• Revelation—What It Means for God’s Enemies
    The Watchtower (Study)—2022 | May

    • THE IDENTITY OF GOD’S ENEMIES REVEALED

      The seven-headed wild beast of Revelation, coming out of the sea of mankind. It has ten horns and ten diadems on its heads and has the appearance of a leopard, the feet of a bear, and the mouth of a lion.

      THE SEVEN-HEADED WILD BEAST

      It ascends “out of the sea” and has seven heads, ten horns, and ten diadems. (Rev. 13:1-4) It symbolizes all political powers that have dominated mankind throughout history. The seven heads symbolize seven world powers that have had significant dealings with God’s people (See paragraphs 6-8)

      6. What is the meaning of the seven-headed wild beast mentioned at Revelation 13:1-4?

      6 What is the seven-headed wild beast? (Read Revelation 13:1-4.) We notice that this beast has the general appearance of a leopard but the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion, and it has ten horns. All of these are also features of the four beasts mentioned in Daniel chapter 7. Yet, here in the book of Revelation, these characteristics are combined into one beast, not four separate beasts. This wild beast does not represent just one government or world empire. It is spoken of as ruling “over every tribe and people and tongue and nation.” So it must be greater than any single national government. (Rev. 13:7) This wild beast, then, must represent all the political powers that have dominated humankind down through history.b​—Eccl. 8:9.

      7. What do each of the seven heads of the wild beast represent?

      7 What do each of the seven heads represent? A clue is found in Revelation chapter 17, which describes an image of the beast mentioned in Revelation chapter 13. At Revelation 17:10, we are told: “There are seven kings: Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet arrived; but when he does arrive, he must remain a short while.” Of all the political powers that Satan has used, seven have stood out prominently as “heads.” These are the world empires that have had a considerable impact on God’s people. By the apostle John’s day, five of these had already appeared on the world scene: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. The sixth world power, Rome, was still ruling when John received the revelation. What would prove to be the seventh and final world power, or head?

      8. Whom does the seventh head of the wild beast represent?

      8 As we will see, the prophecies in the book of Daniel help us identify the seventh and final head of the wild beast. What world power has been ruling during this time of the end, during “the Lord’s day”? (Rev. 1:10) It is the combination of the United Kingdom and the United States of America, in other words, the Anglo-American World Power. We may therefore conclude that it is the seventh head of the wild beast mentioned at Revelation 13:1-4.

      The wild beast with two horns like a lamb, described in the book of Revelation. It springs from the seventh head of the seven-headed wild beast and ends up in the lake of fire.

      A WILD BEAST WITH TWO HORNS LIKE A LAMB

      It ascends “out of the earth” and speaks “like a dragon.” It makes “fire come down out of heaven” and performs signs as “the false prophet.” (Rev. 13:11-15; 16:13; 19:20) As a two-horned beast and a false prophet, Anglo-America misleads earth’s inhabitants and tells them to “make an image” of “the wild beast” that has seven heads and ten horns (See paragraph 9)

      9. What is represented by the wild beast with “two horns like a lamb”?

      9 Revelation chapter 13 goes on to tell us that this seventh head, the Anglo-American World Power, also acts as a wild beast with “two horns like a lamb, but it began speaking like a dragon.” This beast “performs great signs, even making fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the sight of mankind.” (Rev. 13:11-15) Revelation chapters 16 and 19 describe this wild beast as “the false prophet.” (Rev. 16:13; 19:20) Daniel mentions something similar, namely, that the Anglo-American World Power would “bring terrible destruction.” (Dan. 8:19, 23, 24, ftn.) That is exactly what happened during World War II. The two atomic bombs that played a decisive role in ending that war in the Pacific were the results of a joint effort by British and American scientists. The Anglo-American World Power, in effect, made “fire come down out of heaven to the earth.”