INTRODUCTION:
The Leopard-like Beast gives vital information not revealed by the Nondescript Beast. Revelation is seen to complement Daniel.
PRAYER THOUGHT:
We have the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, which is the spirit of prophecy. Priceless gems are to be found in the word of God . Those who search this word should keep the mind clear. Never should they indulge perverted appetite in eating or drinking. {TM 114.1}
When the books of Daniel and Revelation are better understood, believers will have an entirely different religious experience. They will be given such glimpses of the open gates of heaven that heart and mind will be impressed with the character that all must develop in order to realize the blessedness which is to be the reward of the pure in heart. {TM 114.3}
The Lord will bless all who will seek humbly and meekly to understand that which is revealed in the Revelation. This book contains so much that is large with immortality and full of glory that all who read and search it earnestly receive the blessing to those "that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein." {TM 114.4}
Read: Rev. 13:1-10
WHAT THE NON-DESCRIPT BEAST(NDB) REVEALS
Ø In its first stage that the ten kings were to arise out of Rome (Dan. 7:24)
Ø In its second stage that the Papacy was to arise and subdue three kings, and persecute the saints 1260 days
WHAT THE NON-DESCRIPT BEAST DOES NOT REVEAL
1. The fall of the Papacy
2. The Reformation
3. The rise of Protestantism
WHAT THE LEOPARD-LIKE BEAST ACTUALLY REVEALS
1. The fall of the Roman monarchy
2. The reformation
3. The wound of the Papacy
4. The rise of Protestantism
5. The captivity of the Pope
COMPARATIVE FACTS
1. The Leopard-like beast arises out of the sea like the beasts of Daniel 7. (Rev.13:1) Created by the same conditions.
2. The LLB continues the line of the Non-descript Beast (NDB) corresponding to the feet and toes of Daniel 2
3. It has the same number of horns as the NDB, but reveals the Roman Empire after the fall of the Papacy (the wounded head) OUR PRESENT WORLD in its divided state.
Our kingdom is not of this world. We are waiting for our Lord from heaven to come to earth to put down all authority and power, and set up His everlasting kingdom. Earthly powers are shaken. We need not, and cannot, expect union among the nations of the earth. Our position in the image of Nebuchadnezzar is represented by the toes, in a divided state, and of a crumbling material, that will not hold together. Prophecy shows us that the great day of God is right upon us. It hasteth greatly. {1T 360.3}
4. Since the three horns of the NDB were plucked by the roots, they were reinstated askings. The biblical number seven to which they were reduced, signified that the papacy was to have complete sway over the entire Christian world. Thus the horns on the LLB are not the old kings reinstated.
5. Thus the LLB is the 5th universal beast. The NDB, the LLB and the Scarlet-Colored Beast (SCB), with their 10 horns are all universal beasts, covering the entire New Testament era.
6. He has parts belonging to all the former beasts of Daniel 7. He is a composite beast.
Thus he is a descendent of them all. The 5th universal beast.
7. Arriving on the scene after the fall of imperial Rome, he overlaps the 2nd stage of the NDB (the time of the papacy), covering three periods: BEFORE, DURING and AFTER the deadly wound.
8. Daniel in vision saw what the beast WAS TO DO. John saw the closing act (his deadly wound healed)—what the beast HAD DONE.
9. Both the LLB and NOB (2nd stage) ruled for the same period, 1260 years. (Daniel 7:25; Rev. 13:5) The first beast reveals her tyrannical authority, the 2nd her downfall.
THE LLB COULD NOT BE THE PAPACY IN ITS ENTIRETY BECAUSE
1. The LLB has only one wounded head, there are six other unharmed heads revealing other religious bodies besides the Papacy.
2. It has horns—denoting civil powers. Ten shows universality.
3. The horns are crowned indicating that the nations have their own authority apart from the Papacy. They are no longer controlled by the popes. Thus the LLB shows a separation of church and state.
4. The LLB is a composite and descendent of the previous beasts of Daniel 7,indicating a world power having the make-up of Babylon (the mouth of a lion), Medo-Persia (the feet of the bear), Grecia (the body of the leopard), and Rome (the ten horns). This does not describe the papacy. It was not and is not a universalpower.
SYMBOLS ON THE BEASTS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE
1. Crowns - Kingly authority and rulership
2. Horns - Civil powers Daniel 8:21-22 With the imprisonment of Pope Pious VI andhis death on August 19, 1799, the NDB ceased his tyrannical career and the LLB with its common wounded head alone continued the representation. The horn head was removed. The papacy lost it ecclesiastical power and was no longer a combination of church and state after the 1260 years. This event crowned the horns of the LLB. The civil authorities were now independent of the church. The crowns on the horns signify that the Roman monarchy had fallen. The ten kings that were represented by the uncrowned horns of the NDB now received their kingdoms, a process which had begun with the reformation. The horns and heads all present at the same time indicated that they all existed contemporaneously.
3. Heads - while the horns represent the civil side, the heads represent the religious side of today’s world. Rev. 17:9
4. Blasphemy - over the heads reminds us of Isaiah 4:1; Rev. 2:9
5. Seven - completeness AA 585—this would include the SDA church.
The names of the seven churches are symbolic of the church in different periods of the Christian Era. The number 7 indicates completeness, and is symbolic of the fact that the messages extend to the end of time, while the symbols used reveal the condition of the church at different periods in the history of the word. {AA 585.3}
6. Therefore, the LLB must represent our PRESENT WORLD, particularly Western Society which is comprised of Catholicism, Protestantism, and so-called democratic nations all having their own authority, no longer under the Pope.
7. The wounded head - Only the wounded head represents the Papacy. The Papacy was wounded by the Protestant Reformation started by Martin Luther (GC 142, 155, 162, 190; 1T 373) What was fulfilled in 1798 was the culmination of the wounding process. See Rev. 13:10; GC 439 The civil power of the Vatican was formally disposed in 1870 by the Italian government.
GC 142, 155, 162, 190 - But Luther was fearless still. Rome had hurled her anathemas against him, and the world looked on, nothing doubting that he would perish or be forced to yield. But with terrible power he flung back upon herself the sentence of condemnation and publicly declared his determination to abandon her forever. In the presence of a crowd of students, doctors, and citizens of all ranks Luther burned the pope's bull, with the canon laws, the decretals, and certain writings sustaining the papal power. "My enemies have been able, by burning my books," he said, "to injure the cause of truth in the minds of the common people, and destroy their souls; for this reason I consumed their books in return. A serious struggle has just begun. Hitherto I have been only playing with the pope. I began this work in God's name; it will be ended without me, and by His might." --Ibid., b. 6, ch. 10. {GC 142.2}
At length Luther stood before the council. The emperor occupied the throne. He was surrounded by the most illustrious personages in the empire. Never had any man appeared in the presence of a more imposing assembly than that before which Martin Luther was to answer for his faith. "This appearance was of itself a signal victory over the papacy. The pope had condemned the man, and he was now standing before a tribunal which, by this very act, set itself above the pope. The pope had laid him under an interdict, and cut him off from all human society; and yet he was summoned in respectful language, and received before the most august assembly in the world. The pope had condemned him to perpetual silence, and he was now about to speak before thousands of attentive hearers drawn together from the farthest parts of Christendom. An immense revolution had thus been effected by Luther's instrumentality. Rome was already descending from her throne, and it was the voice of a monk that caused this humiliation."--Ibid., b. 7, ch. 8. {GC 155.1}
The elector Frederick had looked forward anxiously to Luther's appearance before the Diet, and with deep emotion he listened to his speech. With joy and pride he witnessed the doctor's courage, firmness, and self-possession, and determined to stand more firmly in his defense. He contrasted the parties in contest, and saw that the wisdom of popes, kings, and prelates had been brought to nought by the power of truth. The papacy had sustained a defeat which would be felt among all nations and in all ages. {GC 162.1}
As the legate perceived the effect produced by Luther's speech, he feared, as never before, for the security of the Romish power, and resolved to employ every means at his command to effect the Reformer's overthrow. With all the eloquence and diplomatic skill for which he was so eminently distinguished, he represented to the youthful emperor the folly and danger of sacrificing, in the cause of an insignificant monk, the friendship and support of the powerful see of Rome. {GC 162.2}
"I will preach, discuss, and write; but I will constrain none, for faith is a voluntary act. See what I have done. I stood up against the pope, indulgences, and papists, but without violence or tumult. I put forward God's word; I preached and wrote--this was all I did. And yet while I was asleep, . . . the word that I had preached overthrew popery, so that neither prince nor emperor has done it so much harm. And yet I did nothing; the word alone did all. If I had wished to appeal to force, the whole of Germany would perhaps have been deluged with blood. But what would have been the result? Ruin and desolation both to body and soul. I therefore kept quiet, and left the word to run through the world alone."--Ibid., b. 9, ch. 8.{GC 190.1}
"Power was given unto him to continue forty and two months." And, says the prophet, "I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death." And again: "He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword." The forty and two months are the same as the "time and times and the dividing of time," three years and a half, or 1260 days, of Daniel 7-- the time during which the papal power was to oppress God's people. This period, as stated in preceding chapters, began with the supremacy of the papacy, A.D. 538, and terminated in 1798. At that time the pope was made captive by the French army, the papal power received its deadly wound, and the prediction was fulfilled, "He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity." {GC 439.2}
The calm, dignified power of Luther humbled his enemies, and dealt a most dreadful blow to the papacy. The great and proud men in power meant that his blood should atone for the mischief he had done their cause. Their plans were laid, but a mightier than they had charge of Luther. His work was not finished. The friends of Luther hastened his departure from Augsburg. He left the city by night, mounted upon a horse without bridle, himself unarmed and without boots or spurs. In great weariness he pursued his journey until he was among his friends. {1T 373.1}
8. The healing of the wound - Since Protestantism (through God) inflicted and kept the wound open, the healing of the wound signified the fall or apostasy of Protestantism. In 1798 the captivity of the Pope was s sign that the deadly wound was already afflicted, so in the year 1929 on the 11th of February, the Italian government led by Benito Mussolini, restored its temporal power and returned the Pope to the Vatican City, it was a sign that the SDA’s had “turned back from following Christ her leader” and “was steadily returning toward Egypt.” 5T 217 The church then rejected truth in 1930
ALL THE WORLD WONDERED AFTER THE BEAST
1. It is very significant that the Bible points out that “all the world wondered after the beast” and not after the head. Since the beast represents the world, it shows that all the churches including Laodicea has largely partaken of the spirit of the beast,worldliness. The name “Blasphemy” over all the heads confirms the hypocrisy of the churches. Their celebrating Valentine, Halloween, Christmas keeping, etc. is additional evidence.
Who is able to make war with the beast? A challenge is made. Who can match the system (Western civilization) primarily composed of fallen Catholicism, apostate Protestantism, and capitalism, and so-called democracy. The current nature of the United Nations is an example of this system and this challenge.
SUMMARY:
The LLB is not a representation of the papacy but of our world of many churches, numerous governments with their own authority, descendent from the Roman Empire both Pagan and Papal. This beast primarily reveals the fall of the Papacy and the rise of Protestantism. The LLB could be termed, the Protestant beast, Christianized Rome, Western Civilization, the Assyrian beast, or what is generally thought to be the United Nations. This is the system that today is most influential in the world
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