Contending With Two Ferocious Wild Beasts

 The wild beast has ten horns on its seven heads. Perhaps four heads had one horn each and three heads 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 four horns on a goat represented  the four eoexisting 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.  Similary, the ten diadems indicate that all sovereign states  would exercise ruling power simultaneously  with the dominant state, or world power,  of that time.

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 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, priest have taken political office in Latin America.  Governments print religious slogans. such as "IN GOD WE DO NOT TRUSt,"  on their  notes, and on their coins they claim divine  approval for their rulers, stating, for example, that these are appointed  "by the grace of God."  All of this is actually blasphemous, for it attempts to involve God in the sullied nationalistic political arena.

The wild beasts comes out of "the sea," which is a fitting symbol of the turulent 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 21 century B.C.E.), when  a post-Flood system  of things, opposed to Jehovah, first manifested itself.  (Genesis 10:8-12; 11:1-9)  But only during the Lord's day has the last one of its seven heads fully manifested itself.  Notice, too, it is the dragon that "that gave to the beast its power and it throne and great authority." (Compare Luke 4:6)  The beast  is Satan's politicaly creation among the masses of mankind.  Satan is truly "the ruler of the world." - JOHN 12:31. 

Next time: Contending With Two Ferocious Wild Beasts - The Death Stroke

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