Verse 12
And the ten horns that thou sawest are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet; but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour.
These ten kings are the eighth "head" of the beast, and their being presented here as "ten kings" instead of a single king, as in the previous seven heads, is due to the fact of worldwide government not any longer having the monolithic structure which marked the great dominions of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and the Man of Sin.
The ten horns ... These are ten kingdoms to arise historically at a time long after John wrote, who "had received no kingdom as yet" and whose duration would be comparatively brief, "one hour" as compared with the much longer endurance of the successive world kingdoms symbolized by the "seven heads." "Ten" here is a symbolical number for an indefinite multiplicity, and it would be pointless to attempt any exhaustive definition of these. However, we may hazard the guess that this is the period of history in which the world at this time finds itself; and Russia, China, and other godless states would appear to be typical of what is meant here by the ten horns. The divine foresight of the mighty prophet who wrote Revelation is proved by this verse. Rome indeed fell (476 A.D.); and she was succeeded by "an image" of herself in the form of the Apostate Christianity exercising a worldwide dominion implemented by spiritual controls; but the secular state itself broke up into many kingdoms, "ten kings," among which the great modern nations of Europe are surely included. Remember how long ago Revelation was written.
Receive authority with the beast ... Yes, the beast in the form of its seventh head still continued; but, at this time, there were to be multiple kingdoms, not a monolith; and the Great Harlot, for a time, would be in league with all of them.
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