The Beast Empire
The Beast of Revelation represents the last wicked empire of Daniel's statue. The Bible uses the metaphor of a beast because
all of mankind are beasts; and there are good beasts and evil beasts. Christians are identified as sheep. This is because sheep are passive, gentle animals. They are good beasts. The Lord, acting as our shepherd, watches over the sheep from wild beasts. These beasts want to devour the sheep but HE protects them. You have read verses I don't think I need to reference here like "all we like sheep have gone astray" or "the lion and the goat will lay down together".
To understand the makeup of this beast, we must look back at the original prophecy concerning it.
This end times beast ascends out of a sea. There are many commentators that will say the beast of the sea is the Antichrist. Let's first look at what the sea represents that the beast comes out of.
In Daniel 7:17, the angel explains the significance of the 4 major beast empires.
1. The 4 Beast Kingdoms:
1. Babylon as the Lion (Daniel 2:38)
2. Median-Persian Empire as the Lopsided Bear (Daniel 2:39)
3. Grecian Empire as the Leopard (Daniel 2:39)
4. (Unnamed Empire) a fourth beast different from all others. (Daniel 2:40)(Daniel 7:7)
2. The Sea vs. the Earth:
All 4 beasts come out of the sea (Daniel 7:3). The sea represents many nations of different peoples.
Jeremiah is shown a future event, ancient Babylon being attacked by a sea. The sea is the kingdoms of the Median empire and the Persian empire that conquers Babylon. A sea would send forth waves crashing on a shore much like a kingdom would send forth soldiers crashing on the gates of a fortress.
In Ezekiel, GOD explains that he is at war with Tyrus. He explains many nations fight with Tyrus and specifically identifies nations are like a sea where it causes its own waves or people, to come up against it.
Lastly, Jesus uses a parable to identify all the nations of the earth as a sea and the people in this sea as fish. Heaven being a net is cast into the sea pulling out good fish and bad fish. Good fish, his elect, are kept while the bad fish are thrown back in.
Even with this evidence, many churches today equate the beast rising from the sea in Rev 13:1 as a man or the Antichrist. This couldn't be further from the truth. The bible specifically targets the symbolism of waters, floods, waves and seas as people, a large force of destructive peoples, nations, and different tongues.
A man does not rise up out of a group of people, a group of nations or anything but the earth. Genesis 2:7 recalls the LORD creating Adam from the earth. So to does Revelation 13:11 describe a beast coming out of the earth to which is identified as the false prophet. He is identified as a beast (animal) only because he is symbolized as a lamb; as Christ is symbolized as a lamb. In Daniel 7:17 we learn that 4 kings leading the 4 beast empires come out of the earth.
YET, Daniel 7:3 explains
the empires themselves come out of the sea.
As Daniel continues, we read in verses 4 thru 7 that each empire comes from this sea and man is only described when coming from the earth.
The lion with eagle's wings comes out of a sea. This is describing the Babylonian empire. It is not till the wing's of this empire are removed, that a man comes forth from the earth.
Here it is proved that the final empire that comes out of the sea is not a man and is not the Anti-Christ. It is ONLY the final Antichrist empire made up by many nations. This is the first part of evidence I will detail.
Notice that Daniel 7:17 only lists the kingdoms leading to the final beast as 3 previous kingdoms listed above: Babylonian, Persian and Grecian. All other kingdoms before and after
are absent from the statue and therefore
do not make up the final beast. This is backed up in Daniel 7 when he gives multiple physical descriptions of the 4rth beast.
3. Daniels Physical Description of the 4rth Beast:
1. Feet of the Lopsided Bear (Median-Persian Empire) (Stamps the residue with its feet) (Daniel 7:7; Daniel 7:19) (Rev 13:2)
2. Mouth of a Lion (Babylon) (Rev 13:2)
3. Like unto a Leopard (Greece) (Fast) (Rev 13:2)
4. Great Iron Teeth (It devours and brake into pieces) (Daniel 7:7; Daniel 7:19)
5. Dreadful and Terrible (Daniel 7:7; Daniel 7:19)
6. Strong Exceedingly (Daniel 7:7)
7. Different from all previous Kingdoms (Daniel 7:7; Daniel 7:19)
8. Scarlet Colored (a murderous beast)
9. Nails of Brass (Greece)(Daniel 7:19)
10. 10 horns in its head (Daniel 7:7; Daniel 7:20)
11. an 11th horn which uproots 3 horns. Leaving 8 horns. (Daniel 7:8; Daniel 7:20)
It is important to remember, the 11th horn, the Antichrist, does not come about till after the beast empire is set up by 10 nations. Therefore, the empire at its early stage does not harbor the Antichrist yet. This is shown when he enters the scene and uproots 3 of the first 10 nation horns. This is the 2nd part of evidence that the beast empire, without the Antichrist, fulfills Rev 13:1 that the beast is not a man, but only the final empire on earth. The Antichrist cannot be a the first beast when he comes after the beast is already created with 10 horns. When Daniel 7:7 describes the final beast, the Antichrist does not come in till verse 8. Here we learn of another little
horn with eyes like the eyes of a man. This is the opening description of the false prophet who as the 11th horn with eyes like a man joins himself to the beast empire. The beast and the Antichrist are separate. The horns are a part of the beast.
Daniel 8:22-25 corroborates this below.
This is describing The Grecian empire under Alexander the Great. The 4 that stood up for his empire were his 4 Generals. When he died, his 4 Generals created 4 separate kingdoms: Ptolemy, Attalid, Seleucid and Antongonid. This was not Alexander's will after death nor what he had done during his life. Notice in the above verse 4 kingdoms (plural) come about but in the next verse below, kingdom is not plural. It is referencing the 4 previous kingdoms into 1 (future beast empire) kingdom.
Many Bibles equate this verse to Antiochus IV Epiphanes. But the latter time of their kingdom is when it is resurrected. It is not speaking of the latter time of Antoichus's kingdom as the word “their” is used.
It is “their” kingdom because the 4th kingdom will encompass all 4 kingdoms that Alexander the Great's generals controlled. Then a man will stand up who is understood to be the Antichrist.
The Antichrist power will be mighty but not by his own power because in Revelation we learn that:
Notice again the Antichrist is given all power. Not the beast. The Antichrist will work signs and miracles, not the beast. The false prophet works signs and miracles and tells people to worship the beast (the final empire). What signs does the beast do? What miracles? Do you in your country or origin pay allegiance to your country? Do you die for your country? Are you proud? Most are. Why is it hard to believe that people will welcome a revived empire built on a religious system they want by one leader who has a false religion contrary to Christ?
The 7 Heads of the Beast
The beast that comes out of the sea of people has 7 heads. In Rev 17:9, John learns that the 7 heads of this beast represent 7 Mountains. But what does a mountain represent? This is cleared up when Jeremiah 50:6 says,
God explains that Jews were lost. False preachers have caused them to go astray from the word of God. They are turned to other large nations and small nations that have idol worship and because of this they have forgotten their resting place in Jerusalem with the Lord.
Isaiah 2:2 says,
Lastly, Psalm 114 will demonstrate mountains are large nations and hills are smaller nations as well as a sea being many nations.
Now we understand that the 7 heads of the beast are 7 mountains; and a mountain is a large nation. These 7 large nations are also 7 kings in verse 10. That is, the 7 current large nations were from 7 previous Kingdom empires as a “king” is identified as an empire. Each kingdom like Babylon was a head. But after the head was slain, the Babylonian empire lost its dominance but still lived on in the future as a nation called Iraq.
If we remember back, Daniel had a vision of 3 future empires. Median-Persian and Grecian then a 4rth empire. The first empire was the one he currently lived in, Babylonian. Each head of the beast was an empire kingdom that persecuted God's people, controlled Canaan/Israel, and was pagan.
The first empire to rule over God's people and hold their promised land of Canaan was Egyptian to what we believe was during the 18th Egyptian Dynasty. When the Jews left Egypt and secured the promised land, the next Empire to control Judah and Israel was Assyrian under Senacherib. Both heads came up out of the sea of mankind, both heads have a ruler then comes out of the earth. These were the first 2 heads of the beast. We know the 3rd, 4rth and 5th now were part of Daniel's dream. When John wrote the book of Revelation, he commented on Rev 17:10 saying,
We know from John that the 6th head is Roman since at that time he was under Roman occupation. But who was the 7th then? If Rome was 6th, John states in the verse above the other (the 7th) is not yet come. Another empire would eventually follow suit. They would be pagan. They would persecute God's people. They would rule over Israel and Judah. The Ottoman Empire captured all area covered by all previous 6 empires before it, except capturing Rome itself. The Ottomans had one major ally and that was Nazi Germany. You have a combination of Jewish persecution in Europe and Jerusalem that has not been seen since Roman times. By 1918, the Ottoman empire fell during World War 1. This allowed British and French to divide up the middle east by the Sykes-Picot agreement. When the Ottoman Empire fell in 1918, the final 7th head of the beast was slain. The text said there were 7 kings: five are fallen. But now, the 6th being Roman fell, the 7th being Ottoman-Nazi Germany fell and in Rev 17: 11 we learn of an 8th.
The angel instructed John during his time that one "was". One beast empire was before him. Therefore, it cannot be Rome. It has to be a part of Daniel's statue.
The beast with 7 heads is completely slain. All his heads are fallen. That is, the dominion of these empires are removed but nations take their place and live on. Daniel 7:12 states,
Once all the heads of the beast were removed, the beast enters the bottomless pit. The bottomless pit is a metaphor. The beast is absent from the earth, but in time it will be allowed to manifest itself back into the minds of men to recreate this type of empire. Now that the beast is in the bottomless pit, something miraculous happens. It is during this time, after the fall of the 7th Head in 1918, that 30 years later on May 14, 1948 the State of Israel returns. The state of Israel could never have been reformed during an occupation of the Ottomans nor would the Ottomans allowed mass migration into Israel. The 7th head of the beast cannot attack Israel nor stop it's creation in the bottomless pit. Israel is created and thousands swarm to fulfill the promise of God to Abraham's descendants. Sometime after this happens and Israel reaches its zenith, the beast will stun the world. Rev 17:8 says,
After Israel's creation the beast will re-emerge. John sees this beast as having existed in his past when viewing the future. But with this beast, all 7 of its heads have died. That is, the dominion these empires had enjoyed has been lost. But when one of the beast heads resurrects, the beast is able to come back to life. The head's resurrection is simply many nations joining each other to form one nation with 1 pagan religion. This belief will come back to the world where people want religious law. They want to conquer and shape the world into their image of law and religious rule.
Now, we still have a 7 headed beast. The resurrected head being the eighth head.
It is an eighth because it is different. If it were not stated an eighth, we would have a resurrected 7th head, or a 6th head. This would directly imply a revised empire; which is not the case. An 8th head signifies a
new empire and a new leadership. A new head could also signify a different capital as oppressor then the previous 7 empires, but we remember in Daniel 7:7 and 7:19 that this empire will be parts of previous fallen empires. Specifically, 3 from Daniel's statue. Below are the 8 heads of the beast:
1. Egyptian Empire
2. Assyrian Empire
3.
Babylonian Empire
4.
Median-Persian Empire
5.
Grecian Empire
6. Roman Empire
7. Nazi-Ottoman Empire
8.
Final Beast Empire (before the 6th "was" but must be of the 7 ie. 3rd, 4rth and 5th empires)
This final beast empire is of the seven. Simply, the 8th head that makes up the final empire is also part of the previous empires before it. That is, 10 nations today that existed in parts of the previous 7 empires will make up the beast empire. This is backed up when we read about the physical descriptions of the beast empire. Parts of its body were from previous empires before it. If it were not so, the text would read the 8th head is of the 7th head. This would imply a revised Ottoman empire. If it read of the 6th. That would imply a resurrected Roman empire. That is not what the text says. The final empire is of the 7 previous empires before it. This is a NEW empire but resembles a prior empire then when see the world will marvel. When the beast is described as was and is not and how the inhabitants of the world will wonder when they see it cause it was and then was not...it is not describing a head. It is describing the beast itself as following the Grecian empire. Remember back that the beast ascends out of the sea. It is made up of peoples, tongues, and nations. The heads are specific empires with their own customs but the beast itself is pagan driven dictatorship that persecutes all God's people. It is not one man. It is not the Anti-Christ. It is not a nation absorbing other nations to build something better. It is a forced ideology that 10 nations forming the beast will force upon people living in this empire. This beast follows the makeup of the Grecian empire, Persian empire and Babylonian empire. It will have a pagan religion. It will kill those that don't follow its religion. It will be an established religion that is fast growing and popular. It will contradict Christianity and Judaism.
The 8th Head of the Beast
After World War 1, empires is the middle east were gone. Nations rose. Boundaries were formed and the beast was slain. When a new empire forms, the world will be surprised. We consider ourselves today intellectual. We are above conquering. We have types of democracy. Nations have peace, have trade and tourism. But there will be a empire that will raise itself up again, and this will be the last one to do so.
The 8th head of the beast is stated in Rev 13:3 as,
This verse is a repeat of Rev 17:8 and Rev 17:11. This beast no longer resembles a dragon but a chimera. It's 7 heads were the 7 previous empires. These 7 empires are many nations living today. The 7 heads (many nations) today hold the name of blasphemy. That is, every middle eastern nation that was a part of the 7 heads is Muslim and every one blaspheme against God's true law. Simply put, they do not follow God's commandments.
We know that the beast with 7 heads, has all 7 heads slain thus losing its/their dominion. It is stated above one of the heads is healed. Two different ideas presented online are below. The last 1 is my own:
1. One of the heads that resurrects has to be a current nation in the middle east. A nation that will be part of the final empire and is going through such devastation and ruin, that it appears there is no way to return. Wounded to death.
2. The head that was wounded was the Antichrist who comes back to life. but how do you reason this after the explanation the beast is an empire? The Antichrist cannot have many heads. if the AC is the beast, it is saying one of his heads or coworkers was slain and resurrected bot not him. I thought only Christ and God have that power. How does that still translate the Antichrist as a beast and he is not the one resurrecting? You cannot!
3. The head that is healed is the 5th head. Greece. It is this head because the 4rth world empire is parts of Greece, Persia and Babylon. Because it is parts of 3 previous empires, and Rev 13:3 states “one of the heads”, we can deduce that it was one specific head which would be the last one before the 6th, namely Grecian. If the 5th head were resurrected, it would follow succession of Daniel's statue to a 4rth empire, the beast empire. If it is the 5th head, this does not mean that Greece, from Athens, will rule again. Remember that all the heads no longer wear crowns but only hold the name of blasphemy. But if a new empire came holding much of the land mass of the previous Grecian empire, it would fulfill a succession. This is because Alexander's kingdom was not conquered and his death of his beast empire appeared slain, but was not. He died and that caused him empire to fracture into 4 parts. All other kingdoms were slain.
This resurrected beast is the driving force behind these empires as it is said,
The beast is powered by Satan and because of this, it is the threat.
The 8th head of the beast will be the 8th middle eastern empire to have existed. Also, it will encompass parts of the 7 previous empires before it taking many nations today that were part of these old empires.
1. Egyptian Empire
2. Assyrian Empire
3. Babylonian Empire
4. Median-Persian Empire
5. Grecian Empire
6. Roman Empire
7. Nazi-Ottoman Empire
8. 4rth Beast of Daniel: 8th Head of Revelation: Comprised of parts of the previous 7 Empires
The 10 Crowns of the Beast
We know that the dragon had 7 heads and on each head sat a crown. The crown represents power but also legitimacy. Each previous head wore a crown because each head being a previous empire had a leader. The crown identifies a leadership role.
But in this text, it is not speaking of the dragon with 7 heads and 7 crowns. It is referencing the beast.
This beast has 7 heads and 10 horns and 10 crowns. The crowns are also
given to the Horns,
not the heads.
Previously the dragon's heads each wore a crown. After they had been slain, now it states the
heads only wear a name of blasphemy. That is, offense in speaking about God or sacred things. The heads lost their crowns when their empires died. But Nations still exist in their place. An example is Turkey exists where the Ottomans ruled. Iraq exists where the Babylonians ruled and Syria exists where the Assyrians ruled. These nations still exist and today upon all their heads hold the name of blasphemy against the one true God.
The 11th Horn of the Beast
Firstly, the beast is not the Anti-Christ as I established earlier. The beast comes out of the sea and the Anti-Christ must come out of the earth.
The Anti-Christ is the 11th horn of the beast. As we read above, a horn can denote a leadership role of a person or a nation. Because the Anti-Christ is a horn, Daniel 8:5 described Alexander the Great as a horn between the eyes of a goat from the west. At the height of his power, the horn was broken off and Alexander the Great died in Daniel 8:8. The horn is then replaced by 4 other horns in Daniel 8:22 which we know are 4 of Alexander's generals.
Secondly, if the beast were the Anti-Christ, how would one distinguish an 11th horn on the head of a beast if the 2 are the same? They cannot. This is the 4th part of evidence.
If one of the heads of the 7 headed beast died and was resurrected, does that mean the Anti-Christ lived previously and then was resurrected himself? No. He is not the head of the beast or the beast himself. He is the 11th horn of the beast. As there were 10 other horns like him.
Thirdly, Rev 17:8 states the beast comes out of the bottomless pit and goes into perdition; that is utter destruction. If the beast empire goes into utter destruction on God's people, he becomes perdition himself. Perdition has a son. According to 2 Thessalonians 2:3,
Here we see that perdition itself is the final beast empire and its son is the Anti-Christ, the man of sin. This is the 5th part of evidence.
We must remember that the beast ascends out of the bottomless pit and goes to destruction. The Anti-Christ does not. As men come out of the earth and so does this Anti-Christ. We cannot confuse the beast with the Anti-Christ as they are different.
The Anti-Christ enters in Rev 13:5,
In this passage, John is speaking of the beast empire. This beast was given unto him (the beast empire) a mouth (the Anti-Christ) speaking great things.
This Anti-Christ will be the religious spokesman for the entire empire. The bible says he will be:
1. The man of sin – 2 Thessalonians 2:3
2. The son of Perdition – 2 Thessalonians 2:3
3. the Wicked or Lawless one – 2 Thessalonians 2:8
4. the prince who is to come – Daniel 9:26
This Anti-Christ is said to use special power. 2 Thessalonians 2:8 says,
For some reason, Churches today add the beast to the Anti-Christ and add a second individual named the false prophet. Yet the bible does not do this. Above we have read that there is a beast. This beast is the empire itself and nothing more. There will be a mouth to this beast who speaks profane things against the most high God. But when we look in Rev 13:11 we notice that another beast, a lamb comes out of the earth. This lamb made to
represent the messiah is the false prophet. In Rev 13:13-15 it says,
Notice in 2 Thessalonians and Rev 13 that the son of perdition and the false prophet are the same. Both lead. Both command. Both will do signs and great wonders in front of men.
This is because they are the same and not 2 separate people. These powers will be worked in the "sight of the beast" because it is done in sight of all the nations, tounges and peoples that make up the beast from the sea. When we turn back to the description of the beast, we have a beast with 7 heads that were slain, he has 10 horns and 10 crowns. At this time the Anti-Christ is not in picture. Neither is the false prophet. When the 11th horn comes in, he is the false prophet. The beast of the earth in Rev 13. The Anti-Christ is not separate from the False Prophet but churches today still preach the Anti-Christ is the beast and the false prophet is another guy.
This is not supported by any means. The Anti-Christ is the false prophet. They are one.
I have about 30 more pages on this and a multitude of topics but I will stop here. I will let those read who want to and others that will fight back do so. I hope I gave truly interested people scriptural evidence to support my conclusion. I don't dable in percents, numbers and such. All info is direct from the KJV of God's holy word. I will be happy to explain myself on any questions but I may get back slow so be patient. It is much easier to type all this at home then on my phone =P
