THE COMPOSITE BEAST
Editors Note: This article, originally
posted on 11/26/2014, has been edited and rewritten on 7/12/2018 to reflect my
current views since I no longer accept the dispensational viewpoint, the
unfulfilled 70th week of Daniel, and the Revelation as a roadmap of the
so-called period of tribulation misunderstanding.
Introduction
Some
of the information contained in this article is merely conjecture and opinion
without any positive scriptural backing. The so-called end-times world leader basically
known by many as the antichrist is not actually called the antichrist in the
Bible. In the book of the Revelation he is often referred to as the beast from
the sea. Other places in Scripture he is referred to as “the man of sin”,
“the son of perdition (ruin or loss (physical, spiritual or eternal): -
damnable)”, “the lawless one”, and in Daniel he is denoted as the “little
horn” and the king. The word “antichrist” can be found in the letters of John
depicting a person who is opposed to Christ or teaches divergent doctrines to
those of Christ.
Jesus
refers to Judas as the “son of perdition” in John 17:12 and Paul refers to some
type of person as both the “son of perdition” and as the “man of sin” in 2 Thessalonians
2:3. Many have accepted this verse as
proof of an end-times “antichrist”.
John 17:12 KJV While I was with them in
the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and
none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be
fulfilled.
Psalms 41:9
KJV Yea,
mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath
lifted up his heel against me.
The Composite Beast Empire
Two
instances in the Revelation and once in Daniel, a composite beast is
introduced. It may have multiple heads, multiple horns, and various
animal type body parts. On some occasions there will be crowns upon the
heads. The composite beast is always symbolic of several empires and
it also may be symbolic of a king, ruler, or an entity of some type. There are various interpretations of the
heads and horns.
Revelation 12:3 KJV
Rev
12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red
dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
We
will begin our study of the composite beast empire with the appearance of the
dragon in Revelation 12:3. This composite beast, which is later
identified as a Satan-type entity, is representative of the empire instigated
by Satan throughout the history of the Hebrew-Israelite people. The
purpose of this historical empire could possibly be to prevent the birth of the
woman’s Son who will bruise (crush NIV, attack NET) the head of the serpent or
Satan as prophesied in Genesis. The main
reason however, is that God placed Judah under judgment by placing them in
subjugation to a series of empires.
Genesis 3:15
KJV And I
will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed;
it shall bruise (crush, attack) thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
All
authority will be subject to this child and He will rule and control the
nations with a rod of iron (i.e. a metaphoric symbol for absolute authority).
The Son of Man / the Son of God will replace the “prince (king) of this world”
who is generally considered to be Satan/devil. This could explain why
Satan has attempted to kill Him or His linage from the foundation of
civilization. This attack on the linage of Jesus included the children of
Adam and Eve, with Abel as the initial victim, and the pre-flood disaster
involving the mating of angelic entities with human women (Genesis 6) which is
the foundation of the worldwide flood saving only Noah and seven others.
From
a different perspective, aside from a judgment of God concerning the nation of
Judah, it can be said the dragon, as described here, has seven heads with each
head having a crown. It is said that Satan has previously activated six
historical empires for the purpose of destroying the Hebrew-Israelite people
with the hope of destroying the seed of the woman thus preventing the birth of
the Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible, however, states that God raised up
these empires to punish Israel and Judah.
The
first was the Egyptian Empire, that was initially hosting the Hebrew people as
refugees during the seven years of drought and famine. Over time, with a
change of rulers, the Hebrew people became a nuisance and were enslaved as
farmers, hard manual labor, and construction workers. Through Satan’s
influence, the Pharaoh issued a decree to kill all male children of a certain
age. However, God saved Moses, who later became the leader of the Hebrew exodus
from Egypt. The Satanically inspired pharaoh had to be decimated with
plagues, the death of all first born sons, and his army drowned by the wrath of
God before he would conclude his assault.
The
second head was the Assyrians. They destroyed the northern kingdom of
Israel and deported all the inhabitants that could be found. Their next
assault was the southern kingdom of Judah, but the Assyrian army was decimated
by an angel of the Lord before conceding and returning home. The
Babylonians as the third kingdom destroyed Judah and deported many of the
Judeans. With the Persian Empire as the fourth, there is the story in the
book of Esther of Haman and his attempt to eradicate the Jews (Judeans).
After the fall of Babylon to the Persian king Cyrus
the Great in 539 BCE, exiled Jews were allowed to return to the land
of Judah
The
fifth head, the Greek empire, begins with Alexander the Great. At his
entry into the area of Israel, Alexander was shown the prophecies in the book
of Daniel speaking of the Greek empire. This impressed him and he left
Judea with no harm but after his death, the four generals who divided his empire
among themselves, rendered the middle-east, along with Judea, a war zone.
Antiochus Epiphanes was so corrupt that God allowed him to die and the Judean
people were given exactly 100 years of reprieve under the Hasmonean rulership.
The
Roman Empire is head number six under Satan’s plan. The Satanically
inspired Edomite Herod copied the stratagem of the Pharaoh and ordered the
death of all male children two years and under, but the parents of Jesus
had been warned and escaped to Egypt.
Later,
the Pharisees and the other religious leaders of Judea had Jesus crucified
providing Satan the expectation he had finally succeeded. He later
discovered, that not only had he failed, but had inadvertently participated in
his own downfall and destruction when Jesus was resurrected and ascended to
heaven and the throne of God.
This
leaves us with the seventh and future head which will be personified and
described in Revelation chapters 13 and17. Revelationcommentary.org
claims that all 7 beast kingdoms existed in the past which they list as:
Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Greece, and Rome. I disagree with
them because the prophecies of Daniel always list Media and Persia as a
combination of one empire. The seventh Satanic beast kingdom could be
considered as the “little horn” of Daniel 7.
The little horn is an extension of the Roman Empire was known as the
Holy Roman Empire or the Roman Church ruled by the Papacy.
THE FOURTH BEAST OF DANIEL
Daniel 7:2-8
KJV
Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds
of the heaven strove upon the great sea. (3) And four great beasts
came up from the sea, diverse one from another. (4) The first was
like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were
plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a
man, and a man's heart was given to it. (5) And behold another
beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it
had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus
unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. (6) After this I beheld, and lo
another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl;
the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. (7)
After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and
terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and
brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was
diverse (It refers to a difference that has
become evident; to violate) from all the beasts that were before it; and
it had ten horns. (8) I considered the horns, and, behold, there
came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the
first horns plucked up (It refers to tearing
something out, destroying it, pulling it out by the roots. It is used
figuratively of tearing out men or rulers) by the roots: and, behold, in
this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.
[Highlighted areas above
(and below) were taken from the Word Study Dictionary]
Prior
to discussing the 7th and final beast kingdom, first referenced in
Revelation 13 and then chapter 17, we will look at the beast of Daniel 7 which
has some common characteristics to the final beast.
The
first three beasts listed in Daniel 7 had their dominion or ruling power taken
away yet Daniel 7:12 indicates their existence was prolonged for a few years
even after the beast in thrown into the lake of fire at the beginning of the
Millennium.
Daniel 7:11-12
KJV (11)
I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn
spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and
given to the burning flame. (12) As concerning the rest of the beasts,
they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season
and time.
I considered the (10) horns, and, behold, there came
up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first
horns plucked up by the roots (Daniel 7:8 KJV)
The
beast arising from the sea is the same as the “little horn” of Daniel 7. Daniel viewed four beasts arising from the
sea. These beasts correspond with the
four sections of the statue within a dream by Nebuchadnezzar which are: Babylon; Medo-Persia; Greece; and the Roman
Empire. The “little horn” arising from
among the ten horns on the head of Daniel’s fourth beast represents an
extension of the Roman Empire.
When
the civil western part of the Roman Empire expired, the Vatican with a hired
army attacked and conquered three divisions of the ten divisions of the civil
Empire and renamed itself the Holy Roman Empire, because it now had territory
and could be considered an empire. After
Napoleon conquered the Holy Roman Empire and imprisoned the reining Pope, it
then became the Roman Catholic Church.
And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings,
which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with
the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto
the beast. (Revelation 17:12-13 KJV)
Let’s
now compare the first three beasts of Daniel 7 with the beast of Revelation
13. Notice that the 1st was like a lion, the 2nd
like a bear, and the 3rd was like a leopard.
Daniel 7:3-6
KJV And
four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was
like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were
plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a
man, and a man's heart was given to it. And behold another beast, a second,
like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the
mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour
much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon
the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and
dominion was given to it.
Now,
let’s have a look at the beast in Revelation 13 that rises from the sea.
It also has 10 horns (still intact) and was like a leopard, feet as a bear, and
mouth as a lion. In addition to 7 heads, it has 10 horns, and the
appearance of a lion, bear, and leopard as did the beast of Daniel 7. The
conclusion: it is basically the same beast.
Revelation
13:1-2 KJV And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out
of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns,
and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like
unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the
mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great
authority.
Revelation
chapter 12 has a description of a great red dragon which has been shown to be
the kingdoms supposedly inspired by the devil or Satan. This dragon has a
similar appearance to the beast of Revelation 13 except the crowns are on the
heads instead of the horns.
Revelation
12:3 KJV And
there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having
seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
Daniel 7:23-24
KJV Thus
he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall
be diverse (It refers to a difference that has
become evident; to violate) from all kingdoms, and shall devour the
whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. (24)
And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and
another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he
shall subdue (It describes figuratively the
bringing down or making humble the prideful person) three kings.
In
Daniel 7:23 an angel gives Daniel more information concerning the fourth beast
he has been allowed to view. It will be diverse, meaning visually
different and it will be a violation. It will encompass the entire world
(figuratively), violate the world (figuratively), and execute much destruction.
The little horn will also be diverse (visually different and a
violation). He will usurp the power and authority of three kings
(Babylon, Persia, & Greece), but the kingdoms will remain.