were the first Gentiles to fight against Israel after the Jews escaped Egypt and crossed the Red Sea (Exodus 17:8-16) (modern Arabs of Sinai Peninsula?) – see #1, Esau was Jacob’s twin brother, Jacob being father of the Jews (Genesis 25:19-26)
8. PHILISTINES — ancient, bitter enemies of Israel in Isaac’s time (Genesis 26:1-33) and throughout the period of the judges and King Saul, lived along the Mediterranean Coast opposite the Dead Sea (modern Hamas of Gaza Strip?)
9. TYRE — also called Tyrus, a city in the land of Phoenicia, north of Israel (modern Hezbollah and Southern Lebanese?)
10. ASSUR — also known as Asshur or Assyria, the Assyrian Empire overcame and captured the northern 10 tribes of Israel some 700 years before Christ (2 Kings 17:1-23) (modern Syrians and Northern Iraqis?)

Also see:
» Is the Antichrist alive right now?
» Will the Antichrist be a Jew or a Gentile?
» What is “the mark of the Beast?”