This is a follow up to the America is Babylon post.
IDENTIFYING THE BEASTS OF REVELATION
To understand the beasts of Revelation we need to go back to the source. The book of Daniel is one of the keys to unlocking the mysteries of Revelation. The future beasts find their prophetic beginnings in the visions of Daniel. The first clue we have to their future identity is found in his answer to the dream of Nebuchadnezzar of the image of a man.
Dan. 2:32-33 - “This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.”
Now we know that the head was Babylon, his breast and arms of silver was the Medo-Persians, his belly and thighs of brass were Greece (under Alexander the Great) and the legs of iron was Rome. The future kingdom represented by the feet and toes of iron mixed with clay is as yet unknown although we all have our own ideas.
The next vision that basically repeats these identities is the one with four beasts Dan. 7:4-7 - “The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: (Babylon) 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: (Medo-Persia) 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 (Greece). 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.” (the as yet unknown future beast)
Now we go on the beasts of Revelation. Starting with Rev. 13 we have this description: Rev. 13:1-2 - “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.”
Now a lot of people read the description of vs. 2 and immediately jump to the conclusion that it’s the same beast of Dan. 7, but it’s not. Dan. 7 had four beasts, this is one beast but yes it does have it’s roots and history in the four beasts of Dan. 7. Let’s examine this beast out of the sea more closely.
Before I get to the description of the beast let me pause here for a moment for some clarification. I’ve been pondering on this for a few days now because of a conversation with Veteran on the “America is Babylon” post. What I was going to respond with sounded unsatisfactory to me and based on my recent studies I have revised some of my thinking but (sorry vet) I still believe America is the Babylon of Rev. 17 & 18.
However, I got to thinking: Why is this beast coming out of the sea? The answer I came up with is because this is an anti-christ kingdom. The spirit of anti-christ teaches that man came from the sea via the evolutionary primordial ooze. (LOL, it sounds silly just writing it). I have come to believe that when satan is cast out of heaven, he is given a short time and a free hand to do what he will with the Earth, just as the people of the Tower of Babel had. Until God says “that’s enough”. Now we know that during this time God will be raining down various judgments upon the earth but most likely they (the unsaved peoples of the earth) will not consider them to be holy judgments, just bad luck.
Some of you may or may not know this but back in 1942, the U.N. came up with a plan to divide the earth into ten sectors. (google, UN map of the world in ten regions) and you’ll see how they divided it. It is a “man-made” kingdom, not a “God-approved” kingdom. This also goes back to the iron and clay toes of Dan. 2. Clay can signify “of the earth”, again not God designed but satanically inspired just as the Tower of Babel was. This 10 sector global division is what I believe the beast from the sea represents. I believe this might occur after WW3, probably with Islamic nations as the “Assyrian” at their head, but he will not be the Anti-Christ. But back to a closer look. The first beast of Rev. 13 looks like a leopard. What does this tell us?
The first thing that comes to mind is there goes the idea that this is some Islamic caliphate. The leopard which signified Greece is not Islamic. Remember, this is a combination of historical attributes, not a repeat of the same old, same old. In my opinion the attribute this is telling us is about the design of leadership. One main man with four generals although in this case of ten horns and ten crowns, it is ten leaders with one being the “ruling head”.
The next attribute is the “feet of a bear”. The bear symbolized the Medo-Persians. What does this tell us? Well, it was Cyrus the Great, leader of the Medo-Persians that signed the decree to allow Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Same here. This leader will also allow Israel to rebuild their temple.
The last attribute is a “mouth like a lion”. The lion symbolized Babylon. If we go back to the roots of Babylon, back to the Tower of Babel, we see this: Gen. 11:4 - “And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”
I believe this spirit of “boastfulness” will be repeated. Their attitude will be like, “See what we have accomplished without the help of some God, as men we have been able to design a system that brought “peace and safety” to the earth“. This boastfulness will come from the spirit of anti-christ that will be prevalent throughout the whole earth at this time, personified in the one main leader of this ten-nation group. Consider that the a/c doesn’t have to be a “founding member” just someone who will at some point rise to power. The dragon (satan) gives the beast, personified by the a/c, his power, seat and authority.
The second beast of Rev. 13 is described thusly: Rev. 13:11 - “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.”
From a description aspect this was a little more confusing. Lamb’s don’t have horns. The Strong’s def. is “male lambkin”, again no horns. The Strong’s def. of “horns” can also mean “the hair of the head”. So I pondered on this awhile but alas! no blinding “light of revelation” came and I’ve arrived at two conclusions. Either he is sporting a stylish new hairdo (think comic strip Dilbert’s boss) or he is trying to come across with false attributes of Christ. This false prophet will present himself, “like a lamb”, Christ is the “sacrificial lamb”, “spake as a dragon”, he will probably be one of the greatest orators of all time in imitation of Christ as “the Word”.
Now, let’s move on the beast of Rev. 17:3 - “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.”
The beast of Rev. 17 which is, imo, completely different from either beast of Rev. 13, does come from the bottomless pit, however, imo, he is an evil reincarnation of "one that was (he lived), is not (he died) and yet is (an evil copy of a resurrected person)". The world, imo, will be "astounded" because they will "recognize" him as someone that had once lived.
Why is he scarlet? Imo, he is stained with “the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” in union with the harlot (America) who will be “drunk on the blood of the martyrs”.
If this beast was the same as the first beast of Rev. 13, something is missing. We aren’t told of any of his horns having crowns as the he had. Regarding the seven heads read the OP of the America is Babylon topic. As for these two verses: Rev. 17:10-11 - “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.”
I am in complete agreement with Saint in post #30 in the America is Babylon topic as to his identification of these “kings” until he gets to the last part. His quote: “The eighth which was and is not which belongs to the seventh is the last Islamic Caliphate which is today forming under Islam and the Islamic Brotherhood.”
The bible does not say he is of the seventh, it says he is of the seven. There is only one thing all these empires had in common and that was they at various times ruled over Jerusalem. The a/c will as well in his desire to fulfill the messiah role that Israel is still waiting for.
Back when I explained how the UN divided the world into ten sectors, as an example, they also divided the USA into ten sectors. So I believe, one of the ten sectors (not the USA) will also be divided into ten nations and this will be the one of which Israel will be a part of and he will take down three of the nations as prophesied in Dan. 7:8.
In closing, “that’s my story and I’m sticking to it“….for now. We all see through a “glass darkly” when it comes to prophecy and if you disagree, fine, just file it away in the back of your mind, as I do with those opinions I don’t agree with…just in case.
IDENTIFYING THE BEASTS OF REVELATION
To understand the beasts of Revelation we need to go back to the source. The book of Daniel is one of the keys to unlocking the mysteries of Revelation. The future beasts find their prophetic beginnings in the visions of Daniel. The first clue we have to their future identity is found in his answer to the dream of Nebuchadnezzar of the image of a man.
Dan. 2:32-33 - “This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.”
Now we know that the head was Babylon, his breast and arms of silver was the Medo-Persians, his belly and thighs of brass were Greece (under Alexander the Great) and the legs of iron was Rome. The future kingdom represented by the feet and toes of iron mixed with clay is as yet unknown although we all have our own ideas.
The next vision that basically repeats these identities is the one with four beasts Dan. 7:4-7 - “The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: (Babylon) 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: (Medo-Persia) 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 (Greece). 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.” (the as yet unknown future beast)
Now we go on the beasts of Revelation. Starting with Rev. 13 we have this description: Rev. 13:1-2 - “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.”
Now a lot of people read the description of vs. 2 and immediately jump to the conclusion that it’s the same beast of Dan. 7, but it’s not. Dan. 7 had four beasts, this is one beast but yes it does have it’s roots and history in the four beasts of Dan. 7. Let’s examine this beast out of the sea more closely.
Before I get to the description of the beast let me pause here for a moment for some clarification. I’ve been pondering on this for a few days now because of a conversation with Veteran on the “America is Babylon” post. What I was going to respond with sounded unsatisfactory to me and based on my recent studies I have revised some of my thinking but (sorry vet) I still believe America is the Babylon of Rev. 17 & 18.
However, I got to thinking: Why is this beast coming out of the sea? The answer I came up with is because this is an anti-christ kingdom. The spirit of anti-christ teaches that man came from the sea via the evolutionary primordial ooze. (LOL, it sounds silly just writing it). I have come to believe that when satan is cast out of heaven, he is given a short time and a free hand to do what he will with the Earth, just as the people of the Tower of Babel had. Until God says “that’s enough”. Now we know that during this time God will be raining down various judgments upon the earth but most likely they (the unsaved peoples of the earth) will not consider them to be holy judgments, just bad luck.
Some of you may or may not know this but back in 1942, the U.N. came up with a plan to divide the earth into ten sectors. (google, UN map of the world in ten regions) and you’ll see how they divided it. It is a “man-made” kingdom, not a “God-approved” kingdom. This also goes back to the iron and clay toes of Dan. 2. Clay can signify “of the earth”, again not God designed but satanically inspired just as the Tower of Babel was. This 10 sector global division is what I believe the beast from the sea represents. I believe this might occur after WW3, probably with Islamic nations as the “Assyrian” at their head, but he will not be the Anti-Christ. But back to a closer look. The first beast of Rev. 13 looks like a leopard. What does this tell us?
The first thing that comes to mind is there goes the idea that this is some Islamic caliphate. The leopard which signified Greece is not Islamic. Remember, this is a combination of historical attributes, not a repeat of the same old, same old. In my opinion the attribute this is telling us is about the design of leadership. One main man with four generals although in this case of ten horns and ten crowns, it is ten leaders with one being the “ruling head”.
The next attribute is the “feet of a bear”. The bear symbolized the Medo-Persians. What does this tell us? Well, it was Cyrus the Great, leader of the Medo-Persians that signed the decree to allow Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Same here. This leader will also allow Israel to rebuild their temple.
The last attribute is a “mouth like a lion”. The lion symbolized Babylon. If we go back to the roots of Babylon, back to the Tower of Babel, we see this: Gen. 11:4 - “And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”
I believe this spirit of “boastfulness” will be repeated. Their attitude will be like, “See what we have accomplished without the help of some God, as men we have been able to design a system that brought “peace and safety” to the earth“. This boastfulness will come from the spirit of anti-christ that will be prevalent throughout the whole earth at this time, personified in the one main leader of this ten-nation group. Consider that the a/c doesn’t have to be a “founding member” just someone who will at some point rise to power. The dragon (satan) gives the beast, personified by the a/c, his power, seat and authority.
The second beast of Rev. 13 is described thusly: Rev. 13:11 - “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.”
From a description aspect this was a little more confusing. Lamb’s don’t have horns. The Strong’s def. is “male lambkin”, again no horns. The Strong’s def. of “horns” can also mean “the hair of the head”. So I pondered on this awhile but alas! no blinding “light of revelation” came and I’ve arrived at two conclusions. Either he is sporting a stylish new hairdo (think comic strip Dilbert’s boss) or he is trying to come across with false attributes of Christ. This false prophet will present himself, “like a lamb”, Christ is the “sacrificial lamb”, “spake as a dragon”, he will probably be one of the greatest orators of all time in imitation of Christ as “the Word”.
Now, let’s move on the beast of Rev. 17:3 - “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.”
The beast of Rev. 17 which is, imo, completely different from either beast of Rev. 13, does come from the bottomless pit, however, imo, he is an evil reincarnation of "one that was (he lived), is not (he died) and yet is (an evil copy of a resurrected person)". The world, imo, will be "astounded" because they will "recognize" him as someone that had once lived.
Why is he scarlet? Imo, he is stained with “the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” in union with the harlot (America) who will be “drunk on the blood of the martyrs”.
If this beast was the same as the first beast of Rev. 13, something is missing. We aren’t told of any of his horns having crowns as the he had. Regarding the seven heads read the OP of the America is Babylon topic. As for these two verses: Rev. 17:10-11 - “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.”
I am in complete agreement with Saint in post #30 in the America is Babylon topic as to his identification of these “kings” until he gets to the last part. His quote: “The eighth which was and is not which belongs to the seventh is the last Islamic Caliphate which is today forming under Islam and the Islamic Brotherhood.”
The bible does not say he is of the seventh, it says he is of the seven. There is only one thing all these empires had in common and that was they at various times ruled over Jerusalem. The a/c will as well in his desire to fulfill the messiah role that Israel is still waiting for.
Back when I explained how the UN divided the world into ten sectors, as an example, they also divided the USA into ten sectors. So I believe, one of the ten sectors (not the USA) will also be divided into ten nations and this will be the one of which Israel will be a part of and he will take down three of the nations as prophesied in Dan. 7:8.
In closing, “that’s my story and I’m sticking to it“….for now. We all see through a “glass darkly” when it comes to prophecy and if you disagree, fine, just file it away in the back of your mind, as I do with those opinions I don’t agree with…just in case.
