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The Beasts of Revelation
We welcome you to another study with The Rapture
Rebuttal. The focus of this study will have little to do
with the rapture but will instead focus on the two
beasts of Revelation and the entities involved therein.
Jesus told us over and over again, that we should watch
and be alert to the events around us. It is vitally
important that we understand how prophecy will unfold in
the last days so we know what to watch for. In 1
Corinthians 1:10, Paul tells us that their should be no
division among us and we should all speak the same
thing. These days, I would submit there are more
divisions than ever, and it seems the churches agree on
very little. If this doesn't bother you it should. We
hope with this study we can clear up some of the
misunderstandings about who or what these two beasts
are. Please join us as we search the scriptures in an
effort to shed light on this subject.
Revelation 13
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.
Here John describes this first beast to us using
symbolism. If we search out the scriptures we can get a
far clearer picture of what John is actually seeing. The
first place we will need to go, will be the
book of Daniel.
Daniel 7
2) Daniel spake and
said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four
winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.
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.
Here we are given a vision of Daniel, who is seeing
four beasts that will rise in succession to one another.
Each of the first three are known by a single symbol.
The lion, bear, and leopard. When we get to the fourth
beast we are told it is exceedingly strong and diverse
from all the beasts before it. If we go back and look at
the beast from Revelation 13:2, we see the beast there,
which is this fourth beast from verse 7 in Daniel's
vision, has the
attributes of the lion, bear, and leopard. Within this
diverse fourth beast, we are seeing the convergence of
all these beasts into one diverse, exceedingly strong
beast. It is essential that we understand this as we
move forward. Now you have heard our interpretation
of these things, but let's hear what Daniel was told
about theses four beasts.
17) These great beasts,
which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of
the earth.
18) But the saints of the most High shall take
the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for
ever and ever.
19) Then I would know
the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from
all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of
iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in
pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;
20) And of the ten horns
that were in his head, and of the other which came up,
and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had
eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose
look was more stout than his fellows.
21) I beheld, and the
same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed
against them;
Here the mystery will begin to be unraveled. Let's
make a mental note of this "little horn". He is a major
player in this beast system. So far we have learned that
he has a mouth speaking "great things" and he will make
war against the saints.
23) Thus he said, The
fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,
which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall
devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and
break it in pieces.
24) And the ten horns
out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and
another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse
from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25) And he shall speak
great words against the most High, and shall wear out
the saints of the most High, and think to change times
and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a
time and times and the dividing of time.
In verse 23 we find out what the beast is, the beast
is a kingdom. We know many believe this beast to be a
man. This does not align with these scriptures and we
have proof here that we are talking about a kingdom
rather than a man. The ten horns are 10 kings which rule
this kingdom. It is important to understand these simple
facts. What we have here is a system of government ruled
by 10 kings, not by one man.
Now let's focus in on the
little horn just a little bit. In verse 24, we see that a king shall rise
after these10 kings, which will subdue 3 kings. He
(little horn) will speak great things against the Most High and think to
change times and laws.
Just to review, the beast is a kingdom and not a man, which is ruled
by 10 kings, symbolized by the ten horns. Three of those kings will be
subdued by the little horn, who will:
A) Make war with the
saints
B) Speak very great things against the Most High
C) Change times and laws.
Revelation 13
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.
Here we see this kingdom receive a deadly wound. What
would constitute a deadly wound for a kingdom? The
inability to govern and the loss of public trust would
be deadly for any kingdom and would force it's collapse.
In other words, a loss of power in the eyes of the
world.
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?
After the deadly wound was healed, we see the beast (kingdom) is
drawing it's power from the dragon. From these verses we must conclude
that the dragon is a well respected world leader who uses his power to
restore the public trust in this beast system (kingdom), he healed the
wound. When we look at verse 4, it becomes evident that the dragon is a
religious leader. Here we see the first instance of worship connected to
the dragon and the beast. Notice at this point worship is voluntary. We
would have to assume this event, (healing of the wound), is seen as a
miraculous event and it has taken on spiritual significance for the
world.
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.
Here a mouth was given unto the beast. Who was that
mouth? Was it not the dragon? It was through his
intervention that the deadly wound was healed and the
beast system is drawing it's power from him. Through his
influence he is keeping this system in power.
6) And he opened his
mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name,
and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Realize the power the dragon has at this point. The
world is ruled by one united government. The power of
this government to rule is based solely on the dragon
and his influence. He is a very powerful man, so much
so, that he is worshipped. Now that he has gained this
power, we see him begin to try to move God out and set
himself up as God. Let's think back to the little horn
for a moment. What were we told he would do? Was it not
this very same thing? We were told he would speak very
great things against the Most High, in other words
blasphemy. Let's compare the dragon and the little horn.
First the dragon - If we go to Revelation Chapter 12
we will find in verse 9 that the dragon is none other
than Satan himself.
9) And the great dragon
was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and
Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out
into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
In verse 9 we are given a few of the names Satan is
called by. Each name is particular to what role he has
played throughout time. We want you to be aware that the
dragon was cast to the earth and particularly that his
angels were cast out with him. This will be important as
we look at the little horn.
The little horn - We need to go back to the book of
Daniel for this portion in Chapter 8
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.
We just read that Satan and his angles would be
kicked out of heaven. In verse 10 above, we see the
little horn will cast down some of the host of heaven
and of the stars to the ground. Angels are often
referred to as stars in the Bible,
here are just a few examples: (Rev. 1:20, Rev. 9:1, Dan.
8:10). Both this little horn and the dragon (Satan) are
the same entity. This is clear from the scriptures, they
both are seen as performing the same actions.
Revelation 13
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.
Remember, we were told in Daniel 7:21, the little
horn would make war with the saints. At this point the little horn has risen and is
beginning to take full control of this government. How did he
rise and become the mouth piece for this government? He
did it as the dragon when he healed the deadly wound.
All the same person just different names.
8) And all that dwell
upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not
written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world.
Here is more proof that the dragon and little horn
are the same. In the first instance of worship, who was
it that was being worshipped? It was the dragon. Those
who worshipped him and the beast, did so voluntarily at
that point. Now we are told the whole world will worship
him and this will be under a religious government in
which worship will be mandatory. This is not
unprecedented, not too many years ago, the Iatola Komani
came on the scene in Iran and took control of that
country on a religious platform.
Just to review, what we are witnessing here is
Satan's rise to power. First as a religious figure, who
as the dragon will
restore power to the beast (kingdom). In doing so,
he will become the mouth
piece for this one world system and he will eventually
reign supreme, as we are about to read. This is
just the progression of one man from a religious
mediator in the first beast system to the eventual ruler
of the second beast system.
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.
Here is the peak of the rise of the little horn, he
now has taken complete control over the one world system. Only
this beast (kingdom) is different from the one we have
been reading about. It has two horns like a lamb,
but speaks as a dragon. We know Christ is the Lamb, and
this is where Satan will claim to be Christ. Why is it,
that this beast speaks as a dragon? It is the dragon, it's just that simple!
Who is the dragon, it's Satan (Revelation 12:9). If we understand all these names
are one entity and are particular to his actions, then we
will understand these two beasts.
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.
Here we see that the second beast (whatever you wish
to call him it is Satan) has all the power of the first
beast. Why? It's the same system, only now one man is
ruling it, and it has become a religious system. If you will remember, the little horn was
to change times and laws (Daniel 7:25). Here is where we see this take
place, it is now a law that you must worship in him in order to have the right to buy and
sell. Once again, all the same entity just different
names.
13) And he doeth great
wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on
the earth in the sight of men,
14) And deceiveth them
that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles
which he had power to do in the sight of the beast;
saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should
make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a
sword, and did live.
Who is deceiving those on the earth in verse 14? Some
would say it is the false prophet. This is just another
name of Satan. If we go to Revelation Chapter 12 we will
learn that this is the dragon or Satan who deceives the
whole world..
9) And the great dragon
was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and
Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out
into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
All these players are performing the same actions.
Why? They are all one entity.
Revelation 13
15) And he had power to
give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of
the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as
would not worship the image of the beast should be
killed.
16) And he causeth all,
both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to
receive a mark in their right hand, or in their
foreheads:
17) And that no man
might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the
name of the beast, or the number of his name.
We hope we have presented a clear picture of these
two beasts and who the players are in them. When you
look at all the evidence, it all comes back to one
entity, Satan. He is called many names, but he is the
same old deceiver from the garden. We hope you enjoyed this study, God
Bless!
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