Taking a short break
from the other study to get a different perspective. We started out with Daniel
and Revelation by Uriah Smith and today we are going back to him for a bit. I
wanted more in- depth for this. Because we don't all know this, we just don't. Tomorrow we're going to jump back to William
Grotheer's take on this which brings up more questions and may God help us in
all this, that we find the understanding we need.
In the name of
Jesus, always! Amen.
The Beasts in
Revelation 13-
REVELATION CHAPTER
-- XIII -- Persecuting Powers Professedly Christian (By Uriah Smith- Daniel and Revelation)
p 558 - VERSE 1. And
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. 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. 3.
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. 4.
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? 5. 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. 6. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy
against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in
heaven. 7. And it was given unto him to make war with
the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds,
and tongues, and nations. 8. 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.
9. If any man have an ear, let
him hear. 10. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into
captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here
is the patience and the faith of the saints.
The sea is a symbol
of "peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues." Rev. 17:15. A
beast is the Bible symbol of an unrighteous nation, or power, representing
sometimes the civil power alone, sometimes the ecclesiastical in connection with
the civil. Whenever a beast is seen to come up out of the sea, it denotes that
the power arises in a thickly populated territory; and if the winds are
represented as blowing upon the sea, as in Dan. 7:2, 3, political commotion,
civil strife, and revolution are indicated.
p 559 -- By the
dragon of the previous chapter, and the beast first introduced in this, we have
the Roman power as a whole brought to view in its two phases, pagan and papal;
hence these two symbols have each the seven heads and ten horns. (See on chapter
17:10.)
The seven-headed and
ten-horned beast, or, more briefly, the leopard beast, here introduced,
symbolizes a power which exercises ecclesiastical as well as civil authority.
This point is of sufficient importance to justify the introduction of a few of
the conclusive arguments which go to prove it.
The line of prophecy
in which this symbol occurs commences with chapter 12. The symbols of earthly
governments embraced in the prophecy are, the dragon of chapter 12, and the
leopard beast and two-horned beast of chapter 13. The same line of prophecy evidently
continues into chapter 14, closing with verse 5 of that chapter. Commencing,
therefore, with verse 1 of chapter 12, and ending with verse 5 of chapter 14,
we have a line of prophecy distinct and complete in itself.
Each of the powers
here introduced is represented as fiercely persecuting the church of God. The
scene opens with the church, under the symbol of a woman, anxiously longing for
the promise to be fulfilled that the seed of the woman, the Lord of glory, should
appear among men. The dragon stood before the woman for the purpose of
devouring her child. His evil design is thwarted, and the child is caught up to
God and his throne. A period follows in which the church suffers severe
oppression from this dragon power. And though in this part of the scene the
prophet occasionally glances forward, once even down almost to the end, bacons
all the enemies of the church were to be actuated by the spirit of the dragon,
yet in verse 1 of chapter 13 we are carried back to the time when the leopard
beast, the successor of the dragon, commences his career. From this power, for
the long period of 1260 years, the church suffers war and persecution.
Following this period of oppression, the church has another conflict, brief,
but sharp and severe, with the two-horned beast. Then comes deliverance; and
the prophecy closes with the
p 560 -- church
brought safely through all her persecutions, and standing victorious with the
Lamb on Mount Zion. Thank God for the sure promise of final victory!
The one character
which ever appears the same in all these scenes, and whose history is the
leading theme through all the prophecy, is the church of God. The other
characters are her persecutors, and are introduced simply because they are
such. And here, as an introductory inquiry, we raise the question, Who or what
is it that persecutes the true church? - It is a false or apostate church. What
is it that is ever warring against true religion? - It is a false and
counterfeit religion. Who ever heard of the civil power, merely, of any nation,
persecuting the people of God? Governments may war against other governments,
to avenge some wrong, real or imaginary, or to acquire territory and extend
their power, as nations have often warred against the Jews; but governments do
not persecute (mark the word - do not persecute) people on account of their
religion, unless under the control of some opposite and hostile system of
religion. But the powers introduced in this prophecy, - the dragon, the leopard
beast, and the two-horned beast, - are all persecuting powers. They are
actuated by rage and enmity against the people and church of God. And this fact
is of itself sufficiently conclusive evidence that in each of these powers the
ecclesiastical or religious element is the controlling power.
Take the dragon:
what does it symbolize? - The Roman empire, is the undeniable answer. But this
is not enough. No one would be satisfied with this answer and no more. It must
be more definite. We then add, The Roman empire in its pagan form, to which all
must also agree. But just as soon as we say pagan, we introduce a religious
element; for paganism is one of the hugest systems of counterfeit religion that
Satan ever devised. The dragon, then, is so far an ecclesiastical power that
the very characteristic by which it is distinguished is a false system of
religion. And what made the dragon persecute the church of Christ? - It was
because Christianity was prevailing against paganism, sweeping away its
superstitions, overturning its idols, and dismantling its
p 561 -- temples.
The religious element of that power was touched, and persecution was the
result.
We now come to the
leopard beast of chapter 13. What does that symbolize? The answer still is, The
Roman empire. But the dragon symbolized the Roman empire, and why does not the
same symbol represent it still? - Ah! there has been a change in the religious
character of the empire; and this beast symbolizes Rome in its professedly
Christian form. And it is this change of religion, and this alone, which makes
a change in the symbol necessary. This beast differs from the dragon only in
that he presents a different religious aspect. Hence it would be altogether
wrong to affirm that it denotes simply the Roman civil power.
To this beast the
dragon gives his seat, his power, and great authority. By what power was pagan
Rome succeeded? We all know that it was by papal Rome. It matters not to our
present purpose when or by what means this change was effected; the great fact
is apparent, and is acknowledged by all, that the next great phase of the Roman
empire after its pagan form was its papal. It would not be correct, therefore,
to say that pagan Rome gave its seat and power to a form of government merely
civil, having no religious element whatever. No stretch of the imagination can
conceive of such a transaction. But two phases of empire are here recognized;
and in the prophecy, Rome is pagan until Rome is papal. The statement that the
dragon gave to the leopard beast his seat and power, is further evidence that
the dragon of Rev. 12:3 is not a symbol of Satan personally; for Satan has not
abdicated in favor of any other malevolent being; and he has not given up his
seat to any earthly power.
But it may be said
that it takes the leopard beast and two-horned beast together to constitute the
papacy, and hence it is to these that the dragon gives his power, seat, and
great authority. But the prophecy does not say so. It is the leopard beast alone
with which the dragon has to do. It is to that beast alone that he gives his
power, seat, and great authority. It is that beast that has a head that is
wounded to death, which is afterward healed; that beast that the whole
p 562 -- world
wonders after; that beast that receives a mouth speaking blasphemies, and that
wears out the saints for 1260 years; and all this before the succeeding power,
the two-horned beast, comes upon the stage of action at all. The leopard beast
alone, therefore, symbolizes the Roman empire in its papal form, the
controlling influence being ecclesiastical.
To show this more
fully, we have but to draw a parallel between the little horn of Dan. 7:8, 20,
24, 25, and this power. From this comparison it will appear that the little
horn referred to and the leopard beast symbolize the same power; but the little
horn is acknowledged on all hands to be a symbol of the papacy. There are six
points of identity, as follows: -
1. The little horn was a blasphemous power.
"He shall speak great words against the Most High." Dan. 7:25. The
leopard beast of Rev. 13:6 does the same. "He opened his mouth in
blasphemy against God."
2. The little horn made war with the saints,
and prevailed against them. Dan. 7:21. This beast also (Rev. 13:7) makes war
with the saints, and overcomes them.
3. The little horn had a month speaking
great things. Dan. 7: 8, 20. And of this beast we read, Rev. 13:5: "And
there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies."
4. The little horn arose on the cessation of
the pagan form of the Roman empire. The beast of Rev. 13:2 arises at the same
time; for the dragon, pagan Rome, gives him his power, his seat, and great
authority.
5. Power was given to the little horn to
continue for a time, times, and the dividing of time, or 1260 years. Dan. 7:25.
To this beast also power was given for forty-two months, or 1260 years. Rev.
13:5.
6. At the end of that specified period, the
dominion of the little horn was to be taken away. Dan. 7:26. At the end of the
same period, the leopard beast was himself to be "led into
captivity." Rev. 13:10. Both these specifications were fulfilled in the
captivity and exile of the pope, and the temporary overthrow of the papacy by
France in 1798.
p 563 -- Here are
points that prove identity; for when we have in prophecy two symbols, as in
this instance, representing powers that come upon the stage of action at the
same time, occupy the same territory, maintain the same character, do the same
work, exist the same length of time, and meet the same fate, those symbols
represent the same identical power.
Now all the
particulars above specified do apply alike to the little horn, and the leopard
beast of chapter 13, showing that these two symbols represent the same power.
It is admitted on all hands that the little horn represents the papacy; and he
who claims that this leopard beast does not represent the same, must, to be
consistent, show that at the same time that the papacy arose, there arose
another great power exactly like it, occupying the same territory, bearing the
same character, doing the same work, continuing the same length of time, and
meeting the same fate, and yet a separate and distinct power; which would be as
absurd as it would be impossible.
The head that was
wounded to death was the papal head. We are held to this conclusion by the very
obvious principle that whatever is spoken in prophecy of the symbol of any
government, applies to that government only while it is represented by that
symbol. Now Rome is represented by two symbols, the dragon and the leopard
beast, because it has presented two phases, the pagan and the papal; and
whatever is said of the dragon applies to Rome only in its pagan form, and
whatever is said of the leopard beast applies to Rome only in its professedly
Christian form. But Rome was pagan in John's day, who lived under the sixth or
imperial head. This shows us at once that six of the heads, including the
imperial, belong to the dragon; and if it was any one of these heads which was
wounded to death, then it was one of the heads of the dragon, or one of the
forms of government that belonged to Rome in its pagan form, and not one of the
heads of the beast; and John should have said, I saw one of the heads of the dragon
wounded to death. But he says that it was one of the heads of the beast that
was wounded to death. In other words, this wound fell upon some form of
government that existed in the Roman empire after its change from paganism
p 564 -- to
Christianity. But after this change, there was but one head, and that was the
papal. 1 Thus it is placed beyond
controversy that it was none other than the papal head that was wounded to
death, and his deadly wound was healed. This wounding is the same as the going
into captivity. Rev. 13:10. It was inflicted when the pope was taken prisoner
by Berthier, the French general, and the papal government was for a time
abolished, in 1798. Stripped of his power, both civil and ecclesiastical, the
captive pope, Pius Vl, died in exile at Valence in France, Aug. 29, 1799. But
the deadly wound was healed when the papacy was re-established, though with a
diminution of its former power, by the election of a new pope, March 14, 1800.
(See Bower's History of the Popes, pp. 404-428; Croly on the Apocalypse, London
edition, p. 251.)
This beast opens his
mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name. (See mention under Dan.
7:25 of the presumptuous titles assumed by the popes.)
He blasphemes the
tabernacle in heaven by turning the attention of his subjects to his own throne
and palace instead of to the tabernacle of God; by turning their attention away
from the city of God, Jerusalem above, and pointing them to Rome as the eternal
city; and he blasphemes them that dwell in heaven by assuming to exercise the
power of forgiving sins, and so turning away the minds of men from the
mediatorial work of Christ and his heavenly assistants in the sanctuary above.
By verse 10 we are
again referred to the events of 1798, when that power that had for 1260 years
led the saints of God into captivity, was led into captivity itself, as already
noticed.
1-- The symbol as here presented has but seven
heads, denoting seven forms of government, not contemporaneous but successive.
Of course only one head is ruling at any one time; but all are placed alike
upon the dragon and beast to identify both these symbols as denoting the Roman
power. Six heads belonged to the dragon; that is, six forms of government were
developed and passed away one after another,while the religion of Rome was
pagan; and only one remained to be developed after the change to Christianity,
and that was the papal; which as a spiritual power continues to the end (2
Thess. 2:8), and as a temporal power to the time when his dominion is taken
away just before the end. Dan. 7:26.
******* Continuing our prophecy study-- Please
GO back and READ the study from the beginning to gain full understanding of
where we are if you haven't been following this study daily. Thank you
:) God bless you! ******
More on this
tomorrow by the grace of our GOD!
Please Lord, please
forgive me for not being more. Please.
Help us, help me.
No comments:
Post a Comment