Revelation Riddle - Big Beast

The Book of Revelation is full of riddles! But once the mystery of them is unlocked, they fit together like the pieces to a puzzle forming a complete picture. There a lot of ruminating over who (or what) "the beast" of Revelation/Apocalypse chapter 13 is. One of the most important things to notice, and surprisingly, some don't, is that there are two beasts in that chapter! There is the many headed, many horned and many crowned beast of verse 1 through 10, and then there is the (smaller) two horned (two office) beast of verses 11 through 18.
- Of course a big clue to Bible prophecy riddles is cross-references, those other Bible verses which are closely linked, having words or similarities in common. Such a reference to the description of the larger beast of Revelation/Apocalypse chapter 13, verses 1 through 10, is found in Daniel chapter 7, verses 7 and 19.
- Here are the two references - Young's Literal Translation (YLT):

Revelation 13

 ¹And 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..

Daniel 7

 ⁷After 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, yea, it doth break small, and the remnant with its feet it hath trampled; and it [is] diverse from all the beasts that [are] before it; and it hath ten horns.
 ¹⁹Then I wished for certainty concerning the fourth beast, that was diverse from them all, fearful exceedingly; its teeth of iron, and its nails of brass, it hath devoured, it doth break small, and the remnant with its feet it hath trampled..

To make the riddle more certain, is the phrase "its teeth of iron, and its nails of brass" which brings us to yet another important cross-reference, one not well noticed, or at least I have never come across any reference to it by any other Bible prophecy buffs.


An Ancient Dream of a Huge Statue - Of Ancient World Empires (with impact upon Israel) and a last World Empire:

Daniel 2

 ³²This image! its head [is] of pure gold, its breasts and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass;

³³its legs of iron, its feet, part of them of iron, and part of them of clay.. (ten toes)..
( ³⁴Thou wast looking till that a stone hath been cut out without hands, and it hath smitten the image on its feet, that [are] of iron and of clay, and it hath broken them small..)

Bible scholars agree, the brass represented Greece, and the iron represented Rome ("iron teeth", ancient iron columns of Rome!) To find the identity of the many headed, many horned (seated) and many crowned (rulers, modern) we need to look for its Graeco/Roman roots (of philosophy, arts, architecture, politics, etc). Preceeded by the golden head, being Babylon, and the Silver, being (Media)-Persia.

Daniel 7:19 - Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁹Then I wished to know the truth about the fourth beast--which was different from all the others, exceedingly terrible and shocking, whose teeth were of iron and its nails of bronze, (or brass) which devoured, broke and crushed, and trampled what was left with its feet-- [What the iron doesn't devour, the Greek (secular humanism / nowadays "humans are the higher power" philosophy) will break up and trample underfoot..]

Can You See It?!

Like pieces to a puzzle, a piece here.. a piece there.. is Bible prophecy..
- Do you remember all the Frat Movies in the 70's? All the "drink til you drop" and "see the breasts" movies? (And college students attending classes in a sleepy state, just right for thought shaping, but that's another topic!)
- The Book of Revelation (Apocalypse) 12:(14)15 - 

(Revelation 12:14

New Living Translation (NLT)

¹⁴ "But she was given two wings like those of a great eagle so she could fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness. There she would be cared for and protected from the dragon for a time, times, and half a time.")

Revelation 12:15

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

¹⁵ "And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood."

- There is a key here to unlock part of the Revelation/Apocalypse prophecy message. In verse 14, insert "sail" for fly. (She was supposed to bond with the peaceful inhabitants of the land.)

- Then add 350 (modern time, times and half a time) to 1620. A proliferation/flood unleashed.

- Also, as a valuable cross-reference:

Revelation 12:17

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁷ "And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and" (insert here 'by this time') "have the testimony of Jesus Christ."

The first verse of this chapter "a woman with the moon under her feet and twelve stars circling her head" is Israel who birthed the Son of Man (verse 2) and the dragon (verse 4, in the person of Herod) tried to destroy the "man child" as soon as he was born, is Israel, but later, in the verses, the mantle of truth passed to "the church" (unseen / not buildings / spiritual). It is she who was given the wings of an eagle.
- Can you see it?

Opposites!

Mark 6:1-3,5 (New King James Version)
- "1 Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. 2 And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! 3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us? So they were offended at Him. ....5 Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them."

Mark 4:37-39,41 (New King James Version)
- "37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”
39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. ....41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

- (Darby Translation)
"Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

Interesting Cross-References #1: Romans 1:3,4(5) & Revelation 6:2

Romans 1:3-5

Good News Translation (GNT)

³ "It is about his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: as to his humanity, he was born a descendant of David;⁴ as to his divine holiness, he was shown with great power to be the Son of God by being raised from death.⁵ Through him God gave me" (Paul) "the privilege of being an apostle for the sake of Christ, in order to lead people of all nations to believe and obey."

Revelation 6:2

New King James Version (NKJV)

² "And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer."

Nothing All That New Under The Sun

I hadn't realized Nero is said to have burned Rome because he wanted to rebuild it. I knew he burned the city, fiddled gleefully while it was burning, and then blamed the Christians.
- Nero was the first of major anti-Christs.
- The Roman Empire became (quasi) Christian after Emperor Constantine sided with what was the highest population of the empire at the time, Christianity. There arose fierce persecution against paganism, and wealth seized from them by the emperor was given to the bishops of Christianity. Church influence, power and political domination of the empire and its offices grew rapidly. (But it did not resemble the innocent and simple faith it began as, about three and a half centuries earlier, but was now a political entity.)
- The world of this entity became "Western Civilization". But when Western Civilization turns (extreme) and begins to have bias against Israel and Christianity, it will further evolve into a beast (Apocalypse 13:1-10 & Daniel 7:7,19) of ten crowns (horns, divisions, toes). It will prove itself a beast when it harnesses a sword of terror (Apoc. 20:4). Daniel the Prophet and John the Apostle wrote of and described the vision they saw of this beast. Both described the beast as having ten horns. John said it had a crown on each of its horns, and had seven heads. Daniel described it with teeth of iron, and its feet, which had bronze claws, tore things apart. We can assume the final beast (world empire) of man, will include all that both Daniel and John were shown.
- "Iron" and "bronze" had come up quite a while earlier, in Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a great statue (back in Daniel 2:31-43). God revealed to Daniel that this statue, made up of different metals, represented the world empires throughout history which impact Israel. That being the case, biblical historian scholars have calculated that "bronze" in the dream was (the highly dramatic, then secular) "Greece"and the "iron" in the dream was mighty Rome. The final beast has iron teeth (iron columns?) and bronze (secular) claws.
- We can certainly assume that the final beast has Roman/Graeco (Roman/Greek) roots. It builds a peace.. an accord.. a "league" (Strong's #1285 from Daniel 9:27) a "firm" (Strong's #1396 "strong, mighty") one with "the many".

All(?) "the Signs" / the Latter Day Fulfillment of Bible Prophecy

To begin, of course there's the Matthew 24 discourse (or Luke 21, Mark 13) where Jesus said "when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies" and "when you see the abomination of desolation" (in the 'end' times fulfillment, the 666 apparatus?) set-up in Jerusalem (what else would it be?).." these of course are much later than "earthquakes in various places" and "wars and rumors of war" (including unrest?)
 - Daniel (in chapter 12, verse11) wrote "three and 1/2 years plus one month (a Hebrew leap month?) after the" (place of) "daily sacrifice" (of prayers and thanksgiving) "is taken away, the abomination of desolation (666) will be set-up" - I believe the place of daily sacrifice in Israel today is the Wailing Wall which is a remainder of the Western Wall of the 2nd Temple, because in Matthew 24, verses 1 and 2, Jesus said "see all these things" (the buildings and walls of the Temple complex) "not oNe stone will be left one atop the other". Daniel continues in verse 12, with, "happy is the one who-waits and comes-to the three and 1/2 years, one month, and 45 days later.." What happy event occurs on that 45th day of 666? (but I drift a little).
 - The Book of Revelation vision starts at chapter 6, previous to that is a vision or scene of an opening of heaven, concurrent to the time of John's exile and his receiving the vision, then the scroll sealed with 7 seals is shown and the seals are broken with the first one beginning at that same time.. a conqueror on a white horse, the victorious gospel message went/goes forth "conquering and to conquer "openly triumphing over powers and principalities" (Col 2:15) those olde ancient 'gods'... then the 2nd horseman war, 2nd element of the latter age (aka the years of our Lord A.D.) "is given a long sword".. fast forward to the 6th seal, when what comes forth is a new wind which changes much of the fabric of life (1945 Hiroshima and Nagasaki). This new wind is then paused for a while (rev 7:1) - the prime key to interpretation of the whole vision is here - the key being, each seal is (fully) described here, as a blend of what it is when the seal is first broken/opened or begun, and what it is at the 'end' in its full grown state. Thus events which happen very late on planet Earth, are described here, so very early in the narrative. This hides much of the vision "for many days" (Dn 12:9).
 - When the Seventh Seal is activated, there will be a great earthquake - Rev 8:1-5 (chapter 8)
- Trumpet one is the re-Opening of atomic warfare (an Israeli preemptive strike?)
- Trumpet two, very large riots and degrees of anarchy? and one third of all existing, at the time, trade and commerce, is destroyed - Rev 8:8,9
- Trumpet three, one third of all water is undrinkable, an offshoot of trumpet one - Rev 8:10,11
- Trumpet four, Joel's dry and smoky day, offshoot of both trumpet one and two - Rev 8:12; Rev chapter 12 (one of four intserts) verse 16; Joel 2 and see Rev 9:3.
- Then, Revelation 8:13 - "And I saw, and I heard an eagle flying in mid-heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to them that dwell upon the earth, for the remaining voices of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound..." [Next; chapter 9]
 - During Joel's smoky day is trumpet five, out of the smoke (of the abyss of man's heart away from God) come whirring, hovering locust like things, for locusts hover.. helicopters of global marshall law for five months; then is sounded trumpet six, tanks swarm middle east. And I'm thinking here is the 666 spoken of by Daniel and Jesus (abomination which desolates - 35 days of cannot buy and sell, then escalates into ten days of will be killed. Then trumpet 7 - "immediately after the tribulation of those days.. the Son of man ..will be seen coming on the clouds.. He will send out His angels to gather His elect from all corners of the earth..."  from Mt 28-31. And 1 Thess 1:7, "He comes with fire and with angels.." - i.e, in trumpet 7 are the seven bowls.. final consequences of man's choices and doings.
 - Rev 12, which is one of four inserts also gives signs (the drought of verse 16 being one) the key to this chapter is the woman about to give birth to a manchild (Son of man) is Israel, then there are two migrations after the mantle has been transferred for a time to the 'church', then the dragon turns his attention back "to the remainder of the woman's children, those who have the commandments of God, and" (by now) "have the testimony of Jesus".. "And the nations are gathered" against Israel "for Armageddon" (rev 16:14,15,16 // "Look up for your redemption draweth nigh"). With cross reference, Isaiah 29:1,5,6 - "Ariel, Ariel" (another name for Jerusalem/Israel) "your many enemies will become like fine dust, the ruthless hordes like blown chaff. Suddenly, in an instant, the LORD Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire."

The Moon Under Her Feet

I have probably mentioned this before, but, let's face it, Bible prophecy especially the Book of Revelation is a little hard to understand, so sometimes I find myself saying things again in a slightly different way.
 - In the New Testament there is what is referred to as "a change in priesthood". And it made me wonder how many realize this is reflected in another manner, in chapter twelve of the Book of Revelation (one of four inserts in the Book of Revelation) - the "woman, clothed with the sun with twelve stars around her head", being Israel "in pain to give birth to the manchild" (Son of man) "the dragon" in the guise of Herod "sought to destroy the manchild but he's lifted up to heaven and to the throne of God" after his resurrection, (cross ref, Hebrews 1:3) and "will rule the nations with a rod of iron" (cross ref Ps 2:8,9) then the woman, now the mantle of truth worn by "the church" (unseen/spiritual) runs / escapes, a 1st migration, the dragon no longer allowed access to the heavens, as half the battle is fulfilled, then pursues the woman again, a 2nd migration "she is given the two wings of an eagle that she may fly" sail to a new "place where she is kept safe from the face of the dragon for 3 and 1/2 modern times [1620+350-1970] after which the serpent (beguiling guise of the dragon) vomits a flood / proliferation / previously hidden social phenomenon, after the woman in an effort to wash her away. But the earth will open its mouth and swallow the flood (drought, cross ref  luke 23:25,31) and the dragon will turn back to the other children of the woman, those who have the commandments of G-d and who (by now) have the testimony of Jesus... [And the world is "gathered to Armegeddon" rev 16:14,15,16.. side note, see how verse 15 is tucked between 14 & 16 which virtually say the same thing.]

PARALLEL - end times and 70 A.D

PARALLEL - end times and 70 A.D: (LUKE 19:41-44) JESUS said.. "see all these things?" speaking of the Temple area, "not one stone of these will remain one atop another.." Yet, there sits the "Wailing Wall", quite a few stones sitting one atop another.. I'm convinced (through prayerful contemplations) that this is the sign DANIEL spoke of in DANIEL 12:11 "one thousand, two hundred and ninety days after they remove" (STRONG's #5493) "the continual" (STRONG's #8548) "sacrifice, shall be set-up the abomination which desolates" // Jesus said - not one stone will remain upon another - DANIEL wrote - 1,290 days after they remove the continual sacrifice, the abomination that makes desolate will be "set-up". Happy the one who waits and comes to the 1335th day. (What event will occur on the 1335th day, aka, the 45th day of the abomination which desolates?)
 - As we know Jesus also included this "abomination" sign, when his disciples asked him "what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the world?" He included, "when you-see the abomination of desolation set-up, let all Judea flee.." (grafted and ungrafted? or that is to say natural and born again?)

Don't 'spose you like a riddle..?

What is the "false prophet"/(teaching) of the book of revelation/apocalypse and the "strong delusion" after "falling away" mentioned elsewhere..? (most of the characters in the book of rev/apoc have in most minds morphed into one, but there are five). This one was involved with, or rather, enabled rev 13:13, which is the same as the new wind of 6:12-15 (followed by a pause,7:1), and will enable 13:16,17, which will escalate into 20:4.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Luke 3

21 - "Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened

22 - and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased."

Psalm 2

7 - "I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, "You are My Son, today I have begotten You" - #3205 in Strong's "yalad" "made you apparent".

Mark 9

1 - The Transfiguration - "And Jesus was saying to them - Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the KINGDOM of God after it has come with power"

2 - (and) "six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them

3 - and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them....

7 - then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!" (Margin: "or give constant heed to Him".)

8 - All at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore - except Jesus alone."