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Revelation 13:2
The Beast described as a Leopard, Bear, and Lion
2
And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority
.
INTRODUCTION
In this study, we continue our discourse on the beast that rose up out of the sea to begin the Great Tribulation and judgment upon all the churches and congregations worldwide beginning at the end of the Church Age on May 21, 1988 and continuing to when Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011. We will learn what it means that this beast was like unto a leopard, and its feet were as the feet of a bear, and its mouth as the mouth of a lion. We will see where this beast got all its power and authority, and its seat, to overcome the very House or Temple of God, which includes all the Christian churches and congregations in the world.
May our minds and spirits be lifted far above all the cares of this life onto heavenly things to learn through the Spirit more about this beast that God used to bring judgment and Great Tribulation upon all His churches, for these things had to take place to show us that we are very close to the end and rapture into heaven when Satan and his kingdom will be cast into the Lake of Fire to be destroyed forever, amen.
Revelation 13:2:
2
And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority
.
In our
last study
Now, in our verse 2 of Revelation 13, which is the verse of this study, we are next told that this beast was
like unto a leopard, and his feet
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So, Jesus teaches His disciples that it makes no difference whether the hands (the Wills) of the priests have been cleansed because salvation or forgiveness of sins no longer has anything to do with their hands (their Wills), but only the hands or Will of Christ Himself. Therefore, only Peter's feet, which symbolize his full being, needed to be washed. His own priestly hands (his Will) were now irrelevant for him to be cleansed or forgiven of sin. To put it another way, we cannot Will ourselves to be forgiven or saved, which is seen in that the old animal sacrifices that the priests sacrificed with their hands (their hands symbolizing their Wills) never really did forgive their sins. If you think that you did or can will yourself to be forgiven of sin, you have been deceived in the same way that all those who say you have to do something to be saved like accept Christ, believe in Christ, be water baptized, keep the sacraments of the church, and so on are deceived. O yes, you are commanded in the Bible to believe in Christ, and you shall be saved (Acts 16:31), but unless that belief comes about as a result of the hands (the Will) or works of Christ alone on the cross through the Holy Spirit in being miraculously spiritually born from above and not by your own hands (your Will) or works in any way, you never truly believed in Christ but in a counterfeit Christ, which is a counterfeit gospel of which there are many.
Of course, no one has truly believed in the true Christ unto true salvation ever since Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011 because, ever since then, God has no longer been giving by His hands (His Will) the gift of genuine faith to anyone else as judgment against all the
all the churches and the entire world because of their sin. He does still help some people repent of certain sins like alcoholism or drug addictions, or other things to help various people live better in this life, but He is no longer eternally saving the souls of people, for Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011. You could say that God is still showing kindness to the people of this world, His enemies, as he still gives most of them air to breath, water to drink, clothes to wear, food to eat, the sunlight to bask in, and shelter of some kind for protection, and many other blessings to help people in this life, which is temporal, but He does NOT love everyone eternally. In fact, eternally, He hates all people except for His elect, the remnant, who He died for to pay for all their sins so that He no longer sees their sins, but only the righteousness of Christ in them. But God hates all the unsaved because they are all sinners with unpaid for sins. We read,
Ps 11:5
The LORD trieth the righteous
[the saved]
: but the wicked
[unsaved]
and him that loveth violence his soul hateth
.
No, God does not love everyone, which idea is an idol that many people serve. Because true love is eternal, God only loves His elect, and they are a very small remnant that came out of all the churches in obedience to their Lord, Jesus Christ (see
Why leave all churches
Well, one question leads to another question, and so one can drift in all sorts of directions, but let's get back to our verse. When it states that the beast (Satan and his kingdom) had feet
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And we read in James 2,
1
My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons
.
2
For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment
; {assembly: Gr. synagogue }
3
And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay
[the shining or splendid]
clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool
: {in ... : or, well, or, seemly }
4
Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts
?
5
Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him
? {of the: or, of that }
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But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats
?
Thus, unlike a wicked ruler who oppresses and devours the poor, God, the only perfect ruler, lifts up, protects, and blesses the poor as He has done by saving far more of them than the rich. As the scripture said, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? And we read in James 1,
9
Let the brother of low degree
[typically the poor]
rejoice in that he is exalted
: {rejoice: or, glory }
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were not to charge interest on loans given to the poor (Ex. 22:25). And there were many other ways that God protected and cared for the poor. You see, His heart is opened wide to the poor!
But now, moving on, we are not only told that this beast was as a leopard (a stealthy ambush predator out to get its prey) and had the feet of a bear (an entire being of great power and strength), but it also had the mouth as of a mouth of a lion. When we think of the mouth of a lion, two main things come to mind. First, its mighty intimidating roar comes from its mouth to let its prey know that it is the king of the beasts out to devour them. And second, its powerful jaws and teeth come from its mouth to devour its prey. Therefore, when we are told that this beast (Satan and his kingdom) that rises out of the sea (the bottomless pit) had the mouth as a lion, it is certainly being revealed to us that Satan who leads his kingdom vocally let's all the churches and congregations around the world know that he is king over them, and he devours them during the Great Tribulation from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011. As we read in 1Peter 5,
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Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour
...
See how this verse supports what it means that the beast had the mouth as a lion. It means that Satan and his kingdom comes against the churches vocally to let them know how great he is, and he devours them. Of course, Satan did not physically devour the people in the churches, but he spiritually devoured them as the counterfeit Christ, THE ANTICHRIST, Satan
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