There will be two “beasts” one will come from the ocean and the other from out of the earth. I used quotes around beast because these beasts will not be monsters in the horror movie sense. The first will be a kingdom, the kingdom of the antichrist. The second will be the antichrist himself. The kingdom of the Antichrist will pretty much be set up for the Antichrist to move in and immediately start using its power for his own will.
- Revelation 13: 1-2
Then I saw a beast rising up out of the sea. It had seven heads and ten horns, with ten crowns on its horns. And written on each head were names that blasphemed God. 2 This beast looked like a leopard, but it had the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion! And the dragon gave the beast his own power and throne and great authority.
I say that this beast is the kingdom of the antichrist because that is the way it is explained in the Bible. The first explanation is to Daniel the next is to John in the Book of Revelation, both explanations coming from an angel. These explanations are so similar, that I think that it is obvious that the fourth beast from Daniels dream and the first beast from John’s vision is the same beast being described. Daniel has a dream in which he sees four beasts.
- Daniel 7: 3
3 Then four huge beasts came up out of the water, each different from the others.
- Daniel 7: 7
7 Then in my vision that night, I saw a fourth beast—terrifying, dreadful, and very strong. It devoured and crushed its victims with huge iron teeth and trampled their remains beneath its feet. It was different from any of the other beasts and it had ten horns.
In both Revelation and Daniel the beast being described comes from out of the sea. Daniel describes the first three beasts as having attributes similar to those of animals, a lion, a leopard, and a bear. The fourth beast however never gets such a label. The explanations given about these beasts and horns are these…
- Daniel 7: 17
17 “These four huge beasts represent four kingdoms that will arise from the earth.
- Daniel 7: 23-25
23 Then he said to me, “This fourth beast is the fourth world power that will rule the earth. It will be different from all the others. It will devour the whole world, trampling and crushing everything in its path. 24 Its ten horns are ten kings who will rule that empire. Then another king will arise, different from the other ten, who will subdue three of them.
- Revelation 17: 12-14
12 The ten horns of the beast are ten kings who have not yet risen to power. They will be appointed to their kingdoms for one brief moment to reign with the beast.
As we can see, the beasts are kingdoms. I believe the forth beast that Daniel claims is “terrifying, dreadful, and very strong,” is the first beast from Revelation. It is the kingdom that will be ruled by the antichrist. The fourth world power “was different from any of the other” world powers. This kingdom is significant, and unique. Something about it is very scary to the people of the earth.
Both the fourth beast from Daniel and the first from Revelation have ten horns. These ten horns are representing ten kings that rule before “someone” else takes over. Daniel says this king will be different than the others, and Revelation says that they will reign with the second BEAST for a short time. Revelation also has claims of a one world government, similar to Daniels fourth beast ruling the earth. With all the similarities between the two beasts, they must be one and the same.
If the birth pains, or the beginning of sorrows, have begun, then we can assume that the kingdom or nation is either here already or will emerge very soon. This nation will be very powerful and will have strong influence over the entire earth. This kingdom will be different from any other that history has known. It will start a war against the chosen people of God, and conquer them.
- Revelation 13:
7 And the beast was allowed to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation.
God’s holy people in this passage could be talking about Israel or it could be speaking of believers. Either way, this powerful kingdom should stand out when we see the command to attack Israel or the attack on all those that practice Christianity. One or both of these two things will happen, either Israel will be defeated, or believers will be oppressed, imprisoned, and killed. I am leaning more toward the latter based on the words of Christ. He said believers would be persecuted in His name, because they believe Him to be the Son of God.
This kingdom will undoubtedly
be full of blasphemous evils. Lust of every kind will be viewed as good. Greed,
not God, will be the driving force for all things. Men will be treated as
slaves by those that are wealthy. Unjust laws will be written in favor of the
rich, and to discriminate against the poor. The unemployed widow and the bastard
child will be viewed as nothing more than pests and a drain on the system.
Murder, addiction, sexual immorality, drunkenness, and the hatred of YHWH will
be common in this land. . Nothing will be thought of as sacred,
including marriage. Divorce and premarital sex will be common. Extramarital
affairs will touch the lives of high ranking officials. Those thought of as
Holy men will commit obscene and lewd acts, making even the alter of YHWH no
longer sacred. All these things will reinforce the unbeliever’s ideas that
there is no creator of the universe, allowing them to scoff at even the idea of
God. The world will hate this kingdom, but desire its riches.
At some point this kingdom will have a major influence over every nation of the
world.
The first beast will
also have the most powerful soldiers, strong enough to be feared by the entire world.
In order for this kingdom to wage war against every believer and have the
ability to defeat and oppress them, along with being given the authority to
rule over every tribe and people of the world means their national military
must be of great significance.
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