PROPHECY IN THE HEADLINES: The Two-Horned Beast Is Making An Image Of The Leopard-Bear-Lion Beast

I understand that many of us believe that, in the end, a man will be possessed by Satan, and will cause people to be marked with the number 666.  That this man will stand on the Temple Mount and declare himself to be God.  That he will make a deal with Israel for a seven year peace, and that half way through that deal, he will break it and wage war against Israel.  Many believe the Church will be raptured before this seven year deal often called the Great Tribulation.  But, in recent years, I have come to understand that none of this is actually supported by Scripture.  Prophecy simply does not teach any of this.  It is the work of several men, starting with a Jesuit priest who was trying to stop the Protestant reformation.  Instead, I have come to understand that the ‘leopard-bear-lion’ beast in Revelation is a representation of Islam, and that the two-horned beast that appears as a lamb and speaks as a dragon is the apostate Western world.  Now, I understand this will cause many believers a great deal of trouble, but I beg you, hear me out — because the evidence supporting this understanding has been in the news for a long time now.

Now, before I begin, I want to confess that my understanding has been greatly guided by the work of a believing brother by the name of Elis Skolfield (not of the Scofield bible).  You can find his work on his site, Fish House Ministries, as well as his web site, Behold, The Beast.  Skolfield’s web site will give you the ‘Cliff Notes’ of what he has learned from his decades-long study of God’s prophecies, but I would strongly encourage you to go to Fish House Ministries and download the free pdf of his studies on Daniel’s 70 Weeks.  While I do not agree with everything Skolfield teaches (especially where Rome and Hitler are concerned), a careful comparison of his research against Scripture has convinced me that, while he may not have the correct seat yet, he has guided the Church to the correct ballpark.  And the thing about being in the correct ballpark is, even if you are in the wrong seat, you are still watching the correct game — just maybe from an angle that is not quite intended.

Now, let’s deal with the headlines and these two beasts in Revelation.  Please understand, this is a very brief explanation of a very detailed subject, so I trust you will not expect me to provide all the answers in this blog post.  This post also assumes the reader has some knowledge of Biblical prophecy.  So, we start with the leopard-bear-lion beast described in Revelation.  The animal parts of the description are clearly meant to connect this beast to the three beasts in Daniel’s visions.  The Lion was Babylon (Iraq), the Leopard was Greece and the Bear was Medo-Persia (Iran).  In Nebacandnezar’s vision, the gold head corresponded to Babylon, the silver arms and chest to Medo-Persia, and the bronze thighs to Greece.  So all of these — Nebacandnezar’s vision, Daniel’s vision and John’s vision — all of them are pointing to kingdoms from the region of the world we know as Turkey, Ira and Iraq.  Only, in John’s vision, they are combined into one large kingdom: the leopard-bear-lion beast.

At this point, we tackle the identity of this leopard-bear-lion beast.  For as long as it can remember, the Church seems to have believed that the legs and feet on Nebacandezar’s vision referred to Rome.  Many see the head that had been wounded unto death on the seven-headed beast in Revelation also referred to Rome.  But I no longer believe Rome is in sight in any of these visions: Nebacandnezar’s, Daniel’s or John’s.  The secular world sees the history of Greece and Rome as connected.  Search for it and you will find it called the ‘Greco-Roman’ period.  But, more than this secular affirmation that Rome is not in sight in these prophetic visions, Rome does not meet the other aspects of the visions.  At no time did Rome control the majority of — especially capitals of — all three kingdoms represented by these animals (leopard, bear and lion).  This is important because, in Nebacandezar’s vision, the stone that is cut-out without hand and which strikes the feet of the statue destroys it all at once.  In other words, it destroys all of the previous kingdoms.  If Rome had been destroyed at its height, it would still leave significant parts of these previous kingdoms standing.  But there’s more.

In Revelation, John is told that there will be seven kingdoms that will war against God’s people.  He is also told that, as he lived, five of these kingdoms had fallen, one was and one was yet to come.  The five that had fallen were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece.  The one that was referred to Rome.  Now, this leaves a kingdom that was to come after Rome and that would be different from all the previous kingdoms.  Many have argued that this was Rome, but it does not hold.  Rome was not so different from Greece.  So what kingdom has ruled the Holy Land since Rome?  The answer is Islam!  What’s more, Islam is a theocracy, which is different from all the previous kingdoms.  And more than this, the Caliphate was killed by the Allied powers in 1924, as part of the aftermath of WW I.  This is also when the schism over the Levant was formed.  This is the head wounded unto death that now lives, and it brings us to the two-horned beast that looks like a lamb but speaks like a dragon.

Prophecy uses the horn as a symbol of power or authority, so the two horns represent two forms of authority.  One horn is longer which tells us that one of these sources of authority is greater than the other.  This beast looks like a lamb.  Now, this vision was given to John, an Apostle of Christ, so we can assume that John would have recognized the lamb as a symbol of Christ.  This means that the beast will give the outward appearance of being Christ-like.  However, Revelation also tells us this same beast speaks like a dragon.  the dragon is Satan, so this beast presents a false appearance.  It is not Christ-like, but a wolf in sheep’s clothing — just like Christ warned would happen. This indicates that the two-horned beast represents some form of apostasy, like a Jewish and Christian Church that have compromised God’s Word:

Conservative Jews approve gay wedding guidelines

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[EDITED ON 8.2.2015

Originally, I had linked this location to a Jewish-sourced story about the Pope claiming God told him to change the Ten Commandments, but a reader brought it to my attention that this story was false and, upon further research, it does appear I placed too much trust in my news source, which is out of Israel.  That said, the Pope has made many proclamations and statements in recent times that are wholly unsupported by Scripture, and I still believe I can make a very strong case that he is a false prophet. My humble and sincere thanks goes out to our brother for correcting me.]

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Historically, this lamb is an accurate picture of the Western world.  The West has been built — at least in appearance — on the Judeo/Christian ethic.  These are the two horns: the Jewish and Christian faith.  The Christian faith has been stronger since Christ ascended, so it is the longer horn.  This imagery also matches up well with the two witnesses, who John is told represent the two Churches.  Revelation also tells us that God will hide His people in the wilderness until He brings them back to Israel.  This is a way of telling us that He will keep His people in the nations until He makes Israel a nation again.  Once again, history fits very well with this understanding of prophecy.

Now, John is also told that the two-horned beast will stand in the presence of the leopard-bear-lion beast (LBL), and that it will cause others to worship the LBL beast.  The West has been in the Middle East for decades, right in the presence of Islam.  And now, the West is teaching people that Islam worships the same god as the Jews and Christians:

Chrislam’s Rick Warren Partnering With Mosques To Teach That God And Allah Are The Same

 Allah is not the same god — period!  That is a lie, so when leaders tell people that Islam worships the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they cause people to worship the LBL beast.

Now, the two-horned beast also creates an image of the LBL beast.  The image of the beast is something that represents the nature or spiritual significance of the thing in question.  In this case, the West has sided with the Muslim world over Israel and is working toward helping Islam rebuild the Caliphate.  That is what ISIS/ISIL is all about, and what Obama have been helping the Muslims do.  This is because Obama is a Muslim.  He knows exactly what ISIS wants and his actions with Iran are helping ISIS achieve its goals.

Now, those who know Revelation also know that the LBL beast will cause people to take a mark.  Well, Walid Shoebat and other former Muslims have done lion’s work in trying to explain to the West that, under Shari’a, non-Muslims must accept a mark before they can buy or sell.  However, I think it is something else.  Either way, the interesting point for many should be that Muhammad, himself, claimed the number, 666.  In fact, Muhammad boasted about this number belonging to Islam.

There is more, much more, and it all fits without having to force square pegs in to round holes.  yes, there are still some questions that need answers, but the point is that, if we accept this understanding of prophecy, it puts us in the correct ballpark.  Once we are in that ballpark, the headlines start to make sense.  Yes, we may not understand them perfectly — yet.  But this is because, as I said, we are still looking for the correct seat.  But we are watching the right game — the story God’s prophets were told to share with us.  So, if you have ears to hear and eyes to see, I hope you will use this post to fuel and guide your own study of God’s Word.  Just make sure you search His word with a sincere heart, and ask for His guidance and His understanding as you do.  Ask the Lord to protect you from your own understanding, and from the teachings of men.  We can use God’s teachers to guide us, it is why the Lord sends them to us — to provide guidance.  But never trust in men — especially me.  Always seek what God wants us to see.  If you do, I believe you will find your way into the same ballpark I have.  Maybe we’ll soon find ourselves sitting next to each other, in our correct seats?

May the Lord bless and keep you, and may He strengthen you for the trials which are soon to come.