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. 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. 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 worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped 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, and 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.
-Revelation 13:1-8
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
-1 John 4:3
The Beast from the sea is a composite of the four beasts that emerge from the “great sea” in the vision of Daniel 7. The sea represents the Gentiles, the world of the ancient Mediterranean, and the forces of chaos. Leviathan, a symbol of chaos in the Old Testament, is a sea dragon (compare Tiamat), and has obvious resonance with the seven-headed Dragon of Revelation and the Beast from the sea. In Daniel 7, the various beasts represent Gentile empires that oppress Israel. In Revelation, that theme is applied to the Church as well (the distinction or otherwise between these two entities lies beyond the scope of this post).
Although those ancient empires are gone today, we see attempts by various forces to procure an anti-Christian empire once again, a force that ignores national differences and national sovereignty, a force that wishes to keep the Gospel of Christ and the word of truth from the nations’ hearing. Revelation tells us that the Beast will be successful in persecuting the saints, but it will not destroy them all. At the end, the saints will witness Christ destroying the Beast and instituting His own kingdom rule.
John tells us that the spirit of antichrist is already abroad in the world. Traditionally, the Church has identified the Beast as a facet of antichrist, the nuance of his role as an imperial tyrant, a political and military figure. The spirit of such a figure is already at work, even if his final empire has not quite coalesced. Wherever Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, is denied, antichrist is at work. For this reason, I believe that in our prayers for our nations recovery, we must pray against the spirit of antichrist, that Christ would have the victory.
All Along the Watchtower 
Close but no cookie
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“Although those ancient empires are gone today”
It doesn’t amaze me anymore how the unsaved don’t believe one word of the bible, yet they wave it around and hold it up and kiss it in their dog and pony show religion rituals.
The bible says, or more to the point, Jesus says in the book of Rev, that there is a beast that was and yet is. Rome. It ruled the world, then died and then ruled as a religion, appointing kings and burning bible believers and those who tried to get bibles in our hands.One of its heads was wounded unto death under good brother Napoleon, but good brother Mussolini gave it back its city in 1929 and the world wondered at it. It died and yet it still is. And its just as corrupt as it ever was. And its taking to hell all that follow it. But its not over yet. I think in Daniel, maybe, but its somewhere, that two women with wings of a stork, lift up this nasty being and bring it back to Babylon. I believe it uses its location as the plain of Shinar, where Babylon is, or was, but it is there now. One can visit its ruins. Storks are unclean animals. So what do we make of this? This nasty beast mystery Babylon is in Rome today. But an unclean spirit picks it up and brings it to Shinar where it rules from there once again. This means that Babylon will rise and rule once again, from the real Babylon in the plain of Shinar. Sounds ridiculous. But even all you unsaved folks have to admit that 100 yrs ago, people thought that Israel being a nation again was impossible and must have some other meaning. Some religions called themselves the “spiritual Israel”. But god said he would once again, in the latter days, gather his people on the mountains of Israel…and he did….just recently, and it is a cup of trembling just as the prophets said it would be. I believe this nasty bloodthirsty beast that slithers in Rome will transfer its seat to a rebuilt Babylon in Iraq, just as the prophets predicted. I believe this, but I don’t see how it could be donewith all these wacked out muslims running around killing everyone. They will have to be dealt with. But how? Well, its not up to me to figure it out but I believe the bible.
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Givin second thought, the vision of the two women with storks wings are in Isaiah, im pretty sure, not Daniel. Im going on my memory. I don’t bother looking up stuff. But all you false religion people here know that when I say something is in scripture, you all know it is there even if I don’t give the verse. You’ve known me for long enough now. One more tid bit….if anyone come in contact with the dead…bones, flesh or in the home where a dead person is…is unclean for 7 days. Every catholic roman temple is supposed to have a piece of some dead catholic idolater, in theory and practice. That means every time cathols attend their dog and pony mass shows, they are in contact with the dead and are unclean for 7 days. Satan, I mean who ever said cathols must attend every sunday, stay unclean their whole life. Just thought id mention that.
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Nope, the prophesy of the women with storks wings are in Zachariah cp 5. Doesn’t matter what book things are in…its all from the same author.
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Most interesting to note this as am hoping to finish a blog on Daniel today.
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I look forward to reading it. I have been mulling whether Mark Davidson’s futuristic interpretation of Daniel 8 will come to pass. I’m looking forward to when his new book comes out in the summer.
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Nichols, I’ve re-blogged some of Mark’s posts as his Four Signposts theory warrants careful consideration.
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