Chapter Twenty-Eight/Contending With Two Ferocious Beasts

 The wild beast comes out of "the sea," which is a fitting symbol of the turbulent masses from which human government springs. (Isaiah 17:12, 13) This wild beast began to emerge out of the sea of turbulent humanity away back in the days of Nimrod (about the 2oth century B.C.E.), when a post-Flood system of things, opposed to Jehovah, first manifested itself. (Genesis10:8. 12; 11:1-9) But only in the Lord's day has the last one of its seven heads fully manifested itself. Notice, too, it is the dragon that "gave to the beast its power and its throne and great authority." (Compare Luke 4:6) The beast is Satan's political creation among the masses of mankind. Satan is truly "the ruler of this world." - JOHN 12:31. 

Next time: Chapter Twenty-Eight/Contending With Two Ferocious Beasts - The Death Stroke 

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 The wild beast has "upon its heads blasphemous names," making claims for itself that show great disrespect for Jehovah God and Christ Jesus. It has used the names of God and Christ as a sham to achieve its political ends, and it has played along with false religion, even allowing the clergy to take part in its political processes. For example, the House of Lords in England includes the bishops. Catholic cardinals have played prominent political roles in France and Italy, and more recently, priests have taken political office in Latin America. Governments print religious slogans, such as "IN GOD WE TRUST, " on their bank notes, and on their coins they claim divine approval for their rulers, stating for example, that these appointed "by the grace of God." All of this is actually blasphemous, for its attempts to involve God in the sullied nationalistic political arena. 

Note: This garbage is all disapproved of by God and Jesus Christ. Neither one of them had anything to do with being money hungry or political or garbage the Government is saying or doing. They are using his name for their own selfishness and greed and prestige and any other garbage they want to do. And in the right time, they will be dealt with. 

Next time: Chapter Twenty-Eight/Contending With Two Ferocious Beasts - Conclusion

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 The wild beast has ten horns on its seven heads. Perhaps four heads had one horn each, and three heads had two horns each. Moreover, it had ten diadems on its horns. In the book of Daniel, fearsome beasts are described, and the numbering of their horns is to be interpreted literally. For example, the two horns on a ram represented a world empire made up of two partners, Media and Persia, while the other four horns on a goat represent the four coexisting empires that grew out of Alexander the Great's Greek empire. (Daniel 8:3, 8, 20-22) On the beast that John saw, however, the numbering of the ten horns appears to be symbolic. (Compare Daniel 7:24; Revelation 17:12.) They represent the completeness of sovereign states making up the entire political organization of Satan. All these horns are violent and aggressive, but as indicated by the seven heads, headship resides in only one world power at a time. Similarly, the ten diadems indicate that all sovereign states would exercise ruling power simultaneously with the dominant state, or world power of that time.

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 Is it not shocking to identify the ruling political powers with a wild beast? That is what some opposers claimed during World War II, when the status of Jehovah's Witnesses, as an organization and as individuals, was being challenged in law courts around the earth. But stop and think! Do not the nations themselves adopt beasts or wild creatures as their national symbols? For example, there are the British lion, the American eagle, the Chinese dragon, and the Russian bear. So why should anyone object if the divine authority of the Holy Bible also uses beasts to symbolize world powers? 

Moreover, why should anyone object to the Bible's saying that it is Satan who gives the wild beast its great authority? God is the Source of that statement, and before him, 'the nations are a drop from a bucket as film of dust.' Those nations would do better to court Gods favor than to take offense at the way his prophetic Word describes them. (Isaiah 40:15, 17; Psalm 2:10-12) Satan is no mythical person assigned to tormenting departed souls in a fiery hell. No such place exists. Rather, Satan is described in Scripture as "an angel of light"-a master deception who exercises powerful influence in general political affairs. - 2 CORINTHIANS 11:3, 14, 15; EPHESIANS 6:11-18.

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 By the end of the first century C.E., however, many in this early congregation had fallen away from the truth, and true Christian wheat, 'the sons of the kingdom," had been largely choked out by weeds, "the sons of the wicked one." But when the conclusion of the system of things arrived, anointed Christians again appeared as an organized group. During the Lord's day, the righteous ones were due to "shine as brightly as the sun." Hence, the Christian congregation was organized for work. (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43) By then, the Roman Empire, was no more. The huge British Empire, along with the powerful United States of America, held the center of the world stage. This dual world power proved to be the seventh head of the wild beast.

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 It is clear, therefore, that the Author of the inspired Bible regards the political powers of the earth as beasts. What kind of beasts? One commentator calls the wild beast of Revelation 13:1, 2 a "brute," and adds: "We accept all connotations that [the~ri'on, the Greek word for "beast"] conveys, such as that of a cruel, destructive, frightful, ravenous, etc., monster. How well that describes the bloodstained political system by which Satan has dominated mankind! The seven heads of this wild beast stand for six major world powers featured in Bible history up to John's day-Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome-and a seventh world power prophesied to appear later. - Compare REVELATION 17:9, 10. 

True, there have been other world powers in history besides the seven-just as the wild beast John saw was made up of a body as well as of seven heads and ten horns. But the seven heads represent the seven major powers that have, each in its turn, taken the lead in oppressing God's people. In 33 C.E., while Rome was ascendant, Satan used that head of the wild beast to kill the Son of God. At that time, God abandoned the faithless Jewish system of things and later, in 70 C.E., allowed Rome to execute his judgment on that nation. Happily, the true Israel of God, the congregation of anointed Christians, had been forewarned, and those in Jerusalem and Judea had fled to safety beyond the Jordan River. - MATTHEW 24:15, 16; GALATIANS 6:16. 

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 What is this freakish beast? The Bible itself gives the answer. Before the fall of Babylon in 539 B.C.E., the Jewish prophet Daniel saw visions involving ferocious beasts. At Daniel 7:2-8 he describes four beasts coming out of the sea, the first resembled a lion, the second a bear, the third a leopard, and "see there! a fourth beast m fearsome and terrible and unusually strong . . . and it had ten horns." This is remarkably similar to the wild beast seen by John about the year 96 C.E. That beast also has the characteristics of a lion, a bear, and a leopard and it has ten horns. What is the identity of the huge beasts seen by Daniel? He informs us: "These huge beasts . . . are four kings that will stand up from the earth." (Daniel 7:17) Yes, those beasts represent "kings," or political powers of the earth. 

In another vision, Daniel sees a two-horned ram that is struck down by a goat with a great horn. The angel Gabriel explains to him what it means: "The ram . . . stands for the kings of Media and Persia. And the hairy he-goat stands of the king of Greece. " Gabriel goes on to prophesy that the great horn of the he-goat would be broken and be succeeded by four horns.  This actually happened more than 200 years later when Alexander the Great died and his kingdom was split into four kingdoms ruled over by four of his generals. - DANIEL 8:3-8, 20-25. 

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Chapter Twenty-Eight/Contending With Two Ferocious Beasts

 The great dragon has been cast down to the earth! Our study of Revelation makes it clear that never again will the original serpent or his demon followers be allowed back into heaven. But we are not yet finished with "the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth. The account next identifies in greater detail the means used by Satan, to fight against 'woman and her seed.' (Revelation 12:9, 17) John says of that serpentine dragon: "And it stood still upon the sand of the sea." (Revelation 13:1a) So let us pause to examine the dragon's means of operation. 

No longer are the holy heavens afflicted by the presence of Satan and his demons. Those wicked spirits have been ousted from heaven and confined to the vicinity of the earth. This no doubt accounts for the tremendous growth of spiritistic practices in this 20th century. The wily Serpent still maintains a corrupt spirit organization. But does he also use a visible organization in order to mislead mankind? John tells us: "And I saw a wild beast ascending out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, and upon its horns ten diadems, but upon its heads blasphemous names. Now the wild beast that I saw was like  a leopard, but its feet were as those of a bear, and its mouth was a lion's mouth. And the dragon gave the beast its power and its throne and great authority." - REVELATION 13:1b, 2. 

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Chapter Twenty-Seven/God's Kingdom Is Born! - A New Nation - Conclusion

 In this way, the earth has provided sufficient relief to God work to spread to more than 200 lands and produce over three million faithful preachers of the good news. Along with the remaining ones of the woman's seed, a great international crowd of new believers is observing the commandments of God as to separateness from the world, clean morals, and love of the brothers, and they are witnessing to the Messianic Kingdom. Their integrity answers Satan's reproachful challenge, so that the death knell is sounded for Satan and the system of things.

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 Relief arrived from an unexpected source: "But the earth came to the woman's help, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon disgorged out of its mouth. And the dragon grew wrathful at the woman and went off to wage war with the remaining ones of her seed, who observe the commandments of God and have the work of bearing witness to Jesus." (Revelation 12:16, 17) "The earth" -elements within Satan's own system of things-began to swallow up "the river," or "flood." During the 1940's the Witnesses gained a series of favorable decisions in the United States Supreme Court, and from ruling powers in some other lands that upheld freedom of worship. Finally, the Allied Nations swallowed up the Nazi-fascist juggernaut, to the relief of the Witnesses who had suffered under cruel dictatorships. Persecutions did not stop altogether, for the wrath of the dragon has continued until today, and he keep up with the war of those who "have the work of bearing witness to Jesus." In many lands, loyal Witnesses are still in prison, and some die because of their integrity. But in some of these lands, the authorities from time to time relax their pressure, and the Witnessed enjoy a greater measure of freedom. Thus, in fulfillment of the prophecy, the earth continues to swallow up the river of persecution. 

Next time: Chapter Twenty-Seven/God's Kingdom Is Born! - A New Nation - Conclusion

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