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THE LEOPARD-LIKE BEAST

CHAPTER 13

 

1. And I [the John Class] stood upon the sand of the sea [civil Roman authority ruled the "sand" or outer fringe of the sea of the restless masses of mankindthose not barbarians], and saw a beast [papacy] rise up out of the sea [in ascendancy over the restless masses of mankind], having seven heads [successive divisions of government ruled by emperors], and ten horns [during each phase of the Roman empire there were ten (more or less) contemporaneous territorial divisions of government], and upon his horns ten crowns [we notice here the horns were crowned and not the heads, and these ten territorial divisions of government ruled on the premise of the divine right of kings], and upon his heads [seven successive division of governments] the name of blasphemy [a false claim of Christianity and of being the Kingdom of God on earth].

2.  And the beast [papacy]* which I [the John Class] saw was like unto a leopard [the Grecian Empire was leopard-like in that it was camouflaged and adapted to its environment, bringing sudden death to its prey], and his feet [agencies of its advancement] were as the feet of a bear [Medo-Persian Empire had bear-like feet that were versatile, slow and deliberate, yet strong and crushing when once it had its prey], and his mouth as the mouth of a lion [the Babylonian Empire was lion-like in that it had loud, paralyzing utterances]: and the dragon [civil Roman authority] gave him his power, and his seat [the dragon was unwilling to give up its seat in the heavens of ecclesiasticism, but quite a gentleman in giving civil power in the Roman government to the papal beast], and great authority.

3. And I [the John Class] saw one of his heads [a successive division of Charlemagne’s empire, actually the fourth and greatest division or "head" (CE 800 to 1799) being focused upon in the reformation period under Luther] as it were wounded to death [a death blow by the reformation and a final coup de grace by the French Revolution]; and his deadly wound was healed [was not fatal]: and all the world [society] wondered after the beast [papacy that successfully survived the Reformation and also the following French Revolution and its terrible assault on it].

4. And they [society] worshipped the dragon [civil Roman authority] which gave power unto the beast [papacy]: and they worshipped the beast [papacy], saying, Who is like unto the beast [papacy]? who is able to make war [successfully] with him [the rest of the story is given in Rev. 19:11-20 where the "King of Kings" makes short work of this beast]?

5. And there was given unto him [the papacy] a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies [made great false claims of Christianity]; and power was given unto him [the papacy] to continue forty and two months [1260 years from CE 539 to 1799].

6. And he [the papacy] opened his mouth in blasphemy [its utterances cast reproach] against God, to blaspheme his name [cast reproach upon his name], and his tabernacle [His true church where God dwells], and them that dwell in heaven [the spiritual condition, the heavens of earth, accomplishing this blasphemy by their false claims of Christianity as well as by actual blasphemous claimssee THE TIME IS AT HAND, p. 307]. 00GoldSquare.jpg (705 bytes)

7. And it was given unto him [the papacy] to make war [persecute] with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given unto him [the papacy] over all kindreds, and languages, and nations.

8. And all that dwell upon the earth [society] shall worship him [the papacy], whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb [the meek and humble one] slain from the foundation of the world [foreordained to sacrifice in God’s plan from the beginning].

9. If any man have an ear [be teachable], let him hear [be instructed].

10. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience [incentive to patient endurance] and the faith of the saints.

11. And I [the John Class] beheld another beast [the church-state system of England and Ireland] coming up out of the earth [stable society]; and he had two horns [subdivisions of power] like a lamb [temperate by nature], and he spake as a dragon [with civil authority].

12. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast [papacy] before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein [society individually and collectively] to worship the first beast [papacy], whose deadly wound was healed [the wound of the Reformation which culminated in the French Revolution].

13. And he [the English and Irish church-state system] doeth great wonders [manifestations of power], so that he maketh fire [destructive judgments and punishments by its huge navy of gun boats blockading and punishing any not yielding to her sovereignty and trading terms] come down from heaven [the ecclesiastical realm] on the earth [society], in the sight of men [Daniel 3:1 tells us Nebuchadnezzar built an image, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, which he set on the Plain of Dura for all to see and worship].

14. And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth [in society] by the means of those miracles which he had power to do [power which it exercised] in the sight [in full view] of the beast [papacy]; saying to them that dwell on the earth [suggesting to society], that they should make an image to the beast [something that would be a likeness of the papacy], which had the wound by a sword [of the Reformation], and did live.

15. And he [the two-horned beast composed of the English and Irish church-state system] had power to give life unto the image of the beast [the World Council of Churches], that the image of the beast [the World Council of Churches] should both speak [make authoritative pronouncements], and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast [the Protestant Federation of Churches] should be killed [ostracized, not recognized as Christians].

16. And he [the World Council of Churches] causeth all, both small [not influential] and great [influential], rich and poor, free [independent] and bond [dependent], to receive a mark in their right hand [produce evidence of allegiance to it by rendering cooperation or by working with them], or in their foreheads [intellectual assent to the ideology of the papacywhich all in the federation could do in that they are an "image to the beast"]:

17. And that no man [Christian] might buy [be instructed] or sell [instruct others], save he that had the mark [characteristic of the papacy], or the name of the beast [intimate association with the papacy], or the number of its name [value of its title].

18. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast [papacy]: for it is the number [standing or value] of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six [666which is the total value of the pope’s crown inscribed with these wordsVICARIVS FILII DEI. This title translated means Vicar of the Son of God and by accepting such a one as an earthly head, it would constitute one as a part of the anti-Christ].

 

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         00GoldSquare.jpg (705 bytes)   Footnotes

Topical Studies on:
The Image of the Beast Part I - Part II - Part III - Part IV
The Leopard-Like Beast Part I - Part II - Part III - Part IV

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