VERSE 2 continued “Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.”
(As taken from The Keys of Revelation)
Mouth of a Lion
The lion is called the king of the beasts because of its authoritative voice and stately mien. Adorned with a mane suggestive of a crown, the lion’s head is frequently portrayed as a symbol of royalty and kingship. Other animals, such as the water buffalo and the elephant, are more powerful than the lion but do not present as imposing or as regal an appearance.
The lion can run swiftly for only a short distance, yet its great roar (Isa. 31:4; Jer. 2:15) has the significant advantage of terrifying and momentarily paralyzing a prey, thus enabling the capture. The surprised victim sees the roaring lion as all head and mouth, the body behind being obscured by the enormous appearance of its forepart. With a single blow of its massive forepaw, the powerful lion can crush the skull of an ox or break the back of a horse, and it is capable of carrying off a bullock in its jaws. The lion usually dispatches its prey by biting in the neck. Awesome jaws and teeth can easily scrunch the bones of a zebra (Job 4:10; Psa. 58:6; Joel 1:6).
The Papal Lion
One of the leading characteristics of the power symbolized by the “little horn” of Daniel 7:8,20 and the beast of Revelation 13:5 is “a mouth speaking great things,” the “pompous words” spoken. The destruction of the beast in Daniel is said to be “because of the . . . great words which the [little] horn spoke” (Dan 7:11).
Fox, in his *Acts and Monuments, presents a proper parody of Papacy’s leonine boastfulness based upon extracts of papal statements taken from 221 authentic documents comprising decrees, decretals, chronicles, pontificals, and bulls, all of which are indisputable evidence.
The following are brief samplings, complete with marginal references.
“25. Thus, you see all must be judged by me, and I of no man. Yea, and though I Pope of Rome, by my negligence or evil demeanor, be found unprofitable, or hurtful, either to myself [sic] or others; yea, if I should draw with me innumerable Souls by heaps to Hell, yet may no mortal Man be so hardy, so bold, or so presumptuous to reprove me. (Bonifacius Martyr, dist.40. c.Si Papa)”
“78. And though this Henricus [Henry II] was an Emperor of most stout courage, who stood 62 times in open field against his Enemies, (Baptista Egnatius)
“79. …yet did not I Gregorius bring him coram nobis, and make him stand at my Gate three days and three nights bare-foot and bare-leg, with his Wife and Child, in the deep of Winter, both in Frost and Snow, intreating for his absolution, and after did excommunicate him again, so that he was twice excommunicated in my days? (Platina, Benno Nauclerus)”
“81. Item, did not I, Pope Alexander [III], bring under Henry the Second, King of England, for the death of Thomas Becket, and cause him to go bare-foot to his Tomb at Canterbury with bleeding feet? (Polydore Virgil, Historia ornalensis de rebus Anglorum)
“82. Did not I [Pope] Innocentius the Third, cause King John to kneel down at the feet of Pandulphus my Legate, and offer up his Crown to his hands; also, to kiss the feet of Stephen Langhton [Catholic] Bishop of Canterbury, and besides merced [indemnified] him in a thousand Marks by year? (Chronica vernacula)”
“84. …did not I Calixtus the 2d . . . bring in subjection Gregory, whom the said Emperor [Henricus V] had set up against me to be Pope [in my stead], bringing him into Rome upon a Camel, his face to the Horses tail, making him to hold the Horse tail in his hand instead [sic] of a Bridle? (Calixtus 2. Plat. de vitis pontificum)”
“88. …Did not the said Alexander [III] bring the valiant Emperor Frederick the first to Venice, by reason of his Son Otho there taken prisoner, and there in Saint Marks Church made him fall down flat upon the ground while I set my foot upon his neck, saying the verse of the Psalm, Super aspidem & basiliscum ambulabis [Upon the serpent and royalty thou walks]? (Nauclerus acta Rom. pontificum)”
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John Fox, *Acts and Monuments of Matters Most Special and Memorable, Happening in the Church: With a Universal History of the Same, 9th ed. (London: Company of Stationers, 1684), Vol. 1 of 3, pp. 888, 889, 891, 893, 895.
We will continue with some more quotes in our next post.
