IS JESUS COMING SOON? Part Three

BEASTS TWO AND THREE OF DANIEL SEVEN

The remaining beasts of Daniel seven are the bear, the leopard, and the ten-horn beast. We will briefly go over the bear and leopard this time and then next week we will look at the ten-horn beast.

Remember, however, that beasts always represent kings, kingdoms, or nations and they must be in existence at the return of Jesus Christ. We know this by the context of Daniel’s seventh chapter prophecy.

Twenty-five hundred years ago through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Daniel saw that Great Britain and the United States of America would be two of those nations in existence at the time of the second-coming of Jesus Christ. Let’s look at two of the other beasts now and see if they make sense to you.

BEAST NUMBER TWO: The Bear
And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

Since Daniel 8:20, 21 says that the ram is Media-Persia and the he-goat is Greece, then the interpreters of Daniel chapter seven must be mistaken. Again, God picked symbols that the people living in the end-times could understand.

So. . .is there a nation today whose symbol is the bear? In fact, the bear is the official symbol of Russia and has been since the 17th century. So far, so good. We have identified two beasts, the lion and the bear, who are in existence today. We’re half way there.

BEAST NUMBER THREE: The Leopard
The third beast is the leopard. WOW! What’s with the four heads? The lion – one head, the eagle – one head, the bear – one head, but the leopard – four heads? What’s up with that?

After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

Before we look at the multiple heads, let’s see if there first is a nation whose symbol is the leopard. Then we can try and figure out what the four heads are all about. It may be academic if we can’t find one. However, it just so happens that the national symbol of Germany is the leopard.

FOUR HEADS?
Okay. . .so what about the four heads? Remember now that a beast represents a king, kingdom, or nation. A beast with multiple heads means the amount of times that that nation has risen and fallen. As it turns out, Germany has had the First Reich, the Second Reich, Hitler’s famous Third Reich, and the Fourth Reich [1], which is now growing very fast.

THE WINGS OF A FOWL
The eagle’s wings on the lion had significance so the wings of the fowl on the leopard must have some importance as well. Is there a nation who has the symbol of a fowl? You are way ahead of me on this one. The national symbol of France is the rooster. However, how does this help us in determining any significance to Germany or not, especially in terms of the end times?

DOMINION
Shortly after WWII, France and Germany worked together to rebuild Europe. Chancellor Adenauer and Charles deGaulle signed the Franco-German Alliance and together built the E.U. (European Union.) I don’t know about you, but that’s enough for me.

The last part of verse six says. . .and dominion was given to it. What does that mean? Let’s look at history.

Franco-German War 1870
WWI 1914-1918
WWII 1939-1945

What do these three wars have in common? Well, Germany plotted, planned, and started all three of them. In a Newsweek article, The German Malady, dated April 9, 1984, it said this:

Since the time of Charlemagne [2], the area that is now Germany has been the pivot of European history. In the past 120 years, the Germans have dominated Europe intellectually, industriously, and militarily.

Check out the word “dominated.” . . .and dominion was given to it.

Next time, we will look at the ten-horn beast.

Footnotes
[1] There is a book authored by an American called, The Fourth and Richest Reich: How the Germans Conquered the Postwar World by Edwin Hartrich.
[2] Charlemagne: founder of the Holy Roman Empire.