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Revelation Answer to Question #7

 

7. Who are the Beast, Image of the Beast and the 2-Horned Beast  (Revelation 13:11-14)?


In the Bible, a "beast" is the symbol used to represent a government.

In Daniel’s prophecy the great successive universal empires of the earth which ruled over Israel are symbolized as beasts. Babylon was a lion, Medo-Persia a bear, Greece a leopard, and Rome a "terrible beast," that is, a dragon (Daniel 7:1-8; Revelation 12:3).

Certainly it was Rome which ruled over Judea and Samaria in the days Jesus Christ walked on this earth. This terrible dragon—the Roman Empire—had seven heads and ten horns.

The seven heads described seven different successive periods of government, and the ten "horns" described the sub-kingdoms present during each period. Since horns are the power of a beast, horns symbolize its divisions of power.

Now the ''beast" of Revelation (Ch. 13) is the same as the "Little Horn" that grows out of the fourth "terrible beast" of Daniel.

How do we know? Both persecute the saints for 1260 symbolic days–that is, 1260 years. A prophetic day is a year (Ezekiel 4:6). Papacy fills this role.

Now the "image of the beast" looks and acts like the "beast." A Protestant federation is certainly mustering today. It only lacks "life"for a time.

What is that "life"? Just as the "beast" claims for itself: the supposed authority of "apostolic succession." The 2-horned beast supplies this "life." Historically, the Church of England and Ireland has also claimed "apostolic succession."

When the Anglican Church lays its hands on the Protestant Federation—it will have authority to "speak" with authority.  Then the "image," like the "beast," will have power to start marking people.

 

Click to go to the following:

  Topical Study Home Page - Chapter Study Home Page - Questions - Glossary.

00GoldSquare.jpg (705 bytes)    For more information on the 4 beasts of Daniel 7.

00GoldSquare.jpg (705 bytes)    For more information on the Image of the Beast and the Two-Horned Beast.

Copyright 2001 John Class    

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