END OF TIME PROPHECIES 149

The beast from the sea                Revelation 13 v1-10                      part2/    

The world is destined to worship a monster, so what is he like?

His attributes

"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......."                 Revelation 13v2.

The man who will rise from obscurity to total world dictatorship will combine the features of a leopard, a bear, and a lion; but he will also, according to Daniel chapter 7 be like no other beast that has ever existed, this we will refer to as the non- descript beast.   These three beasts along with the non- descript beast are described in Daniel 7v1-8, and whatever their historical interpretation, what we have here is their prophetic fulfillment.   The man will give character to his kingdom.  

The beast which I saw was like unto a leopard.

The first thing to notice is that this man is a predator just like the leopard, the lion and the bear.   There is no compassion in these animals, just raw animal power subduing all in their pathway.   In the leopard we see many things; swiftness of movement, attractiveness, craftiness and fierce cruelty.   This man will combine all these qualities: speed of movement, swift decision- making, self assurance, highly intelligent knowing all about his prey, cunning, cruel but with a certain awesome attractiveness.   This is reminiscent of Alexander the Great who in the course of twelve short years toppled an empire and ruled from Greece to Egypt to India.    This beast will conquer the world.

His feet were as the feet of a bear.

In this we see the aspect of brute strength.   In these modern times we have characterised the bear as something lovable and cuddly, but the bear hug is not for loving but for killing.   This is an animal of extraordinary ferocity.   In the picture in Daniel chapter 7 the bear has in its mouth three ribs between its teeth.   This represents three kingdoms which will be brutally subdued by this man; Daniel 7v8 says  "plucked up by the roots."   Daniel 7v24 says  "he shall subdue three kings."    In the picture he stands aloft in dominion and proclaims  "arise devour much flesh."   This is the symbol of the bear as describing the future world ruler.  

His mouth as the mouth of a lion.  

In the lion we have imperial majesty combined with great strength.   The lion is the king of beasts; the lion of Daniel 7 had eagles wings; thus he combined universal authority in the air as well as on the land.   His rule will be autocratic and majestic.   The eagle is known for its all round and far seeing vision.   His intelligence and perception is universal.  

The non descript beast.

This is simply described as  "a fourth beast" in Daniel 7v7.   There is no natural description that God can give to this beast because there never has been its like before.   A reading of Daniel 7v7 will reveal the following.

• Dreadful.   This means commanding awe to all around him.   In a world presently besotted with the idea of human rights, when this man is in power, his will be the only right and everybody will know it.
• Terrible.   He will rule by terror, playing on the fears of those less powerful having demonstrated his power in subduing three kingdoms.   There is an interesting change from Revelation 12 to Revelation 13 in connection with the crowns (compare chapter 12v3 with chapter 13v1).   In 12v3 the crowns are on the heads, in 13v1 the crowns are on the horns.  Crowns on heads means  ruling by right, by public acknowledgement; crowns on horns (symbolic of power) means a rule by means of destructive power.
• Exceedingly strong.   He will command many forces numerically and qualitatively; he will be very organised and powerful and will rise to power on the back of a ten kingdom confederacy in the last days.  
• Iron teeth.   Devouring and breaking all opposition in pieces; in addition "he stamps the residue with his feet."   Strong destructive power with no humane feelings crushing all in his way he will be a brutal tyrant who brooks no rival.  
• Diverse from all other beasts.   Such is the vile nature of this man and this system that there is no word found to describe it.  

His attributes are of power achieved by brute force and a reign of terror, eventually, as we shall see, taking control of all food production and employment and military might.   Incredibly the world is going to welcome this man.