Beast of Revelation

Revelation – The Beast

The main “beast” in Revelation is mentioned several times in the Bible. It is quite complex. First of all, it is important to understand that the beast manifests in many ways over many years. It can manifest as any group; political, military, or religious that is against the Kingdom of God. With that being said, let us look at the various aspects of the beast described in the Bible.

The Four Animals

Revelation 13:1-2 – And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and I saw out of the sea a beast coming up, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon its horns ten diadems, and upon its heads a name of evil speaking, and the beast that I saw was like to a leopard, and its feet as of a bear, and its mouth as the mouth of a lion, and the dragon did give to it his power, and his throne, and great authority. (YLT)

Daniel 7:3-7 – and four great beasts are coming up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first [is] like a lion, and it hath an eagle’s wings. I was seeing till that its wings have been plucked, and it hath been lifted up from the earth, and on feet as a man it hath been caused to stand, and a heart of man is given to it. And lo, another beast, a second like a bear, and to the same authority it hath been raised, and three ribs [are] in its mouth, between its teeth, and thus they are saying to it, Rise, consume much flesh. After this I was seeing, and lo, another like a leopard, and it hath four wings of a fowl on its back, and four heads hath the beast, and dominion is given to it. After this I was seeing in the visions of the night, and lo, a fourth beast, terrible and fearful, and exceedingly strong; and it hath iron teeth very great, it hath consumed, year, it doth break small, and the remnant with its feet it hath trampled; and it [is] diverse from all the beast that [are] before it; and it hath ten horns. (YLT)

The first major aspect of the beast is the four animals. In Revelation, John sees the beast as one creature with the aspects of a lion, a bear, and a leopard. However, Daniel sees that beast as four separate creatures: a lion, a bear, a leopard, and one with iron teeth. Both of these are correct, just from different points of view. The four animals represent four kingdoms that are opposing the Kingdom of God. Daniel is seeing these in succession, while John is seeing them as one power against God, outside of time. Without going into to much detail, here are the four animals:

1. The First Animal – like a lion with eagle’s wings, this represents the Neo-Babylonian Empire which began in 626 B.C. and ended in 539 B.C., the lion with eagle’s wings is Babylon’s national symbol and the gates of the city were decorated with lions and dragons

2. The Second Animal – a bear with three ribs in its mouth, this represents the Medo-Persia Empire which conquered three nations: Egypt in 586 B.C, Lydia in 547 B.C., and Babylon in 539 B.C.

3. The Third Animal – a leopard with four wings and four heads, this represents the Greek Empire from 331 B.C. to 168 B.C., which had four divisions and four leaders, Lysimachus in the north, Ptolemy in the south, Cassander in the west, and Selucius in the east

4. The Fourth Animal – strong beast with iron teeth and ten horns, this represents the Roman Empire from 168 B.C. to 476 A.D., which had ten tribes including:

1. Bavarians
2. Franks
3. Burgundians
4. Alemanni
5. Suevi
6. Visigoths
7. Alans
8. Vandals
9. Ostrogoths
10. Lombards

We can see that the key animal is the fourth one, because the ten horns are mentioned several times. As usual, Rome plays an important role in the fulfillment of God’s plan.

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