Inherited Characteristics of the First Beast of Revelation 13
The imagery of John’s vision in Revelation 13 builds on Daniel 7’s description of the
little horn Antichrist power by showing us that Rome incorporates components of the lion, the bear, the leopard, and the terrible ten-horned beast:
"Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion.
The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority" (
Revelation 13:2).
These are
the four beasts from Daniel’s vision, and are symbols of the kingdoms of
Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.
The Bible’s imagery is not random. The attributes of each of the four beasts are indeed contained in this one beast. The Church of Rome has incorporated many of history’s systems of worship and styles of governance into its own systems. The absolute power of the ruling monarch,
the infallibility of his decrees,
the total subservience of the Papacy’s officers, the hierarchy of
its elite, and the many secret organizations that make Rome’s power absolute are all inherited from past empires.
Here is a portion of the oath taken by all cardinals of the Catholic Church:
"I [name and surname], Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, promise and swear to be faithful henceforth and forever, while I live, to Christ and his Gospel, being constantly obedient to the Holy Roman Apostolic Church, to Blessed Peter in the person of the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI, and of his canonically elected Successors..."
Matthew Bunson, "All about Cardinals," Catholic Almanac, osv.com.
Rome also maintains many of the rites and vestments of the bear; the triple crown worn by the Pope, made of solid gold, is of Persian origin. The rites, and ceremonies dating from the Grecian and Babylonian periods form the basis for most of the liturgies, festivals, and grand ceremonies observed by the Roman Church.
The very people now venerated in the Roman Church are renamed versions of Greek gods. As historian Alexander Hislop says, "Popery was baptised Paganism...the Paganism which Rome has baptised is, in all its essential elements,
the very Paganism which prevailed in the ancient literal Babylon" (emphasis in original).
Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons (Ontario: Chick Publications: 2.
Even
the titles used by present-day Popes are the same as those used in early
pagan religions and by the monarchs who were seen as representatives of the gods and even as gods themselves.
The first beast of Revelation 13 incorporates components of all four beasts of Daniel 7 _ the lion, the bear, the leopard, and the terrible ten-horned beast.
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