View source for How Bible Symbols Are Understood

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There is only one other possible  explanation for the Beast. It must be&nbsp;<em>symbolic</em>. Many recognize  this, so it has produced an endless stream of&nbsp;<em>human</em>&nbsp;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.<br>

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!<br>

In other words, if God does not reveal  the meaning and identity of the beast(s)&mdash;then either&nbsp;<em>anything goes</em>,  or one can rightly conclude that there is no correct explanation and this  prophecy&nbsp;<em>cannot be understood</em>!<br>

So then, unless one is to give up or  choose to rely on human interpretation, we must accept a basic principle:<br>

What John  records in Revelation is written in&nbsp;symbol.&nbsp;As  established earlier, while he speaks in plain language, it&nbsp;<em>is</em>&nbsp;impossible  to understand his symbols by merely rereading various passages again and again  until their&nbsp;<em>meaning</em>&nbsp;suddenly &ldquo;comes clear.&rdquo; Since John uses&nbsp;<em>many</em>&nbsp;symbols, we need to  be able to understand the many&nbsp;<em>actual events</em>&nbsp;that these  symbols&nbsp;<em>represent</em>. Otherwise, we will not know what is being  described. Therefore, John&rsquo;s  description must contain sufficient clues that can be deciphered by examining  other verses in the Bible. Only&nbsp;<em>God</em>&nbsp;can interpret what He  inspired. This is most true of the book of Revelation. Since God inspired  Scripture,&nbsp;<em>He</em>&nbsp;must&nbsp;<em>always</em>&nbsp;interpret its  meaning.<br>
So let&rsquo;s understand!<br>

<strong>Beginning to Understand</strong><br>
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&mdash;and  vice versa&mdash;hence we revisit certain passages while examining new ones.<br>
Daniel reported&nbsp;<em>tremendous</em>&nbsp;news that  will affect you in your lifetime! We saw his entire message is for us today!<br>

One of the most important visions that Daniel recorded is in chapter 7, where, inspired by  God, he clearly explains and&nbsp;<em>interprets</em>&nbsp;the symbolism of the  Beast. This is actually where proper understanding of&nbsp;Revelation  13:1-18&nbsp;begins.<br>
Dan 7:3&nbsp;speaks of &ldquo;<em>four</em>&nbsp;great  beasts that came up&nbsp;<em>from the sea</em>.&rdquo;<br>

Dan 7:4&nbsp;describes the first beast as  &ldquo;like a&nbsp;<em>lion</em>.&rdquo; The verse contains other important descriptive  phrases.<br>

Dan 7:5&nbsp;describes the second beast as  &ldquo;like to a&nbsp;<em>bear</em>.&rdquo; The rest of this verse also contains additional  descriptive information.<br>

Dan 7:6&nbsp;describes the third beast as  &ldquo;like a&nbsp;<em>leopard</em>.&rdquo; While this verse gives more description, make  note that this beast had &ldquo;four heads.&rdquo;<br>

Dan 7:7&nbsp;describes the fourth beast as  unlike any creature or animal on Earth. It states that this beast is &ldquo;dreadful  and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had&nbsp;<em>great iron teeth</em>.&rdquo;  It is important to note that this fourth beast had &ldquo;ten horns.&rdquo;<br>

Remember, God interprets His own word.  He needs no help from men. What has He told us?<br>
Daniel&rsquo;s beasts, like the Beast of&nbsp;Revelation  13:1-18, come &ldquo;from the sea.&rdquo; This is our  first clue that what we are reading in&nbsp;Daniel 7:1-28&nbsp;is a&nbsp;<em>parallel</em>&nbsp;to the Beast.<br>

Other obvious parallels exist between  the description of the&nbsp;Revelation 13:1-18&nbsp;Beast and those that Daniel  pictures. Daniel&rsquo;s four beasts have a  total of&nbsp;<em>seven heads</em>&nbsp;(the leopard had four), as does the Revelation  13:1-18&nbsp;Beast. The&nbsp;Revelation  13:1-18&nbsp;Beast had 10 horns, and so does Daniel&rsquo;s fourth beast.<br>

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.<br>

But what exactly are the&nbsp;<em>four  beasts</em>? In&nbsp;Dan 7:16, we see that the &ldquo;interpretation of  the things&rdquo; can be known. God&rsquo;s immediate answer to Daniel&rsquo;s  question (Dan 7:17) is, &ldquo;These great beasts, which are  four, are four&nbsp;<em>kings</em>, which shall arise out of the earth.&rdquo; The term  &ldquo;kings&rdquo; is often synonymous with<em> kingdoms</em>, which, of course, kings  represent (Dan 7:18,&nbsp;22,&nbsp;24,&nbsp;27).<br>

From&nbsp;Dan  7:19&nbsp;forward, Daniel  focuses particularly on the fourth beast. Carefully read his description,  noticing&nbsp;Dan 7:23: &ldquo;The fourth beast shall be the&nbsp;fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall  be&nbsp;<em>diverse from all kingdoms</em>, and shall&nbsp;<em>devour the whole  earth</em>, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.&rdquo;<br>

And what are the &ldquo;ten horns&rdquo;?&nbsp;Dan  7:24&nbsp;interprets them: &ldquo;And the&nbsp;<em>ten  horns</em>&nbsp;out of this kingdom are<em> ten kings</em>&nbsp;[or kingdoms] that  shall arise.&rdquo; The 10 kings represent 10 separate kingdoms, nations or  governments.<br>

It is now clear that this beast cannot  be a human being or a church. Remember, the kings all come out of a&nbsp;<em>kingdom</em>.  The obvious meaning of the 10 horns is that they are also 10 separate and  sequential&nbsp;<em>kingdoms</em>&nbsp;because they all come from the fourth  kingdom, which is described as ruling &ldquo;the earth.&rdquo;<br>

This is a basic scriptural explanation of  terms, requiring no human interpretation to understand.<br>
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'''[[Christ and Saints Replace Fourth Beast]]'''
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'''Back to [[1The Bible’s Greatest Prophecies Unlocked!]]'''