The apostle John in Revelation 13 has a vision of a beast rising up out of the sea. Re 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

The aspect of this beast is similar to a leopard. Re 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like 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.

 

The interpretation of the symbols in the vision, if we follow the example of the visions given to the prophet Daniel (Da 7:17), is that the beast is a government; the sea represents multitudes of peoples (a nation); and the dragon represents Satan (Re 12:9).

If we look at the characteristics of a leopard, we find that leopards are solitary hunters who like to ambush their prey by pouncing on them from a tree at night, in difference to a lion who actively pursues its prey in the daylight. This is why lions are traditionally thought of as courageous, something that our leopard-like government is lacking. Leopards utilize the element of surprise in order to kill their prey, not so much strength or speed.

This government, according to the aforementioned characteristics, prefers secrecy and anonymity. Therefore, it will function through subterfuge; it will not come out in the open and state the truth to its citizens.

The beast has the paws of a bear. Bear paws are plantigrade, they lie flat on the ground like a human foot; they walk with the entire lower surface of the foot touching the ground. The leopard, in contrast, walks on its toes. The bear paw implies a government that is "down to earth" with its feet on the ground, not as a leopard who only walks on its toes. We think it would therefore be a government "of the people", not a monarchy or one with an aristocracy.

Another difference is that leopards have claws that are retractable; bear claws are not retractable; bears always have their claws out. The nonretractable bear claws implies a government that never plays nice, therefore, he will not be merciful with those that disobey him.

This beast kills those that will not obey the orders of putting on "the mark of the beast." Re 20:4.

This beast makes war with the saints (followers of Christ) and overcomes them. Re 13:7 And it was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and languages, and nations.

The apostle states that the dragon gave the beast his power, and his seat, and great authority. Therefore, this beast is determined to do the will of Satan.

Re 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

There is another beast Re 13:11 and I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon.

This beast might have a milder appearance with two horns like a lamb, but he is no lamb, he speaks as the dragon (Satan).

 

Re 13:12. And he exercises all the power of the first beast before him, and causes the earth and them who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

It deceives humanity by doing miracles. Re 13:13 And he does great wonders, so that he makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

This 2nd beast that looks similar to a lamb deceives humanity and commands the nations into "making an image" of the leopard-like beast. Re 13:14 And deceives them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and lived.

The 2nd beast is a repressive entity which not only deceives the multitudes by the "miracles" that he is able to do, but kills those which oppose the orders given by the 1st beast. Re 13:15 And he had power to give life to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

What could the apostle John have meant when he stated "to give life " to the image of the beast so that the image should "speak"? The apostle John saw something that looked like the leopard-like beast which was able to speak, but he realized it was not the real beast. We believe that it is possible for an image to speak with the advent of movies, TV, and videos. With this technology we can see life images of things that are occurring, images of things that have occurred in the past, and visions of the future.

This 2nd beast, therefore, is working in unison with the 1st beast .

He also makes everybody to get a mark that is used, among other things, to buy or sell.
 Re 13:16 And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Re 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save him that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

There are many speculations as to the identity of the two beasts. With the advance of technology, many religious groups worry that the technology already exists today to create an implantable device, that will be used as a identifier and "credit card" This is believed to be the "mark" of the beast and it will be necessary to buy or sell.

The following current events are in motion to ease the public's acceptance of the mark of the beast:

  1. Steadily, over the years, a one-world government is becoming a reality.
  2. The unification of Europe is one step in the direction of a one-world government
  3. A common currency (the euro) is already established in most of the European nations.
  4. English is the unifying language for the world -- the language of the internet.
  5. The credit/debit card is making a cashless society a reality.
  6. The debit card is used most everywhere and is accepted more easily than money.
  7. Money in paper form is no longer accepted in many establishments, especially denominations of $50 & $100.
  8. The implantation of foreign parts into humans is already accepted by the public as "normal."

We believe that it will not take long for an identity/credit/debit/social  security card to be "implanted" into human beings. It will serve many purposes. Not only will it be used to identify the person, due to the fact that it cannot be lost or removed, it will also be used as a credit/debit card. It could contain important information that could "save" the person's life such as: allergies, medications being taken, and medical history.

The "implant" could be used as a locator device in case the person or child became lost or kidnapped. It could also be used as a phone device and portable PC.

The leopard-like beast is identified by a number that we are supposed to count.

Re 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that has understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty six.

There are many possibilities in which to take the number and count it and arrive to the 666 total. It could be the social security number which is divided into three sections and the addition of the three sections would come up to 666. If this is the case there are several possible combinations that could give this total.

There could be other possibilities. New developments in technology may open our eyes to realize new meanings to these prophesies. As Christ advised us, keep up the watch!

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