How Bible Symbols Are Understood
Christ and the Saints Replace Fourth Beast
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There is only one other possible explanation for the Beast. It must be symbolic. Many recognize this, so it has produced an endless stream of human interpretations for what the Beast, and other descriptions in Revelation, represent. But it is useless to try to assign an arbitrary meaning to such graphic symbolism.
If the Bible does not explain who or what the Beast is, then its identity is subject to every possible human interpretation. No one would have a right to claim to be more correct than anyone else. Many others attempt to understand the Beast, only to give up in hopeless frustration, thinking that no proper explanation and meaning of this, or of the other two beasts, is possible!
In other words, if God does not reveal the meaning and identity of the beast(s)—then either anything goes, or one can rightly conclude that there is no correct explanation and this prophecy cannot be understood!
So then, unless one is to give up or choose to rely on human interpretation, we must accept a basic principle:
What John records in Revelation is written in symbol. As established earlier, while he speaks in plain language, it is impossible to understand his symbols by merely rereading various passages again and again until their meaning suddenly “comes clear.” Since John uses many symbols, we need to be able to understand the many actual events that these symbols represent. Otherwise, we will not know what is being described. Therefore, John’s description must contain sufficient clues that can be deciphered by examining other verses in the Bible. Only God can interpret what He inspired. This is most true of the book of Revelation. Since God inspired Scripture, He must always interpret its meaning.
So let’s understand!
Beginning to Understand
Through a series of dreams and visions, God used the prophet Daniel to reveal enormous prophetic understanding about how and when His kingdom would come to Earth (Dan. 1:17). Understanding Revelation is inseparable from, and impossible without, understanding Daniel—and vice versa—hence we revisit certain passages while examining new ones.
Daniel reported tremendous news that will affect you in your lifetime! We saw his entire message is for us today!
One of the most important visions that Daniel recorded is in chapter 7, where, inspired by God, he clearly explains and interprets the symbolism of the Beast. This is actually where proper understanding of Revelation 13:1-18 begins.
Dan 7:3 speaks of “four great beasts that came up from the sea.”
Dan 7:4 describes the first beast as “like a lion.” The verse contains other important descriptive phrases.
Dan 7:5 describes the second beast as “like to a bear.” The rest of this verse also contains additional descriptive information.
Dan 7:6 describes the third beast as “like a leopard.” While this verse gives more description, make note that this beast had “four heads.”
Dan 7:7 describes the fourth beast as unlike any creature or animal on Earth. It states that this beast is “dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth.” It is important to note that this fourth beast had “ten horns.”
Remember, God interprets His own word. He needs no help from men. What has He told us?
Daniel’s beasts, like the Beast of Revelation 13:1-18, come “from the sea.” This is our first clue that what we are reading in Daniel 7:1-28 is a parallel to the Beast.
Other obvious parallels exist between the description of the Revelation 13:1-18 Beast and those that Daniel pictures. Daniel’s four beasts have a total of seven heads (the leopard had four), as does the Revelation 13:1-18 Beast. The Revelation 13:1-18 Beast had 10 horns, and so does Daniel’s fourth beast.
The most important parallel is that John and Daniel both describe beasts that involve a leopard, a bear and a lion. This cannot possibly be a coincidence. Both obviously describe related beasts! We will later see that the unmistakable parallels continue.
But what exactly are the four beasts? In Dan 7:16, we see that the “interpretation of the things” can be known. God’s immediate answer to Daniel’s question (Dan 7:17) is, “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.” The term “kings” is often synonymous with kingdoms, which, of course, kings represent (Dan 7:18, 22, 24, 27).
From Dan 7:19 forward, Daniel focuses particularly on the fourth beast. Carefully read his description, noticing Dan 7:23: “The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.”
And what are the “ten horns”? Dan 7:24 interprets them: “And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings [or kingdoms] that shall arise.” The 10 kings represent 10 separate kingdoms, nations or governments.
It is now clear that this beast cannot be a human being or a church. Remember, the kings all come out of a kingdom. The obvious meaning of the 10 horns is that they are also 10 separate and sequential kingdoms because they all come from the fourth kingdom, which is described as ruling “the earth.”
This is a basic scriptural explanation of terms, requiring no human interpretation to understand.
Christ and the Saints Replace Fourth Beast