The Beasts of
Revelation Exposed
What do They
Represent?
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Wait,
There are Two More Heads!
John was also
told that one head “is” and
one “is yet to come.” The
head or religious system that had not
fallen in John’s day was
Christianity. Understand that what
was called Christianity in New
Testament times is now called
Catholicism. John was a charter
member of the group called
Christians, a new religious system
that Jesus established about A.D. 30
and this is why the angel said,
“one is” – meaning the
sixth head existed – even though
at that point, it had not yet fallen.
However, history traces and confirms
Catholicism’s fall from the
truth and verifies that an almost
fatal wound was inflicted on
Catholicism in 1798. At that time,
the Protestant Reformation came of
age and could be identified as the
seventh and final religious system of
the world. The angel told John the
seventh head would last for only a
short time. With all things
considered, Protestantism is a
“new comer,” in terms of
existence within the religious world,
since it is less than four centuries
old. In contrast, the other six
religious systems are twenty or more
centuries old.
Here
They Are
In summary,
to be consistent with everything
presented thus far, it is fair to
conclude that the seven heads
represent:
1.
Heathenism
2.
Atheism
3.
Eastern Mysticism
4.
Judaism
5.
Islam
6.
Catholicism
7.
Protestantism
Let me
restate a few important conclusions.
There are seven heads, seven of the same
thing. If the wounded head represents
the papacy, then remaining six heads
must also represent religious
systems. They are described as
blasphemous, kings and mountains, and
the timing of the angel’s
statement, that “five have
fallen, one is and one is yet to
come,” is consistent with all
that the Bible teaches on this topic
and is also compliant with recorded
history.
6.
The beast who once was, and
now is not, is an eighth
king. He belongs to the seven and
is going to his destruction.
(Revelation 17:11)
The Eighth
King will belong to Them!
We will
consider the words, “once was,
now is not” in verse 11 when we
discuss the Lamb-like beast. For now,
the focus is on the seven heads. When
Satan physically appears on Earth
claiming to be God, he will “belong”
to the seven religions of the world
in the sense that they will exalt and
honor him as God. The responsibility
of exalting the devil as God will not
be the work of politicians, however
they will hasten to comply with the
desires of religious leaders.
(Remember, the crowns are horns
during this time.)
The devil
will, by using miracles, signs and
wonders, convince billions of people
and their religious leaders that he
is God. Thus, the devil will become
the eighth and greatest king.
(Remember, the seven heads are also
kings.) According to 2 Thessalonians
2:4 and Daniel 11:36, the devil will
establish himself over the seven
heads and claim to be their God. He
will have the power and authority to
back up his claim, too! The reason
the devil is called the eighth king
is interesting. Remember when the
little horn in Daniel 7 plucked up
three horns by the roots? The little
horn became the eighth horn
and ruled over the remaining seven
horns with unchallenged authority.
Many people will oppose the
devil’s actions, but they will
be powerless to stop him. Notice what
Paul says, “Don’t let
anyone deceive you in any way, for
that day will not come until the
rebellion occurs and the man of
lawlessness is revealed, the man
doomed to destruction. He will oppose
and will exalt himself over
everything that is called God or is
worshiped, so that he sets himself up
in God’s temple, proclaiming
himself to be God.” (2
Thessalonians 2: 3,4) It is also
appropriate to say that the devil
will be highly successful for a time,
appearing to be invincible, but his
throne, authority and power will be
short lived. Jesus guarantees it.
7. The ten
horns you saw are ten kings
who have not yet received a kingdom,
but for
one hour
will receive authority as kings
along with the beast. (Revelation
17:12)
Horns in
Bible prophecy usually represent
kings. Remember the horns on the ram
and goat in Daniel 7? Although we
recognize the little horn of Daniel 7
to be more than one man, it
can be said that the papacy was a
“type of king” who ruled
over the people of the Dark Ages. A
horn is an ancient symbol
representing a powerful entity.
(Zechariah 1:18,19; Luke 1:69) The
ten horns on the composite beast
represent ten kings. These ten kings
are also symbolized by the ten toes
of Daniel 2 (see verses 42-44) who
will give their authority over to the
devil after he has conquered the
world during the six-trumpet war.
Since the devil will be regarded as
God by billions of people, the seven
religious systems will fully unite
with the devil, supporting him in his
establishment of a one-world
church-government. The devil will
claim to be king of kings
(government) and lord of lords
(church). The establishment of a
one-world church/government requires
the dissolution of all seven
religions. In other words, religious
diversity must come to an end because
God lives among men! This
consolidation of the world’s
religions into one global
church/government is called “an
image to the beast” in
Revelation 13 and is also identified
as a whore in Revelation 17. In other
words, the composite beast (seven
heads/ten horns) will no longer need
to exist because “God”
lives among men – commanding in
all matters of religion and
government. This new one-world
church/government will resemble the
composite beast that used religious
and political powers to oppress the
people. It makes absolute sense to
call this new global
church/government of the devil
“an image” of the
[composite] beast. The essential
difference between the beast and the
image to the beast is consolidation.
The beast is diverse having seven
religions and ten kings. The image is
singular – one religion –
ruler over all.
Obviously,
not everyone is going to be pleased
with the course of events taking
place at this time. Remember, the
144,000 have been proclaiming truth
during this period of time.
Therefore, the devil will enable and
empower civil authorities to put to
death anyone who refuses to
“worship the image.” The
civil authorities will be
“puppets” that carry out
the evil schemes of the devil.
The Bible
does not name or identify the ten
kings that will appear, but I believe
these kings will be promoted to the
position during the sixth trumpet
war. However, the Bible provides very
little information about them. We do
know this much: “They have one
purpose and will give their power
and authority to the beast. They
will make war against the Lamb,
but the Lamb will overcome them
because he is Lord of lords and King
of kings – and with him will be
called, chosen and faithful
followers.” (Revelation
17:13,14)
Returning
to the Identity of the Composite
Beast
So far, we have
established five primary points. They
are:
1.
The composite beast will be a world
government.
2.
The composite beast consists of the
world’s religious and political
systems.
3.
The composite beast will receive its
power, throne and authority from the
devil.
4.
The composite beast will astonish
everyone and overpower everything
that has authority.
5.
The composite beast will stand in
direct opposition to the authority of
God.
Now that these
elements have been established, the
remaining verses are easy to
understand. Please notice what each
verse says. There should be no
question about their meaning.
Revelation 13:4 Men worshiped
the dragon because he had given
authority to the beast, and they also
worshiped the beast and asked,
“Who is like the beast? Who
can make war against him?”
Revelation 13:5 The
beast was given a mouth to
utter proud words and blasphemies
and to exercise his authority for forty-two
months.
Revelation 13:6 He
opened his mouth to blaspheme God,
and to slander his name and his
dwelling place and those who live in
heaven.
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