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The apostle John, transported forward into time, wrote of the strange, awesome things he saw in the book of Revelation, the Apocalypse. He wrote, “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” (Revelation 13:1). “And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?’” (verse 4). “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him….These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Revelation 19:20).
Something so powerful, so gigantic, that it is worshipped because of its vast military power; something that assays to fight the returning, conquering Christ at His coming is obviously a political, economic, and military power which exists at the very time of the end! But who? Where? The prophet Daniel saw it first, a monster which “devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it” (Daniel 7:7). Then John saw it, at the end of the first century; a seven-headed, ten-horned monster rising from the sea, blaspheming God, and making “war against the saints.” What is the Beast? Where did it first plant its feet? Where did it go? Follow, now, from the annals of history and from the pages of Bible prophecy, the tracks of the Beast, and come to understand its frightening prophetic significance for our time!
The beast John saw in vision seemed to rise out of an ocean. It had seven heads and ten horns. The horns featured ten crowns, while the heads were decorated with names which are blasphemous in God’s sight.
What is the meaning of this seven-headed, ten-horned creature?
John said, “And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear [strange feet indeed, for a leopard-like creature!], and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority” (Revelation 13:2).
John wrote what he saw, without comprehending all the meaning. As a reporter, or a biographer, he was faithfully recounting what he saw in a vision. A strange creature, indeed; terrible in aspect, threatening, powerful. The power and authority from this many-headed, many-horned composite creature came from a dragon.
What is meant by a “dragon”?
Dragons, purely mythological creatures, remind one of serpentine monsters with huge, bat-like wings; fierce heads with blazing, snake-like eyes; heavy, clawed feet like those of a crocodile; and rows of wickedly gleaming, sharply pointed teeth, breathing roaring tongues of fire from their mouths.
But we need not speculate about what is meant by the dragon which empowers the beast, for the Bible plainly tells us what it is: “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:7-9).
The dragon is a symbol for Satan.
Jesus Christ said, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Luke 10:18). Satan is the “prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2), and is “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4) who influences heads of state and leaders of false, counterfeit religions. He is “the accuser of the brethren” (Revelation 12:10), who, “as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
The many-headed, ten-horned beast is empowered and guided by Satan! As such, it is antichrist, against God, against His holy laws, His Sabbath days, and viciously, hatefully against His people, called the saints. It is against those who are performing the work of God on this earth.
Why did it look like a leopard? Why were its feet like those of a bear, and its head like that of a lion?
For centuries, Bible scholars have known that the prophecies of Daniel and those of John in the Apocalypse are inseparable; that one interprets the other.
To trace the tracks of the Beast from the time it first stood upon the earth until the time of the end, when it is said to “make war with the saints” and to fight Christ at His return, we must know what God revealed to Daniel.
Daniel, a Prophet Beloved of God
Daniel, together with three royal princes of the throne of Judah, were taken captive when Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. Who is not familiar with the story of “Daniel In the Lion’s Den,” which we were told as children? The book of Daniel contains lengthy pronouncements from Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who not only fulfilled the prophecy of the first beast, but is symbolic of the whole system of pagan, gentile kingdoms under Satan, called “Babylon the Great” (Revelation 17:5), which is pictured as in collusion with a great false religious system, called the “mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.”
Daniel’s prophecy also contains a lengthy announcement from a heavenly messenger in chapters eleven and twelve; actual first-person quotations from an archangel of God.
The first chapter relates Daniel’s capture and his condition in captivity, and informs us God had given Daniel and the three princes “knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams” (Daniel 1:17).
The second chapter tells us of Nebuchadnezzar dream.
Daniel not only interpreted the dream, but God gave him the secret of what it was Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed: “Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee: and the form thereof was terrible [awesome; overpowering]. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth” (Daniel 2:31-35).
To Nebuchadnezzar, the image towered into the sky! The brilliant reflections of gold, silver, and brass were dazzling. Like a comet falling, a stone then smashed into the feet of mixed iron and clay. As the image collapsed, the iron, brass, silver, and gold seemed to completely disintegrate, forming a vast pile of metallic dust. The wind blew, and the particles of metal were whisked away. Then, Nebuchadnezzar’s astonished mind seemed to see the stone which had smashed into the feet begin to grow larger until it seemed to literally fill the whole earth!
No wonder this Babylonian king was astonished. No wonder he was overcome with eager curiosity to learn what such a vision could mean!
Daniel said, “This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold” (Daniel 2:36-38).