Bible Study the 2 beasts

[lecoop]

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This "sea", or masses of people are looking to this "beast" [political beast] as their peace system. The "seven heads" are seven dominions of the people, or seven continents of this world body; as even the activities and divisions at the North and South Poles are governed through the United Nations Charter. It covers the entire world land masses.
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They were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, MedoPersia, Greece, Rome, and Germany

These were types of Beast systems of past of the" known world then", but not now.
Ask yourself is this world wide? Only the United Nations covers the entire world now.

I disagree. If we follow through Daniel as he speaks of these beasts, and links them each with a ancient empire, and then John as he compares the beasts kingdom, using the same leopard, lion, bear, etc, we know what John is telling us; that the same land masses as these ancient empires held, but with the people now living there, are where the beast will rise to power. Yes, the first image in Daniel had two legs and two feet, representing the Western part and the Eastern part, of the Roman Empire. Many people think that the beast will rise from the Western leg, but I think rather the Eastern leg, because these counties represent Egypt, Assyria, Babylon: all the land areas of the kingdoms that bullied Israel in the past. God is not talking about the whole world here, but just the Middle East; all the kingdoms that usurped authority over Israel in the past.

 

[stovebolts]

Forgive me, because I do not understand Revelation one bit. However, I would like to quote out of a book by James Burton Coffman (commentaries on Revelation [12]) Published by ACU Press (Abilene Christian University Press)

I hope this adds to your discussion.

Revelation 17:9 (KJV) And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

Here is the mind that hath wisdom… These words seem to be addressed to any temptation of taking an easy, literal view of the prophecy. As Plummer warned, any literal application as to the seven hills of Rome must not be considered to be the full significance of these words, despite the fact that, “They may indeed be a partial fulfillment, but not the whole signification.†[A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 417]

“The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth…†In this there is a subtle extension of the harlot’s stature, for she is represented a gathering up in herself all the authority and power of the first beast (13:1), even as did the second beast (13:12). “The seven heads†are here called seven mountains, just as they will be called seven kings in the next verse. Heads, mountains, kings… they all mean the same thing. Oh yes, to be sure, Rome sat on seven h ills, and it was quite natural to think of Rome in this context, for that was correct, in that Rome was indeed the sixth of the mountains, and the sixth of the kings, and the sixth of the heads. No mere “hills†are in view here.

“Rome dwells on her seven hills, but the Great Harlot in the vision sits among the great empires that have arisen, like mountains, in the history of the world.†[W. Boyd Carpenter, op cit., p. 612] Of course, there is not any connection, for the seven “hills†are not in it at all. There are no “mountains†in Rome. The seven mountains mean exactly the same thing as the seven heads and seven kings.

The seven mountains, kings, or kingdoms mentioned in this paragraph are seven manifestations of the beast in the successive eras of persecution suffered by God’s people: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome, the latter being the “one is†when John wrote; and the seventh appeared after Rome fell [ Frank L. Cox, op. cit., p. 102]


Robertson fully agreed with this: “The seven mountains, or seven kings, are manifestations of the beast in successive eras of oppression suffered by the people of Godâ€Â. [Charles H. Roberson, Studies in Revelation (Tyler, Texas; P.D. Wilmeth, P.O. Box 3305, 1957), p. 130]



Revelation 17:18 (KJV) And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
“The great city…†This is mystery Babylon, not literal Babylon, but still actually Rome. How so? The city of Rome is the capital of the pagan empire, and of the harlot-beast that succeeded her as the seventh head, the headquarters fo her entire operation. She is still careful to preserve the name “Roman†in every particular of her worldwide operation. The view that makes this the literal city of Rome falls woefully short, requiring that the scope of the prophecy cannot extend beyond literal Rome’s rule as a world empire, an epoch that ended in 476 A.D. It also requires that the radical alteration of the symbol “Babylon†must be ignored. Therefore, we cannot accept the view that only the literal city of Rome is meant.

“Which reigneth over the kings of the earth…†This was literally true in John’s day; but it is equally true historically, today, and ever since the words ceased to have any application at all to the literal city.
This verse takes us right up to the judgment day; but another view of final events will be given in chapter 18, culminating in the final judgment recorded at the end of that chapter (18)