The Simple Answers… To Life’s Most Important Questions.
Bible Study Course Lesson 3 – 2
So far we’ve talked about isolated pieces of prophecy, but to fully understand prophecy you have to have the big picture – somewhere to hang each of the pieces in their proper place. And to help us do that, God gave us the book of Daniel. Somewhere between 600 and 500 BC, Daniel had a series of visions; most involved the then-king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. As you learned in the last lesson, the key is to remember that all of these visions tell the exact same story – each with different symbols, and a few details added or omitted. Start by reading the story in Daniel 2:1-27.
Daniel wasn’t going to reveal this dream, God was going to reveal the secret to him (Daniel 2:28), and Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that this dream He was about to reveal, was about the future – a direct prophecy of the future of Nebuchadnezzar’s great kingdom (Daniel 2:29-30). The dream is revealed in Daniel 2:31-35. Now how can we interpret it? Must we guess what all these things mean? No! You are about to hear God’s interpretation. Not mine! Man cannot interpret the Bible, only the Bible can interpret the Bible.
First, Nebuchadnezzar is revealed as the “head of gold” (Daniel 2:36-38). So the head pictured Nebuchadnezzar, and by extension, his kingdom of Babylon. Notice this is a LITERAL kingdom, a physical kingdom, ruling over all manner of people, animals, and kings! Next, an “inferior kingdom will arise”, then another even more inferior – just as silver is of less value than gold, so brass is of less value than silver (Daniel 2:39). History tells us that in 539 BC Babylon fell to the Medo-Persian Empire.
It was indeed a weaker kingdom. It was pictured by chest and arms, and just as the human body has two arms, so the Medo-Persian Empire was made up of two peoples, the Medes and the Persians. Also like the human body, one of the arms was stronger than the other (the Persians) and wound up dominating the empire. Their kingdom fell in 331 BC to Alexander the Great; and he, it is said, was to “bear rule over all the Earth”; and Alexander did conquer the entire known world, far more than either Nebuchadnezzar or the Persians had done, from India to Egypt to Greece – all the world worth conquering was his.
So that’s three kingdoms, but what does the prophecy say happened next? Daniel 2:40 This fourth kingdom was of iron. Very strong, very hard, and “broke [nations] in pieces” and “subdueth all things”, so next Rome conquered the world with its legions of troops, carving up old nations and reshaping the known world in its own image. These are the only four kingdoms that have ever ruled the world! Never since the time of Nebuchadnezzar has world rule been held by anyone except those four kingdoms! What a proof of the inspiration of the Bible!
Notice the two legs of iron. God said this was because “the kingdom was divided”. And we find the fourth kingdom, Rome, was indeed divided around 300 AD into the western kingdom, based in Rome, and the eastern kingdom, based in Constantinople (later called Byzantium, now called Istanbul). So the two “legs” of the Roman Empire were indeed divided, nearly a thousand years after God prophesied it! But the prophecy isn’t finished; remember the feet and toes! (Daniel 2:41-42). This describes a period later, in our future yet, of ten kings, some strong, some weak, but they don’t get along very well (Daniel 2:43).
Now get the point of this whole prophecy! Daniel 2:44. In the days of THOSE KINGS (those ten toes), God shall set up a kingdom! Compare that with Revelation 11:15. Clearly, the point of this prophecy was to give an outline of every world-ruling power from the time of Daniel to the return of Jesus, roughly 2,600 years later. No details, just a framework, but the symbols are explained, and we have therefore many “bridges” of prophecy to work with now – and thus a way to fill in the details.
THE NEXT VERSIONS
Next turn to Daniel 7:1-3. Notice there are four beasts – the same number of kingdoms we just read in chapter 2. The details of each beast are given in Daniel 7:4-6, and then in Daniel 7:7 note the fourth beast has ten horns – just as the fourth kingdom of iron in chapter 2 had ten toes. These are bridges! And more will follow! Daniel 7:8 talks about a “little horn”, something not mentioned in chapter 2, who had three of the horns plucked up by the roots. And this little horn had a big mouth. Then in Daniel 7:9, we see the return of Christ.
Daniel 7:10-14 take the story past the return of Christ to judgment day, unlike chapter 2. Read these verses and compare them to Revelation 20 and you’ll find many more bridges. This is how we add prophecy together, and then it all makes one big picture! But back in Daniel 7:15-16, Daniel didn’t know what this meant! So he ASKED for an interpretation – and he got one, which he passed on to us! Daniel 7:17 – just as the four metals of the statue in chapter 2 represented four kingdoms, so also these four beasts represent the same four kingdoms! As always, the SAME STORY just told with different symbols and details! Daniel 7:18 shows the end is the same in both cases.
In Daniel 7:23-24 we are told the fourth beast (identified before as the Roman Empire) is divided into ten separate kings. Now before we move on, count the heads on these beasts – the first two each had one; the third had four; and the fourth had one. That’s SEVEN heads. But the last head – the one on the fourth beast – had ten horns. Remember that!
Then another king, DIFFERENT from the others – not one of the ten – will arise and subdue three of the horns. The prophecy stated they were “plucked up by the roots”, meaning they were COMPLETELY eradicated. So who is this “little horn”? Daniel 7:25. We’ll come back to him later. Daniel 8:1-19. Yet another vision for the same events – using yet more symbols. And once again, we don’t have to interpret it; the Bible does that for us. In Daniel 8:20 you’ll notice this prophecy begins, not with Nebuchadnezzar, the first beast, but with the Medo-Persian Empire, the second beast.
And just as the silver part of the image had two arms, so the ram has TWO horns – the Medes and Persians again. Daniel 8:21 identifies the third beast as the king of Greece – Alexander the Great – who then was “broken” (died), but he wasn’t plucked up by the roots! His kingdom was divided into FOUR kingdoms. Remember the four heads on the third beast of chapter 7? Here we have the same meaning, just different symbols; here, instead of heads, God uses HORNS to represent kingdoms. Daniel 11 again tells the exact same story, but this time with much more detail, too much to go into here.
Meanwhile, Daniel 11:2-4 again describe Alexander’s kingdom being divided “to the four winds” – that’s north, south, east, and west – and not to his descendants. History records that Alexander the Great’s empire was divided to his four generals, NOT to his offspring. The rest of Daniel 11, up to verse 32 was all fulfilled in the next few hundred years, and can be tied definitively to specific historic events which culminated in 168 BC. (For a more detailed explanation of these events, see “The Longest Prophecy” in your supplementary material in your online account). After verse 32 it shifts to the Christian period and then jumps to the end-time in Daniel 11:40. But before we get to the end times, first turn to Revelation and see the VERY SAME STORY is told and retold in Revelation as well!
Read Revelation 13. Now knowing that it is the same story you’ve just read, see how many bridges you can build on your own; go ahead, take the time, set the lesson aside, and try to figure it out. You’ll notice that Revelation 13 does not interpret these symbols – that’s why we started in Daniel, to get the FOUNDATION, where the symbols are explained!
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In Revelation 13:1, notice this single beast has the SAME number of heads as the four beasts had in Daniel – if you combine them! This is how God hides the truth in plain sight, keeping it hidden from those who won’t take the time to understand it, and LISTEN to the Bible! (Mark 4:23). You’ll also notice that the image in Daniel 2 had ten toes, and the fourth beast had ten horns, so this beast has ten horns. The same beast, then! But why is the description so different? Revelation 13:2. Go back now and read Daniel 7:4-7 again. Notice the beast in Revelation is made up of the strongest features of all the four beasts in Daniel! The strongest part of the lion is its mouth; the best part of the bear is its feet; and overall it was built like a leopard – sleek and strong.
Revelation doesn’t tell us which head had the ten horns, but Daniel made it clear it was the seventh head – the only head on the fourth beast – that had the ten horns. Who did this beast get its power from? Revelation 13:2. And who is the dragon – a person, a church, a nation? Revelation 12:9. So the devil is the power behind ALL these kingdoms? Luke 4:5-7. Is Satan called “the god of this world”? 2 Corinthians 4:4.
What is being revealed here as the beast, is actually series of KINGDOMS – kingdoms guided by Satan himself – who is the “god of this world”! And each time we trace the story of this kingdom, we find that after causing destruction and mayhem on the Earth, it is finally destroyed at the return of Christ when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of God! (Revelation 11:15). This story is told many more times in other places, but before we read any more versions, it’s time to stop and summarize. The first beast was Nebuchadnezzar, the head of gold, the lion (as an interesting side fact, lions do in fact HAVE a head of gold!).
The second beast was the Persian empire, the silver torso/arms, the bear. The third beast was Greece under Alexander the Great, who was pictured by the brass legs, the leopard, and the “great horn” that was broken into four pieces; this third beast was subdivided into four separate kingdoms, representing the four generals of Alexander. So far we have six heads. Then the Roman Empire came along, and gradually absorbed all of the heads that came before it.
Occupying all of their land, and more. By the time of Christ, all the heads had been incorporated into this fourth beast, the seventh head. In it were combined the royal pomp and ceremony of ancient Babylon – the head of the lion. The sheer numerical power of Persia’s armies – the strength of the bear. Add to this the speed, strategy, and brutality of Alexander – all qualities of the leopard. Thus it was like nothing the world ever saw before. Men can invent all sorts of fanciful, exciting interpretations to Bible prophecies. They can say the beast is a literal person, or a church, or a world dictator, or the antichrist, but if you want to understand the Bible, you have to let it explain itself. And after seeing symbol after symbol explained by the Bible, the conclusion is clear: the beast of Revelation 13 represents the world-ruling empires of this Earth – specifically the greatest of all, the Roman Empire! The most powerful world government this planet has seen.
THE LITTLE HORN
But now we need to explain that “little horn” back in Daniel 7:8. First though, we need to clearly define how a “head” is different from a “horn”. A head is a kingdom – this is plainly stated as you’ve already read. But a horn also appears to be a kingdom, from what you’ve read – so what is the difference? Read Daniel 8:3, 20. There was one EMPIRE – the Medo-Persian, sometimes just called the “Persian” empire. But in this kingdom were TWO kings – that is, two dynasties or factions of power. One headed by the Medes, and one by the Persians – that meant there are TWO horns on this one head. So the simple interpretation is that a head means a single empire; but a horn means a dynasty or kingdom that is within or a part of that empire!
Thus Nebuchadnezzar’s empire is always pictured with only one head, and no separate horns – because Babylon was always ruled by Nebuchadnezzar’s descendants. On the other hand, Greece is pictured having first ONE large horn – read Daniel 8:5-8, 21-22 – and then FOUR horns. Because there was one dynasty (Philip II of Macedon and his son, Alexander the Great), which ended abruptly with the death of Alexander who left behind no legitimate heir. So that “horn” was broken!
And in its place – but on the same beast, out of the same empire – stood up four smaller horns, which it says represent less powerful kings, and which history records were the four generals of Alexander! Each of which started their own dynasty – originally as part of the same “Grecian” Empire. But though these new kingdoms started out as Greek kingdoms – thus, horns – they were fiercely independent, warring constantly among themselves. They eventually established separate kingdoms, lost most of their Greek identity, and thus became separate independent HEADS as they are called in Daniel 7:6!
Now you can see when Rome took over, six of the heads were killed, along with their horns, and that left the SEVENTH head, Rome. And the prophecies spoke of this seventh head having TEN horns – which means ten separate dynasties. Note these are not necessarily genetic but rather political dynasties. ONE dynasty merely means a continuation of a single system of government. Now read Daniel 7:23-24. See what it said there? The ten horns come OUT OF this fourth beast. The fourth beast itself, the Roman Empire, is not counted as one of these ten horns; these all CAME OUT from that empire. Ten separate kings, or dynasties, that shall arise out of this seventh head.
Now we see again that “little horn”. So this is a little dynasty – built out of the same original Roman Empire – and yet somehow “different from the first”. And this little horn subdues – conquers – the first three horns. To find out who it is, we need to do what we’ve done over and over again in this course, starting with the words on the cross – find all the facts, add them up, remove anything redundant, and see what’s left! So take out a pad and start making a list of the characteristics of this horn; we’re going to do some detective work and gather clues from across the Bible. Then you should be able to figure it out easily just who this horn is!
Daniel 7:25 says this horn “shall speak great words against the most High”. He will “wear out the saints” – that is, fight against them, and win: “they shall be given into his hand”. He will “change times and laws”. Now back to Daniel 7:8 to gather more information. Here it says the horn has “eyes like a man”, and “a mouth speaking pompous words” (NKJV translation there). Verses 20-21 tell us this little horn is “more stout than his fellows” – that is, a longer lasting, more powerful, resilient kingdom. And this little horn “made war with the saints, and prevailed” – so this horn KILLED the true Christians!
Daniel 8:9 adds more information; keep making a list of the key features! I won’t try to explain all the prophecy here – there simply isn’t time – but Daniel 8:12 adds that his army “cast down truth to the ground”. Daniel 8:23-25 interpret these verses. There is a king “understanding dark sentences” – or pretending to – but Daniel 8:24 holds a great key: “his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power”! Now think about that – how can a king be MIGHTY, but not have his own power? All kings have armies, and those always do the fighting for the king; that’s still “the king’s power”, because they are the armies from his land, a part of his own empire. And yet this dark king’s power does not come from HIS kingdom, or HIS armies – but from someone else’s!
And by this power that is not his own – someone else’s armies fighting for him – he “destroys the mighty and holy people” – or as Daniel 7 said, he “wears out the saints”. But notice his greatest weapon isn’t a sword! It’s by PEACE that he destroys many! How can that be? Ask yourself what authority came out of the former Roman Empire, murdered the saints, changed times and laws, cast the truth (of the Bible) to the ground, speaks pompous words, has the power to start wars – in the name of “peace” – and can send armies from other nations to battle? If you know much of the history of the Middle Ages, you already know the answer. I won’t give it to you just yet, but keep reading!
THE MOUTH
Back in Revelation 13 now, which is, as always, the exact same story as all these other prophecies have been telling. This beast is the Roman Empire – this is one beast containing all the heads, all the horns, and all the features of the previous empires – just as Rome contained all the land, the best features, and the greatest glory of all the preceding kingdoms. So start by reading Revelation 13:1-3. We’ve covered the first two verses heavily now, but verse 3 is new; one of these seven heads (empires) is wounded to death. It dies! Remember, the seventh head was the Roman Empire, and it had killed the other 6 heads! The seventh was the only one left!
So this means that Rome received a deadly wound. But then it was healed – the empire was resurrected! The Roman Empire was given a deadly wound in AD 476, was overrun by barbarians, and no one thought it would ever recover… but it did! The Bible says the world worshiped the dragon – Satan – who gave power to this beast. And they worshiped the beast itself – Rome – saying “who is like the beast? Who can make war with him?” – which in passing I should mention proves that the beast is NOT a church, but a MILITARY power, so mighty that the other nations fear to make war against it!
Now read Revelation 13:4-8. There was given to this beast a MOUTH. This mouth is NOT the beast, but it is given TO the beast. Now take that pad you had a moment ago and compare what this “mouth” does, to what the “little horn” with a “mouth speaking pompous things” did (Daniel 7:8); see how easy prophecy is, if you use bridges? This mouth speaks “great things and blasphemies”. He makes war with the saints, and overcomes them. And he has power over all families, languages, and nations, and they WORSHIP him! This is the answer to how the little horn could be “mighty, but not by his own power”!
He exercises power over OTHER nations by getting them to worship him and the beast that was healed! The source of his power comes from the WORSHIP these other nations give him! Surely it is becoming clear who this is! Verse 11 starts again(!) to tell the same story from a different perspective, picking it up where verse 3 left off; but God assumes you just read verse 3, so He didn’t spell out all the information all over again! Revelation 13:5 says that this first beast was given a MOUTH – the mouth of the beast – and compare what that mouth said, with what this “beast” inRevelation 13:11-15 says! It’s the same thing!
So then verse 11’s “another beast… like a lamb” must be the same as the MOUTH of the beast, and since he also “exercises all the power of the first beast”, he must also be the same as the little horn who “is mighty, but not by his own power”! And this new beast has people worship, not itself, but the ORIGINAL beast! And this new beast has two horns – two dynasties – and “spoke as a dragon” – which, to put these prophecies together, means that the MOUTH, or the little horn, “spoke the words of the devil” for this new type of empire, fashioned after the FIRST military empire – Rome!
The mouth masquerades as a lamb – it pretends to represent THE Lamb, Jesus – but in reality it speaks the words of Satan, the dragon. Verse 14 says this mouth, the little horn, DECEIVES people, and causes them to worship an IMAGE, or a COPY of the original Roman Empire! And this mouth gave life to that image of the beast, and “resurrected it” – and causes whoever will not worship that new copy of the ancient empire to be killed. Notice carefully that he CAUSES them to be killed – he doesn’t kill them himself! Remember, his weapon is PEACE! (Daniel 8:25).
THE MAN OF SIN
In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, Paul prophesied a GREAT falling away; not one or two people, but a GREAT MANY people deserting the truth and turning to this false religion. Was this already happening at that time, nearly 2,000 years ago? 2 Thessalonians 2:5-7. The foundation for the man of sin’s “mystery of iniquity” was being laid even in Paul’s time; and sometime before Jesus returned, the “man of sin” would be revealed, sitting in the temple of God. Where is this temple of God he sits in? Is it in Jerusalem? Revelation 11:8. So God thinks of Jerusalem today as He thinks of Sodom? (Same verse). So where is the temple today? 1 Corinthians 3:16-17.
And not only are we, individually, the temple… is the church of God, collectively, the new temple of God? Ephesians 2:18-22. So the man of sin is not going to sit in some building which will be constructed in Jerusalem in the end times, the man of sin sits in the CHURCH OF GOD. But that same verse also said that he “exalteth himself above all that is called God”, and that He is “as God… shewing himself that he is God”. Did you know that, right this minute, there is a person on this Earth doing that very thing?
A person who teaches that he is above God; that he can overrule God’s commands. A man who believes he is above the Bible. Thus, he speaks “great pompous blasphemies against the most high”, “casts down truth to the ground”, and “magnifies himself against the prince of princes” and masquerades as the Lamb (Christ). And he is even the head of a church named “Church of God”! You know him as the Pope. He is head of a church, the full name of which very few know… “the Catholic Church of God”! Where he presents himself as the vicar of Christ, God on Earth! Verily, the man of sin IS ALIVE TODAY!
THE HISTORICAL FACTS
If you have studied any history of medieval Europe, the identity of this “little horn” cannot be denied. It is at the behest of the Pope that the Catholic Church slaughtered in the most horrific fashion, perhaps as many as 50,000,000 – yes, that’s 50 MILLION – Christians, on the suspicion of serving the true God, and not serving the Pope’s decrees. So he actually did “make war against the saints, and overcame them”. The Pope was responsible for the crusades, fighting mightily “but not by his own power”, yet in the name of “restoring PEACE to the holy land”! Because the Church itself killed no one; it CAUSED the local governments to martyr and kill the “heretics” who were suspected of obeying the Bible instead of the Pope.
All these things the Pope accomplished in the name of “peace”, just as Daniel prophesied a thousand years before the first Pope! There are many in EVERY nation that worship the Pope as the vicar of Christ – just as the Bible said that “all nations, and peoples, and tongues” would serve him. He has changed even the calendar itself (the present “Gregorian” calendar we all use is named after Pope Gregory XIII). How could anyone but God have known 2,000 years before it happened that it would be a Pope who would change the calendar the world uses?
The Vatican also deleted commandment #2 and divided #10 to fill up the space. He dispensed with pretty much every law in the Bible actually, and replaced them with those of his own choosing – rosaries, catechisms, penance, holy water, prayers to saints, confession, etc. In spite of all these things, he masquerades as a lamb, pretending to be a minister of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:13-15), when in fact he is merely a mouth for the devil – all of that is in your Bible. You read it in your own Bible, and every single fact I’ve stated here is easily verifiable in any library or all over the internet. There will be much more about this subject in future lessons, but that’s enough for now.
Meanwhile, now that you’ve identified this “little horn”, the “mouth”, it’s time to discover some of the other key Bible names for this office. You do this by comparing the notes on your pad to the descriptions of some of these other prophecies that men make such a mess of, simply because they don’t read the Bible and let it do the talking. Read Revelation 19:20. It should be an easy matter to identify these people now – who is the beast? Rome. Who then is this “false prophet”? What does it say about him here? Then compare this verse with Revelation 13:14. Can anyone argue that this “false prophet” is different from the “little horn”, the “mouth”, and the Pope? They all do the same things, in the same way! This is just a different title!
Then do the same thing in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12. You’ll find the same answer holds true for the “man of sin”, and you’ll hear much more about him in another lesson. For now, let’s wrap this up succinctly by comparing the following scriptures one after another: 2 Thessalonians 2:4; Daniel 11:36; Daniel 7:25; Daniel 8:11, 23-25; Revelation 13:5-8, 11-16; Revelation 19:20. After reading all those different scriptures from all over the Bible, doesn’t it feel like you really just read the SAME SCRIPTURE, just re-worded as the story was told in different ways? All of those verses say the same things about a certain person, but each calls him by a different name.
Yet all of those people, the “man of sin”, the “mouth of the beast”, the “little horn”, the “false prophet” – they ALL persecute the saints. They ALL deceive the nations. They ALL blaspheme God and proclaim themselves more powerful than God! That’s because they ALL are the same person – or at least, they all fill the same office! This is how we resolve prophecy and make it SIMPLE!
THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST
The Pope wasn’t the image. The Pope caused the world to WORSHIP the image. But what was this image? Was it the same as the resurrected beast? Revelation 14:9. So they are distinct – the beast is Rome, and the resurrected beast is the resurrected Holy Roman Empire under Justinian, Charlemagne, Otto, etc.; but the COPY of the beast is something else. So what did the nations worship that was copied from, or patterned after, the Roman Empire? Leo I, considered by many to be the first Pope (circa 400-461), was a key to starting this “image of the beast” just as the original empire was about to receive a mortal wound. As head of the Catholic Church, he organized the political structure of the Catholic Church government.
To understand the image of the beast, we must read what historians have said about him and his accomplishment: “During the reign of Leo I, the Church set up, within the Roman Empire, an ecclesiastical STATE [or GOVERNMENT] which, in its constitution and its administrative system, was shaping itself upon the [ROMAN] imperial MODEL.” (Myer’s Ancient History). The Encyclopedia Britannica calls the Roman Church an “Ecclesiastical EMPIRE”. Get that! Leo I (the “mouth” on the “little horn”) patterned the Church AFTER the ROMAN EMPIRE!
So that the Catholic Church became an “ecclesiastical state”, just as today Vatican City is not a part of Italy; it is a sovereign state, with ambassadors and embassies just like Germany, France, or Japan. And in its administrative system and constitution, it is patterned after ROME – the BEAST! Thus making it an IMAGE of or copy of the beast! And the Pope causes ALL to worship this new IMAGE of the beast! Further, there are TWO factions to this “dragon-in-lamb’s-clothing” ecclesiastical empire; the Catholic Church in the west, and the Greek Orthodox church in the east; TWO HORNS on that image of the beast!
THE WOMAN
Revelation 17 is – you guessed it – yet another version of the same story. This time focused on the image of the beast – here called a “woman”. Read Revelation 17:1-3. Notice that this woman RIDES the beast with seven heads and ten horns – that is, she controls it, she guides it, tells it where to go and what to do. The Pope did all these same things – for example, he caused the empires of Europe to fight in the crusades. But this “woman” is not the Pope! The Pope is always male, and the Bible is not so sloppy with its symbols! In the Bible, a woman ALWAYS represents a church (2 Corinthians 11:2), and this particular woman is “drunk with the blood of the saints” (Revelation 17:6), so surely it can only be one church – the church responsible for the inquisition!
Revelation 17:18 says this woman is “that great city” – so it is a church based in a great city. Which city is that?Revelation 17:9 says the woman sits on seven mountains. And believe it or not, the city of Rome is actually BUILT on seven literal hills! It is known as the “city of seven hills” for a reason! So this geographically identifies the woman! What other church is based in a great city built upon seven literal hills, that has reigned over the kings of Europe for much of the last 2,000 years? Notice in Revelation 17:7 that the beast “carries” the woman.
It supports her – it is from it that she draws her power. Revelation 17:9 explains the symbols here of the beast with seven heads; it says they are “seven mountains”. But besides the literal meaning of seven literal hills (remember, symbols are always true in every possible sense!), what is a mountain in Bible symbolism? Compare Daniel 2:35 and Daniel 2:44. So a mountain is a KINGDOM! So far we have four Bible-verified symbols for a government or kingdom – a beast, a head, a horn, and a mountain! When you read any of these in a Bible prophecy, you can now UNDERSTAND what God really meant using these tremendous keys to prophecy!
This woman was made as a spiritual copy of the original beast; a beast that had seven heads, or seven hills! Thus not only is the woman based in a city with seven hills, she was actually MADE as out of seven kingdoms! She is a copy of them! But in yet another layer, she has ruled over seven separate kingdoms since her birth – more on that in another lesson soon. I don’t want to focus on the woman here, because we are saving her to study in another lesson. For now, I’ll just make the obvious statement; she is the Catholic Church, the “image of the beast” that the “mouth given to the beast” causes the world to worship. The false prophet/man of sin/little horn/mouth of the beast is the Pope.
The Pope is NOT that woman, but he is the HEAD of that woman! Which is why they often appear doing the same things – because the Pope LEADS the woman, and the woman – the Catholic Church – LEADS the beast! And the beast is the Roman Empire, or in a broader sense the kingdoms of this Earth that Satan was given (Luke 4:6). There is much more in Revelation to say that is just as easy to understand, but we must move on. This is the skeleton of prophecy, not an exhaustive course in it. There will be other lessons about it as we go on.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
The Bible’s symbolism is rather like a find-and-replace word search. When you read “hill”, you should hear the literal word and meaning of “hill” (a high hill, going over a hill, etc.). But you should also understand that, whatever the context, God probably also means a small kingdom. When you read “star” you should read it at face value – because that’s true, and in that superficial sense it has meaning. But the primary meaning is almost always hidden behind the symbols God uses. For example, read Psalms 144:5-6.
Read it at face value; it’s nice, but doesn’t really say much useful. Why should God touch a mountain? Why does David want lightning to scatter mountains (that couldn’t really happen anyway!). But then go back and read it again with the symbols you’ve learned in these lessons; mountains=kingdoms, lightning=angels. Psalms 144:5-6 Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the kingdoms, and they shall smoke. Cast forth angels, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.
Now compare the new reading of this verse with Psalms 78:43-49. Understood in this way, you see that David is asking God to judge the end-time world to save the saints, just as He did in Egypt – for when God “touches” things, they burn up! (Psalms 37:20, Genesis 19:28, etc.), because God is a consuming FIRE! (Hebrews 12:29). This gives the Bible MEANING, in the places where it makes the least sense! And those are just two words changed. You can do that with literally every noun in the Bible!
Once you know what the Bible means when it uses words like “water”, “air”, “rock”, “sand”, “sun”, “arrow”, “house” and so on, it’s like translating the Bible into a new language – a language you actually understand!.. But that’s another lesson. Actually, that’s quite a few other lessons.
~ Lesson chart below ~
| Daniel 2 | Daniel 7 | Daniel 8 | Daniel 11 | Revelation 13 | Events Fulfilled in History |
| Head of gold | Lion with eagle’s wings; man’s heart was given to it | Babylon (625-538 BC) | |||
| Breast and arms of silver | Bear with 3 ribs in its mouth, devours much Flesh | Medo-Persian Empire (528-330 BC) | |||
| Belly and thighs of brass | Leopard with 4 wings and 4 heads, dominion was given to it | He goat with a notable horn between his eyes, broke the horns of the ram, his own horn was broken and 4 horns rose out of it | Rules with great dominion, kingdom is broken in 4 pieces towards the corners of the earth | Greek Empire under Alexander (began 333 BC) | |
| Legs of iron | Dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong, iron teeth, devoured and broke in pieces | King of the North King of the South | Roman Empire (31 BC to 476 AD) | ||
| Feet of iron and clay | (4th beast continued) it stamped the residue with its feet, had 10 horns and a little horn which destroyed 3 of the other horns, little horn has the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things | …The 7 Heads… | |||
| Ten Toes | Ten Horns |
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