What are the seven kings of Rev. 17:10?

Who are they and what is the significance of this prophecy to the end times? Here is the text in question...

Revelation 17 King James Version (KJV)

"1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3 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.
4 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:
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth.
6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 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.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful."

 

We compare it with Daniel 7:
Daniel 7:3-8 King James Version (KJV)
3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.
4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.
5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.
6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.
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.

We see 4 beasts listed in these verses and then the little horn power. Now consider carefully the 4 that are fallen.
The Lion beast, the Bear beast, the Leopard beast and the Dreadful beast..
1.Lion = Babylon
2.Bear = Medo Persia
3.Leopard = Grecia
4.Dreadful Beast = Pagan Rome before 538 AD.
5. Little Horn (Papal Rome)

Now compare to Revelation 13:
Revelation 13 King James Version (KJV)
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.
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations
.
This beast of Revelation 13, has all characteristics of the above listed beasts in Daniel 7. And is given its power by the dragon or the devil. Therefore this is the 5th kingdom. And it reigns for 'forty and two months.' (1260 prophetic days) at which point the deadly wound occurs. The power is taken from this 5th Kingdom which ruled the world for 1260 years during the dark ages..(The rule of the Papacy ended in 1798 exactly 1260 years after the destruction of the Ostrogoths and the implementation of the Justinian decree in 538AD. Pope Pius vi was taken captive by General Berthier of France.)

'In 1798 General Berthier made his entrance into Rome, abolished the papal government, and established a secular one.' -Encyclopedia Britannica 1941 edition

The destruction of the Papacy was thought to be sure and is well known as the deadly wound to the Papacy which is mentioned in Revelation 13.

At the time of the Pope going into captivity we see another beast rising out of the earth. Beast with two horns

Revelation 13:11-12 King James Version (KJV)
11 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.
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

Right around the time that the Pope Pius was taken captive, we see another beast coming up out of the earth with 2 horns. No crowns on these horns. This beast was representative of a great power that "causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed".....

This is representative of America which came up, does 1776 sound familiar...

 

Here is from my friend Amo which makes it much more clear.."Rev 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

The seven kings are the seven beasts of biblical prophecy. Kings, mountains, and beasts are used interchangeably in the above verses. The book of Daniel identifies kings and or kingdoms with prophetic beasts. Mountains also may prophetically represent kingdoms. Mount Zion is the kingdom of God. Satan was kicked out of the holy mountain of God, God's kingdom(Eze 28). The seven kings, beasts, and mountains are his counterfeit kingdoms of this world in rebellion against God.

The prophecy is given from the time of the sixth beast, kingdom, or mountain, for five have fallen when given. The beast that was, is not, and yet is, is the seventh beast of biblical prophecy foretold in Rev 13, as the resurrected beast who received a deadly wound which heals. It is the seventh and final beast of biblical prophecy which is the resurrected Holy Roman Empire on a global scale. It is said to be an eighth and one of the seven. Also because in 1929 the Vatican became a literal nation state of this world and is therefore now uniquely qualified to be one of the seven, the fifth beast resurrected, and at the same time a new literal nation state of this world. The Church of Rome alone can fill this unique position.