Welcome to Q&A study about The Beast of Revelation 13. 

Paganism had given place to the papacy. The dragon had given to the beast his power, and his seat, and great authority. Revelation 13:2.

Thus in the sixth century the papacy had become firmly established and began the 1260 years of papal oppression foretold in the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. Daniel 7:25; Revelation 13:5-7.

It is symbolized by the beast like unto a leopard. 

The prophecy foretells one of his heads as it was wounded to death at the end of the 1260 years. Papacy was abolished in 1798.

Moreover, the prophecy foretells a restoration of her power:

And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. Revelation 13:3.

Furthermore, the man of sin will continue his work of deception to the very close of time.

All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life. Revelation 13:8.

And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. 2 Thessalonians 2:8, 9.

Question: What relation does the third angel of Revelation 14:9 have to the angel of Revelation:6, 7?

Answer: He followed them or went with them. The first message leads out, the others follow with, as the disciples followed Jesus. 

The word follow means to go with:

And they straightway left their nets, and followed Him.

And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed Him. Matthew 4:20, 22.

And as He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow Me. And he arose and followed Him. Mark 2:14.

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Question: Against what does the third angel warn us?

Answer: Revelation 14:9-11.

And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; 

and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

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Question: Who is the beast of this warning?

Answer: Revelation 13:1-8.

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.

I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

 And they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? 

Who is able to make war with him?

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.

And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, tongues, and nations.

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.

Question: What prophetic symbol is parallel to this?

Answer:

The little horn of Daniel 7. They:

• arise in the same territory

• do the same work

• possess the same character

• continue the same length of time.

Question: What four kingdoms are symbolized in Daniel 7 previous to the rise of the little horn?

Answer: Daniel 7:1-7.

In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: 

then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.

Daniel spoke and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of heaven strove upon the great sea.

 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.

The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: 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, and a man's heart was given to it.

And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: 

and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; 

the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

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: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

The lion represents Babylon:

The lion has come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he has gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; 

and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.

Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled. Jeremiah 4:7, 13.

The bear represents Medo-Persia, Babylon's successor:

The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. Daniel 8:20.

The leopard represent Grecia:

And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. Daniel 8:21.

The forth beast represents Rome:

The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;

A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young:

And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: 

which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. Deuteronomy 28:49-51.

And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.

His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.

And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: 

he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. Daniel 8:23-25.

Moreover, the fourth beast had ten horns, indicating the ten divisions of the Roman Empire between years A.D. 351-476.

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. Daniel 7:24.

Question: How were these symbols represented in the beast of Revelation 13?

Answer: Revelation 13:2.

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.

Question: What eleven distinct descriptions are given in the prophecy concerning the little horn?

Answer:

It was to:

1. Arise in a ten-divisioned kingdom.

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; Daniel 7:8.

2. Be different in nature and character from the others.

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. Daniel 7:24.

It would:

3. Cause the overthrow of three kings.

Before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots; And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, 

and before whom three fell; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. Daniel 7:8, 20, 24.

4. Possess great shrewdness and foresight (eyes like those of man).

Behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things even of that horn that had eyes, 

and a mouth that spoke very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. Daniel 7:8, 20.

5. Be strong and vigorous (stout).

Even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. Daniel 7:20.

6. Blaspheming and assuming power.

Behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; 

I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.

Even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.

And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws; Daniel 7:8,11,20, 25.

7. Be a persecuting power.

I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; And shall wear out the saints of the most High; Daniel 7:21, 25.

8. Presume to change God's law. 

And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws; Daniel 7:25.

9. Be a persecuting power for three and a half prophetic years, or 1,260 literal years.

And they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. Daniel 7:25.

10. Then lose its persecuting power and shortly after its own dominion.

But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. Daniel 7:26.

11. Having its persecuting power restored, for it would make war on the saints till the end. 

 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;  

Until the Ancient of days came, judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. Daniel 7:21, 22.

Question: How many of these distinct descriptions do we find in connection with the beast of Revelation 13:1-8?

Answer:

Description:

• 1 - Ten horns

• 6 - Blasphemous

• 7 - Persecuting

• 8 - Causing false worship through a changed law

• 9 - 42 months

• 10 - Deadly wound

• 11 - The deadly wound healed.

Question: In what power or system alone are all these specifications met?

Answer:

In that system known as the Papacy.

Question: What is represented by these beast kingdoms?

Answer:

Church and state governments, or persecuting powers.

Question: What constitutes a persecuting power?

Answer:

There must in some way be a union of church and state. A religious organization apart from civil power cannot persecute.

Moreover, a civil power apart from religion will not persecute. The union of the two in active operation always results in injustice and oppression.

Question: When did the Papacy secure the power to persecute?

Answer:

D. 538, when the last kingdom which opposed Rome's assumptions was plucked up. 

The bishop of Rome was made by decree of Justinian, head of all the churches and true and only corrector of heretics.

The emperor had decreed it in A. D. 533 (see "Croly on the Apocalypse," pp. 167-171); 

and when the last of the three opposers - the Ostrogoths was overthrown, the Papacy began its career as a persecuting power.

Question: Beginning in A. D. 538, when would the 1,260 days (years) end?

Answer: 1798.

Question: What event marked their close?

Answer: Under General Berthier, an officer acting under the French directory, the Papacy was abolished in 1798. 

Rome was proclaimed a republic, and Pope Pius VI. was taken captive, dying at Valence, France, August 29, 1799.

Question: What scripture was thus fulfilled?

Answer: Revelation 13:3 (first part).

And I saw one of his heads as it was wounded to death;

Question: Did this act of France affect the ecclesiastical or religious organization of the Papacy?

Answer:

No, it removed the head for a while. Soon after the death of Pius VI., the cardinals met and elected on March 14, 1800, Barnabas Chiaromonti to the papal see under the name of Pius VII.

Nevertheless papal rule over other countries was broken. The blow took away its power to persecute.

The pope was no longer acknowledged by the powers of Europe head over all the churches and corrector of heretics.

Overview

The papal power grew out of the working of the mystery of iniquity, the assumptions of the bishop of Rome, and the union of the apostate church with the kings of the earth.

This work began in Constantine's time. Nevertheless, the Papacy as a distinct power was developed later.

Note the fulfillment of the prophetic specifications.

1. It arose in Rome in her divided state, when just ten kingdoms existed. The last of the ten kingdoms arose in 476.

2. It was diverse in nature. The other powers were civil powers, but the Papacy was civil and religious combined, or an ecclesiastical power having civil authority.

3. Because of it three kingdoms were plucked up - the Heruli - 493; Vandals - 534; and Ostrogoths - 538.

4. The nature of the ten kingdoms was that of a beast - represented by natural horns. 

The little horn had not only eyes, but man's eyes in a beast's horn, showing great shrewdness and foresight. 

It has plotted and planned for the centuries to come.

1. More stout than his fellows. Other governments and kingdoms have fallen, but the Papacy remains.

2. And truly it has been a blasphemous power, assuming God's prerogatives, and perverting His Word.

3. It has put to death millions of the people of God, those adjudged to be heretics.

4. Think to change the times and the law. It has done this with respect to the fourth commandment.

5. Time is one year; times - two years; half a time - half a year, or, as in Revelation 13:5 - 42 months, at 30 days to the month; 

Bible reckoning - 1, 260 days, or years (Ezekiel 4:16), beginning A. D. 538 and ending in 1798.

6. In 1798 it lost its power to persecute, and in 1870 its last vestige of territorial dominion, or civil authority, passed from under its control. 

All these have been fulfilled in the Papacy and in no other power.

7. The last specification, the Lord declares, will be fulfilled, and the Papacy will be a persecutor to the end. See Revelation 13:3; Daniel 7:21, 22; 2 Thessalonians 2:8.

References:

1. Lessons on the Great Three-Fold Message 1896

2. GC88 578 - The Ellen G. White Estate

3. The Bible, King James Version