BEHOLD THE BEAST
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The False Prophet
11 - LEOPARD-BEAR-LIONCHAPTER 11
I will bring the worst of the heathen,
and they shall possess their houses:
will also make the pomp of the strong to cease;
and their holy places shall be defiled.
EZEKIEL 7:24
JUST about now you are probably saying, "So that's who the
Lord's forces are, but what about this antichrist? Aren't the beasts
of Revelation about him and his army, and isn't he supposed to
give the unsaved a mark in their hands or on their foreheads?"
Well, now that we understand day=years, it's obvious that at
least part of Revelation is less about the end-times than it is about
the Holy Land during the Christian Era. Is it possible that the rest
of Revelation is also being fulfilled in the Holy Land during this
era? Lets look at that possibility.
The following verse was written on mount Nebo in 1406BC.
Moses was about to die and this declaration is in his final oration
to the Children of Israel just before they enter the land of Canaan.
Deuteronomy 11:11-12 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is
a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of
heaven: A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes
of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning
of the year even unto the end of the year.
The Lord's eyes are still upon the Holy Land. Do you think the
Lord has forgotten His promises about the land where Abraham
offered up Isaac, where His temple was built, "a house of prayer
for all people"? The land where His Son died, "not only for our sins, but
for the sins of the whole world"? (1Jo 2:2)1. Of course
not, and that land is not holy to the Jews alone. We have been
adopted into Israel (Gal 3:29). If the land of Canaan is holy to the
Jews, it is holy to us. If Jerusalem is a Holy City to the Jews, then
it is a Holy City to the Church.2
Galatians 6:15-16 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on
them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
TIMES AND FOUR EMPIRES
All of Revelation's day=years and 'times' were fulfilled by
1967, in the Holy Land, so we should look at the possibility that
other prophecies in Revelation, like its three Beasts, might also be
fulfilled there.
Knowledge is cumulative. We had to understand that
prophetic days were really years before we could identify the
Dome of the Rock as the Abomination of Desolation. Only then
could we understand the significance of the Moslems in Bible
prophecy. We also had to understand day=years to identify the
Two Witnesses. Only then could we understand the spiritual
position of Jews during this era. In the same way, we now need to
know about the four beasts of Daniel 7 before we can identify the
Leopard-Bear-Lion Beast of Revelation 13.
Keep in mind that Revelation is a figurative book. It is full of
concepts expressed in a pictorial way such as beasts, horns, seals,
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1 If you question that concept, please read 2Ch 7:12-16 and Eze 43:7. These verses
are not alone; Gen 16:18-21, 17:8, Num 34:1-15, Jos 21:43, Exo 23:31 and Act 7:5
also affirm that the land of Canaan is eternally Holy unto the Lord.
2 In Daniel and Revelation, God reveals the future of the Holy Land and the future
of His people, the "Israel of God," both Jew and Gentile. Daniel was positioned at
the beginning of Gentile domination of the Holy Land, 606BC, so he is a prophet
to "the time of the Gentiles". With the exception of those few verses which relate
to the ultimate time of the end (Dan 8:19-25), Daniel's book was fulfilled in
1967AD. John, on the other hand, was positioned in 95AD, at the beginning of the
Christian Era, so he is obviously the prophet to the Christian Era.
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trumpets, candlesticks and bowls. If we are to understand God's
intent for these figures, we need to find out what they mean. Let's
first look at a couple within the Bowls of Wrath:
Revelation 16:1-2 (NASB) And I heard a loud voice from the
temple, saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out the
seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth." And the first
angel went and poured out his bowl into the earth; and it
became a loathsome and malignant sore upon the men who
had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.
Not for a minute does anyone believe that there will be holy
angels up in Heaven pouring out an alphabet soup of trials on
Earth from huge gold-rimmed alabaster "bowls". Many severe
trials are indeed going to come upon the Earth, but enormous
bowls full? Not very likely. It is more reasonable to conclude that
God is using 'bowl' figuratively, to show us the vast quantity and
severity of the trials coming upon the earth.
Nor does anyone believe that we are going to have a flaming
red, ten-horned, seven-headed dinosaur roaring about the land,
with an all-decked-out, blood-drinking "lady of the night" riding
on its back (the Scarlet Beast of Rev 17:3). Nor are we likely to
see a real, living animal that is a cross between a leopard, bear
and lion all rolled up into one, with blasphemous names tattooed
all over its seven heads (the composite beast of Rev 13:2). Nor are
we likely to hear a spirited oration from a stone idol that looks like
that beast (the image of Rev 13:15). However, if we interpret
Revelation literally, that is what we have to believe because that
is what Revelation says. Since none of the above is even remotely
sensible, then Revelation must be figurative in nature. God's
eternal plan given to us in pictorial language.
Now, figurative language is as different from literal language
as Japanese is from English. If Japanese were the only language
I spoke and you wished to tell me something, you would need to
speak to me in Japanese. If you addressed me in English, I
wouldn't understand a word you said. Some of your words might
sound familiar and I might even try to make sense of them, but I
would only be guessing, and probably guessing wrong. Well,
Revelation is written in a special language, too - a pictorial one.
Revelation cannot be understood unless you "speak" the pictorial
language in which it was written.
So let's look at the pictorial language God used to tell the
Jews about the nations who were going to rule in the Holy Land
during the "Time of the Gentiles". This is a rather lengthy quote
and commentary, but I don't know of a better way to explain these
verses. Comments are set within the Bible italic text.
Please study the passage carefully because your ability to identify
the beasts in Revelation will depend upon your understanding of
these principles:1
Daniel 7:3-4 And four great beasts came up from the sea [the
sea is the peoples and nations of the world, Rev 17:15], diverse
one from another. The first was like a lion [The national
emblem of Babylon was the winged lion], and had eagle's
wings [The Ishtar gate of that city has bass reliefs of winged
lions upon it]: 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 [The Neo-Babylonian Empire, begun under
Nebopolasser, was brought to the peak of its power by his son
Nebuchadnezzar, (606-562BC). Nebuchadnezzar was the most
absolute monarch in all human history], and a man's heart
was given to it [Also a reference to Nebuchadnezzar, who came
to the Lord late in life, Dan 4:37].
Daniel 7:5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear
[After Babylon was taken in 536BC, Medo-Persia became the
dominant world power], and it raised up itself on one side
[The Persians were 'raised up' over and ruled the Medean half
of their empire], and it had three ribs in the mouth of it
between the teeth of it [The Medo-Persians conquered three
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1 This prophecy was given to Daniel in 552BC. Daniel lived at the beginning of the
time of the Gentiles, so his prophecies look forward at world history from the
beginning of that time. The identity of these beasts has been understood by the
church for centuries and this view is accepted by most conservative theologians.
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other empires: Lydia, Babylon, and Egypt]: and they said thus
unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.
Daniel 7:6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard,
which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl
[Alexander the Great defeated the Medo-Persian Empire at the
Battle of Issus, in 332BC]; the beast had also four heads
[Alexander had four great generals under him]; and dominion
was given to it [After Alexander died in Babylon, 323BC, his
empire was divided between his four generals: Ptolemy,
Selucius, Lycimicus, and Cassander].
Daniel 7:7 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 [Rome destroyed
the remnants of the divided Grecian Empire and began to
control the Holy Land in 65BC - The Roman Empire continued
until 476AD]: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were
before it; and it had ten horns [After Rome fell, it was divided
into roughly ten Eastern and western nations which have
continued to this day.].
Daniel 7:8 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 by the roots [Adolf Hitler
- The Nazi regime controlled most of the geographic area of the
old Roman Empire. Which three nations the Lord is talking
about here is open to question, however Nazi Germany did pull
surrounding states up by the roots]: and, behold, in this horn
were eyes like the eyes of man [Same expression as is used to
describe Nebuchadnezzar, so the Lord is telling us of a single
king with absolute power], and a mouth speaking great things
[Dan 7:11 continues on to tell us of the fall of Nazi Germany,
which was the death-knell of the Roman Empire].
Daniel 7:12 As concerning the rest of the beasts [Lion-Bear-
Leopard or Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece] they had their
dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a
season and time [After Rome fell, the Holy Land again came
under the dominion of the descendants of the three first beasts,
Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. They came back into power
as the 1st Islamic Jihad of 634AD. They conquered Jerusalem in
639AD, and ruled that city for most of the Christian Era. A
time of 1000 years, plus a season of 250 years=1250 years.
The Moslems ruled in the Holy Land for 1260 years, from 688
to 1948AD].
Daniel 7:17-20 These great beasts, which are four, are four
kings [or kingdoms], which shall arise out of the earth. But
the saints of the most High [the Jews were the saints during
Daniel's time] shall take the kingdom [i.e., the Holy land],
and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.
Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast [Rome],
which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful,
whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which
devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his
feet [Rome dominated the known world for over 400 years];
And of the ten horns that were in his head [the Roman
Empire divided into many smaller states including the major
European nations we know today], and of the other which
came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that
had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things [Adolf
Hitler], whose look was more stout than his fellows [The
Hitler regime. Nazi Germany was the last gasp of the old
militaristic Roman Empire].
Daniel 7:21-22 I beheld, and the same horn [Hitler] made war
with the saints, and prevailed against them [the Jews were
the saints when God gave Daniel this prophecy, and 6,000,000
Jews were killed by the Nazis]; Until the Ancient of days
came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most
High; and the time came that the saints possessed the
kingdom [and in 1948 the Jews did indeed become a nation
again].
Daniel 7:23-24 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the
fourth kingdom upon earth [This is how we know that this
passage is not about just individual kings, but really about
kingdoms or empires], which shall be diverse from all
kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread
it down, and break it in pieces. 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 three kings [Austria, France and Italy were
indeed subdued by Hitler during WW2].1
Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most
High [Satan speaks out against the Most High, so now God is
telling Daniel about the vast unseen spiritual battle taking
place all around us], and shall wear out the saints of the
most High [When this was written, in 552BC, the Jews were
all the saints there were], and think to change times and
laws2 [Islam begins counting its years in 622AD and ignores
the Sabbath]: and they shall be given into his hand until a
time and times and the dividing of time [The Jews were given
into the enemy's hand from 552BC, when this prophecy was
given, until the new nation of Israel, 1948AD. That is 2½ x
1000 or 2500 years].3
IDENTITY OF THE LEOPARD-BEAR-LION
Now the most important thing to notice in the above quote is
that the "beasts" in Daniel were not conquerors or kings. In fact,
they were not people at all. Those "beasts" were empires.
Nowhere in the Bible has the Lord changed the definition for
"beasts," and that key unlocks the hidden identity of the
"beasts" in Revelation. It's a pretty obvious key once you see it:
The Biblical definition for beasts is kingdoms or empires!
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1 Dan 7 is not an end-time prophecy. Dan 8:17-19 identifies the little-horn out of
the He-Goat (Greece) as the final enemy of Israel and the Church. Since Syria-
Lebanon was recognized as Grecian during John's time, the final enemy leader to
come against Israel will be Moslem, probably out of the Syria-Lebanon area.
2 June 25th, 622 AD marked the turning point in Islam as Muhammad migrated (Hijra)
to Yatrib (now Medina) and was declared as head of state and commander in chief of
the first Islamic Umma (community of believers). Moslems start their dating from that
year. Thus, according to Islam, we are in the fifteenth century not the twentieth.
3 Since it is evident that this "time, times and half a time" was fulfilled in 1948AD,
regardless of who we wish to claim as the "Little Horn" of Dan 7, that person
would have to be placed before 1948. Looking at history, it appears that Adolf
Hitler and the German Third Reich accurately fulfill this 4th beast.
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Daniel 7 firmly establishes the figurative identity of the first three
Middle Eastern empires that dominated the Holy Land after the
fall of the Kingdom of Judah:
Lion = BABYLON.
Bear = MEDO-PERSIA
Leopard = GREECE
The modern counterparts of those beasts are:
Lion = IRAQ
Bear = IRAN
Leopard = SYRIA-LEBANON
Drawing 1
Nowhere in the Bible have those figurative identities been
changed. Throughout Scripture, Lion remains Babylon or Iraq,
Bear remains Medo-Persia or Iran, and Leopard remains Greece or
Syria-Lebanon. So when we read about a beast in Revelation with
those same names, we have every reason to believe the Lord is
telling us of the offspring of those empires:
Revelation 13:1-2 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.
And there he is! The Leopard-Bear-Lion Beast of Revelation
thirteen (LBL). Notice that this one beast looks like all three of
those old empires rolled into one. So what has tied the three
separate Middle Eastern states of Iraq, Iran, and Syria together
during the last two thirds of the Christian Era? Islam and the false
prophet, Muhammad, that's what! Though they have sometimes
battled each other, for thirteen centuries Iraq, Iran, Syria and
associates, including Saudi Arabia, have been the home of the
radical Moslems, the lair of assassins, a haven for terrorists and a
roost for all who hate Israel and the Christian nations.
That's not guesswork theology, folks. The Islamic states have
historically been the enemies of the West and they still are today.
Furthermore, those radical Moslem states will continue to be
enemies of God's people until Jesus returns. Why? Well, notice
who empowers those countries, the dragon! And Satan has always
been the implacable enemy of God and of God's children. Do not
be deluded that the Moslem god, Allah, is the same as our
Heavenly Father. Our Sovereign God is a God of love, a word
conspicuously absent from the Koran. There may indeed be loving
Moslems, but the Koran doesn't teach it.
So the Leopard-Bear-Lion is Syria-Iraq-Iran, and their radical
Islamic friends. But now we need to know when this beast will be
in power, and to establish that, we need a little review:
Revelation 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave
out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and
the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two
months.
The 42 months of Rev 11:2 were explained at length in
Chapter 5. They were 1278.34 years, and it was 1278.34 years
from the construction of the Dome of the Rock until Jerusalem
was again under Jewish control. In the prophecy of the Leopard-
Bear-Lion, we again see 42 months (Rev 13:5). LBL was granted
authority over Jerusalem for 42 months:
Revelation 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking
great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto
him to continue forty and two months.
The Leopard-Bear-Lion also was given authority to "blaspheme
God's tabernacle" for 42 months, so these prophecies are clearly
parallel. They are obviously about the Moslem rule of Jerusalem
(688-1967AD). From the above verses we can now positively
identify the Leopard-Bear-Lion beast of Revelation 13 as the
Moslem states of the Middle East. LBL is not some future
antichrist after all. LBL are those Islamic nations that now stand
against Israel and the West. Now let's look at Rev 13:3-10 in
detail. Explanatory notes are again set within the italic text:
Revelation 13:3-4 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded
to death [The battles of Tours and Vienna struck death blows
against Moslem expansion into Europe that destroyed their
hope of world conquest]; and his deadly wound was healed
[After WW2, the western nations sent a major portion of their
liquid capital into the Middle East which enabled the Moslem
states to rebuild]: and all the world [Remember that Bible
prophecy is ethnographic - The "whole world" refers to the part
of the planet John knew about, John's known world. The Lord
is not telling us of China, Australia, or the Americas here]
wondered after the beast. And they worshiped the dragon
[This verse shows that Islam is not another route to heaven -
The dragon is Satan, ergo, The Moslems worship Satan] which
gave power unto the beast [LBL]: and they [the Moslems]
worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who
is able to make war with him? [During the 1st Jihad the
Moslems were indeed victorious over the weaker Christian
Middle East and African states and the Eastern Roman Empire].
Revelation 13:5-6 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking
great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto
him to continue forty and two months. [the Moslem domination of
Jerusalem from 688 to 1967 is 42 months of
day=years] And he [LBL, the Moslem states] opened his
mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name,
and his tabernacle [The Moslems built a memorial to
Muhammad on the footstool of God's feet], and them that
dwell in heaven [we dwell in the heavenlies right now, Eph
2:6 "and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the
heavenly places, in Christ Jesus."]
Revelation 13:7-9 And it was given unto him [LBL] to make war
with the saints, and to overcome them [The 1st Jihad
overwhelmed the Coptic Church which at the time covered the
Middle East including North Africa, in fact, from India to
Spain]: and power was given him over all kindreds, and
tongues, and nations [remember that Bible prophecy is ethnographic,
that it primarily addresses the countries that surround
the Holy land]. And all that dwell upon the earth shall
worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life
of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world [again a
reference to show that Islam is not another road to Heaven]. If
any man have an ear, let him hear.
Revelation 13:9-10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into
captivity [during the 1st Jihad, the area controlled by the
Coptic church went into captivity, including the Holy Land]: he
that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword
[the Moslem armies of the Middle Ages were defeated at Tours
and Vienna, with great loss of life]. Here is the patience and
the faith of the saints.
The beasts of Revelation appear to be a figurative picture of
Satan's total kingdoms on Earth, both physical and spiritual. The
Leopard-Bear-Lion appears to be a VISIBLE aspect of Satan's unseen
spiritual kingdom in the Middle East. The Moslems who controlled
the Holy Land were held together by a common religion, a
spiritual unity, rather than by a common ethnicity. In Rev 13:2,
the prophet John also declares the Middle East to be the seat of
Satan's power, and Satan's throne does appear to be there.
GRAPH NUMBER 16
THE TEN HORNS OF LBL
There is probably one more aspect of the Leopard-Bear-Lion we
ought to examine. When God gave the land of Canaan to
Abraham, He set the boundaries thereof: From the River of Egypt
(at the southern border of the Gaza Strip) to the River Euphrates
(near Damascus in Syria). That area has always been the land the
Lord gave to Isaac and Jacob. The Jews know it and the Arabs
know it. But ever since, the Moslems have been trying to take the
land God gave to Israel:
Genesis 15:18-21 The LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying,
Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto
the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites,
and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites,
and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and
the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
Those peoples were the original inhabitants of the land. When
Joshua and the Children of Israel entered Canaan in 1406BC, God
commanded them to drive all those people out.1 They didn't do so.
Instead, Israel enslaved the local people and put them to forced
labor. When Nebuchadnezzar took the Jews captive to Babylon,
he left the "poorer people in the land". That would have included
the descendants of those Canaanite slaves, and the descendants
of those slaves have been a thorn in the side of Israel ever since.
They are probably the Palestinians and they are still a thorn in the
side of Israel today!2 But they are only part of the 10 horns.
The ten horns of the Leopard-Bear-Lion are the Jihadists like
Usama bin Laden with his al Qaeda, Yasser Arafat's Hamas, the
Hizbullah, the Islamic Jihad, the PFLP, the Intifada, all the militant
fundamental Moslems and the nations that support them: Iraq,
Syria, and Iran (in ancient times, Afghanistan bordered the Medo-
Persian empire, today's Iran).
Jews are being tortured and killed almost daily by terrorist
Palestinians from the Gaza strip and Jericho, with the full blessing
of Yasser Arafat and the surrounding Arab states. The Palestinians
are trying to destroy God's people one soul at a time and take their
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1 Though the Arabs are also children of Abraham through Hagar, God gave the Holy
Land to the people born through Sarah's son Isaac: .Neither, because they are the
seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. (Rom
9:7).
2 The name Palestinian is derived from Philistine. Those people were the worst of
David's enemies. Goliath of Gath was a Philistine.
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land one square inch at a time. May Yeshua defend Israel, for
no one else will. If an Israeli kills a terrorist in self-defense it is
front page in the world's newspapers, reported as a vicious
homicide. But if a Palestinian bombs a bus full of women and
children, you might find it as a two inch filler, hidden on page 14
of section "B" - and even then, only reported as a justifiable act in
a Palestinian "war of liberation" against their Jewish oppressors.
Should we be surprised by this biased journalism? Not at all.
That is what we should expect from our media today, considering
the influence that OPEC money and Moslem extremists now have
on the economies and news agencies of the Western world.
Supposedly, these Palestinians are just a poor misunderstood
people who are being oppressed by their Jewish landlords, but it
isn't so. The Holy Land was a sand hill until, in fulfillment of
Scripture, the Jews returned and started cultivating it again:
Isaiah 35:1 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for
them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
A NEWS BRIEF
Christian Action for Israel Newsletter #49, 10/5/2001, 4:55pm
In Gaza City recently, Palestinians put on a reenactment of the
suicide bombing of the Sbarro Pizzeria in Jerusalem. The
Palestinian Authority bomber and 15 people were blown to
pieces in the actual Aug. 9 bombing. Of the 15 victims, seven
were children, including a 4-year-old boy and his 2-year-old
sister. One of the victims was a 31-year-old American woman.
Four were teen-agers. The exhibition included fake body parts
scattered about to add more "realism" to rejoice over.
The Palestinians aren't interested in peaceful coexistence with
Israel on any terms. A poll taken last week showed 72 percent
of Palestinians favor continuing the uprising, while 66 percent
favor continued attacks against Israeli civilians.
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