Read through Revelation 13 and a couple primary questions come to mind. Who are these beasts? What do they represent? Is this a look back or look ahead?
What does it mean for a beast to have a resemblance to a leopard, feet like a bear and a mouth like a lion? How can it have ten horns and seven heads? What are those? That's the first beast described in verses 1-8. In that section we see that all who are not in Christ, with their names in the Lamb's Book of Life will worship this beast. Again, I ask, is this something from the past or something yet to come? One thing we see for sure, that "this calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God's people" (v. 10).
The second beast comes "out of the earth", as opposed to the sea, and is clearly in collaboration with the first beast. It's a powerful beast as seen in verses 13-17.
The rise of the second beast prompts John to call for wisdom on the part of Christians (v. 18).
There's a lot here and it's hard to understand. I decided to google "who are the beasts described in Revelation 13" and found about 1000 articles which offered theories. Maybe there's a consensus out there among trustworthy Bible scholars, but I couldn't seem to find one. Nearly halfway through this walk through the Book of Revelation, and I've got way more questions than answers. In fact, I'm not even sure I have that right now. Our God is operating in a realm that I can't begin to grasp.
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