Hmm how dare you challenge me with more interesting points... LoL...
... Im just joking...
I had wondered that as well... The book of Rev is a book of prophecy... John wrote it as he saw it which makes it sound like its in the past.
Some great food for thought... The first thing I noticed when reviewing chapter 12 is that woman, she is described like she might be Mary... Hmmm who can truly say that they have interpreted Revelation... Its so cryptic...
So I did a bit more searching and came across this excellent piece that tries to answer
"When did Satan sweep a third of the angels away to the Earth? When was Satan cast out of heaven?"
He talks about the 3 main opinions which are
VIEW #1: The original fall of Satan in the Garden of Eden (or before).
VIEW #2: The defeat of Satan at the Cross and Resurrection of Christ.
VIEW #3: The casting out of Satan in the future tribulation.
And gives his conclusion which gives me more food for thought.
Hmmm, interesting... And there are two beasts in chapter 13... Any thoughts?
The beasts: In the OT the Bible gave a prophecy regarding two beasts that fought each other.. They hard horns and all.. The Bible then gave an interpretation of the symbology.. One of the beasts was pointing to the Greek empire and the other was media Persia. And it was talking about Alexander the Greats conquest..
Here i will quote the passage.. Have a read..
Daniel 8: KJV
3 "Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river
a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. {4} I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.
{5} And as I was considering, behold, an
he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and
the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. {6} And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. {7} And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.
{8} Therefore the
he goat waxed very great: and
when he was strong, the
great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. {9} And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. {10} And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. {11} Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. {12} And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered.
{13} ¶ Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? {14} And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. {15} ¶ And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. {16} And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. {17} So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision. {18} Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright. {19} And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be. {20}
The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. {21} And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king."
Ok So the vision was given to the prophet David of two beasts .. One beast the Ram had two horns one taller then the other which came up after the first..
Media Persia was an empire that formed with the alliance between two different peoples.. The Medea and the Persians.. The Medes where the first to rise to power ( the shorter horn ) but later the Persians became powerful joined the Medes and became the dominant power in the alliance ( Taller Horn )
The second beast was a Goat with only one Horn Grecia ( which is Greece ) this empire only had one group of people as it's power the Macedonian / Greeks .. The Greeks under Alexander the great smashed the Media Persian empire and Alexander continued on His way expanding the Greek empire untill he died ( i think it was in Afghanistan or India not sure.. But he died at the point where the greek empire was at it's largest. So when the greek empire was at it's strongest Alexander died..
So the horns in prophecy represent individual nations and they represent the King ( leader ) of that nation.
The beast represents the Actual empire..
In the end times there will be a beast with 10 horns.. Therefore it will be an empire with 10 nations being the powers that rule the empire the horns also represent the Kings ( leaders ) of these 10 nations..
This beast is both mentioned in the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation..
Daniel 7: KJV
7 "After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a
fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and
it had ten horns. {8} I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them
another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things."
AND:
Revelation 17:
"So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and
I saw a woman sit upon a
scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads
and ten horns."
So the beast will be the empire and the empire will be ruled by 10 nations.. Later a small horn will come up and displace 3 of the other horns so in the end the beast shall have 8 horns.. The woman who sits on the beast is called a mother of harlots.. Now this woman represents a false religious movement.. The true church of Jesus in the same book is called the Bride ready to be united with her betrothed Jesus.. Symbolically a caste bride represents true Christians and a Harlot woman represents a false religion..