Chapter 13

1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.  2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. 4 And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

(Click the link above "Daniel's beast" to see the correlation to the European beast here and the Dreadful beast of Daniel.)

This European Beast rose out of the sea after the fall of the dreadful beast’s head (described in Daniel).  The Roman Empire is the head of the dreadful beast, and that empire fell in 476 AD.  This dreadful beast had 10 horns which remained.  Here it shows  each horn has a crown, which is a royal family.  Europe was ruled by these royal families.   In Daniel it describes the dreadful beast will have 3 horns plucked out.  See the article for the list of horns, and the three plucked out.  The horns in Daniel 7 are the ruling families that have their own kingdom.  Three of the families lose their kingdom, but still remain as a family.  I see this as the transition to the 7 heads of this beast.  The 10 families are still in Europe, but there are only 7 that have a kingdom.  So this European beast has 10 horns and crowns, but only 7 families rule.

These remaining heads had blasphemous names because they instituted the Divine Right of Kings, and when they were coronated they believed themselves as powerful as God.  The leopard, bear and lion are a direct reference to the beasts in Daniel and further confirmation to base this beast off of the dreadful beast.  The European Beast after the Reformation was on the brink of Colonization and Industrialization.  It was as swift as a leopard, ferocious as a bear and intimidating as a roar of a lion.  

The dragon gave his throne over in the late 1700s when Bonaparte took Rome from the popes for a time.  The Jesuits at the time were leading missionaries and were across the globe building universities and hospitals.  They were in North and South America across the planet to China, being worshipped by those who flocked to them for higher education or medical care.  They did this hand-in-hand with the expansion of imperialism.  No nation was kept from the power of this European beast and the influences of the dragon.

5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven.  7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. 

This mouth is the same as the little horn in Daniel, which is the papacy that ruled for 1260 years from 538 AD to 1798, when Bonaparte cut the power of the Popes down.  The Popes declare themselves the “vicar of Christ” which means in place of Christ, which is the blasphemy they uttered.  The Popes sent out orders and decrees against Christians just as the Romans did before the fall, which is the mouth that speaks.  At the height of Imperialism, the European nations had influence over the entire planet which shows authority over every tribe, people and language.  Catholicism was spread across the entire globe so fulfills all who dwell.

9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear: 10 If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon.  12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.

The earth is few people, nations and tongues, which would be the United States. Speaks like a dragon is referring to the laws of the United States, and the Bill of Rights takes after the Twelve Tables of Roman Law written in 449 BC.  All of our government houses resemble the temples of Rome, the Washington Monument is a replica of the Obelisks of Egypt and Babylon, and the paintings in the buildings depict Roman gods.  

This second beast is not in opposition to the European beast, in fact the inhabitants of the earth beast would worship, pay homage, to the European beast.  Even after the Revolutionary War the U.S. turned to European powers to purchase land and trade.  It exercises all authority in its presence, so it would be an ally.  The only beast to rise to power after the Reformation is the United States, and the description of a lamb fits, because it was a new country, and a follower, like a lamb is.  There are two horns, that would be the President and Vice-President, and there are no crowns, so not a monarchy.  The head of the European beast that was wounded but healed is the dreadful Roman head, which was healed when it became the Vatican in 1927.  The eighth head of the beast the woman rides. 

13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.

There are four different events in the Bible where there is “fire from heaven” and one is when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah in His righteous judgement.  This kind of event matches here because the United States dropped the a-bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in their definition of “righteous judgement.”  This sign was performed at the end of WW2, and then the United States helped make an “image” or a likeness of the European beast by ratification of the U.N.  The U.N. was given breath – ability to rule – with resolution 678, allowing the U.N. to wage its own war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.

The Topical index on biblehub.com for forehead and right hand:  

The forehead, in biblical literature, often symbolizes identity, character, and allegiance. It is a prominent part of the human body and serves as a visible marker in various scriptural contexts, both literal and metaphorical.  The term "right-hand" holds significant symbolic and theological meaning throughout the Bible, often representing power, authority, blessing, and favor. In biblical times, the right hand was considered the hand of strength and skill, and it frequently appears in Scripture to convey divine power and protection.

The Dollar is world currency (www.investopedia.com/articles/forex-currencies/092316/how-us-dollar-became-worlds-reserve-currency.asp) and it remains the world’s currency today.  Central banks hold around 59% of their reserves in U.S. dollars.

18 This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of (a) man, and his number is 666.

There is no need for wisdom in this day and age.  We see everything evil marked with the 666 logo and the enemy is no longer hiding or being mysterious.  The 666 is from the base 60 pagan numbering system, the giants had 6 fingers, and looking at the Dollar you can see the references to the Egyptian and Babylonian gods. Named after a man further confirms that America is the second beast, named after a man instead of a god.  What do we do now?  We take to heart the lesson of the rich young ruler, and plant deep in our hearts the cry of Jesus to the Laodicean church, being wretched, pitiable, poor and naked.