Revelation-What It Means to God's Enemies - THE IDENTITY OF GOD'S ENEIES REVEALED

  THE SEVEN-HEADED WILD BEAST

What is the seveen-headed wild beast? (Read Revelation 13:1-4) We notice that this beast has the general appearance of a leopard but feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion, and it has ten horns.  All of these are also  features of the four beasts mentioned in Daniel chapter7.  Yet, here in the book of Revelation, these characteristics are combined into one beast, not four separate beasts.  This wild beast does  not represent just one government or world empire.  It is spoken of as ruling "over every tribe and people and tongue and nation."  So it must be greater than any single national government.  (Revelation 13:7) This wild beast, then, must represent all the political powers that have dominated humankind down through the history. - ECCLESIASTES 8:9

What do the seven heads represent?  A clue is found in Revelation chapter 17, which describes an image of the beast mentioned in Revelation chapter 13 at.  At Revelation 17:10,  we are told: "There are seven kings: five have fallen, one is, and the other  has not yet arrived; but when he does arrive, he must remains a short while."    Of all the political powers that Satan has used, seven have stood out prominently as "heads."  These are the world empires that have had a considerable impact on God's people.  By the apostle  John's day, five of these had already appeared on the world scene: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. The sixth world power; Rome was still  ruling when John received the revelation. What would prove to be the seventh and final world power, or head?

As we will see, the prophecies in the book of Daniel help us identify the seventh and final head of the wild  beast. What would poewr  had ruling during this time of the end, during "the Lord's day"?  (Revelation 1:10)  It is the combination of the United Kingdom ad the United States of America, on other words, hte Anglo-American World Power. We may therefore conclude that it is the seventh head of the wild beast mentioneed at  - REVELATION 13:1-4. 

A  WILD BEAST WITH TWO HORNS LIKE A LAMB

Revelation chapter 13 goes on to tell us tha this seventh head,l the Anglo-American world power, also acts as a wild beast with "two horns like a lamb,, but it began speaking like a dragon." "  This wild beast with "two horns like lamb, but it began speaking like a dragon." This beast "performs great signs, even making fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the sight of mankind." (Revelation 13:11-15) Revelation chapters 16 and 19 describe this wild beast as "the false prophet."  (Revelation 16:13; 19:20) Daniel mentions something similar, namely,the the Anglo-Amercian World Power  would  "bring terrible destruction." (Daniel 8:19, 23, 24) That is exactly what  happened during World War II.  The two atomic bombs that played a decisive role in ending that war in the Pacific were the results of a joint effort by British and American scientists.  The Anglo-American World Power, in effect, made "fire come down out of heaven to the earth." 

Next time: Revelation-What It Means to God's Enemies - A SCARLET-COLORED WILD BEAST -Conclusion

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